Organic Chemist: AI Synthesis Pathway Validation (part-time)

Join us on our mission to make sustainable manufacturing the norm.

80% of the final environmental impact of a product is determined by its manufacturing process design. However, scientists and engineers have no sophisticated tools that allow them to consider and optimise the sustainability of these processes that, once set, are run thousands of times over decades.

Our first focus is the 5th most emissions-intensive industry globally: pharmaceuticals. We are building an end-to-end process design platform, that allows scientists and process engineers to effortlessly consider more sustainable alternatives to their consumable products and the process design itself. Backed by industry leaders like Stefan Oschmann (former CEO of Merck KGaA) and top venture firms like Ananda Impact Ventures, we're bringing cutting-edge solutions to advance sustainability in pharma.

We are looking for an expert organic chemist to join our mission — someone who can help validate and improve our AI's understanding of industrial synthesis pathways. You'll play a crucial role in building the foundation for more sustainable chemical manufacturing.

This is a flexible, part-time role (2-8 hours/week) where you'll directly influence how our AI understands and optimizes chemical synthesis pathways. Your expertise will become the foundation for more sustainable manufacturing processes.

We wondered: “If the manufacturing world is creating so many sustainable alternatives, why are companies not using them to make more sustainable products?” What we learned after 100+ interviews with scientists and R&D operators is that leaders don’t know what to do. They have committed to ambitious climate goals with no concrete path to achieve them. There are a growing variety of sustainable products and solutions, but evaluating their feasibility is a complex, time-consuming process that requires a lot of expertise. Most experts in the industry don’t have that time to spare. What if you knew for every process design decision what the most sustainable alternative approach was? We want to make this a reality.

We’ve raised a $2 million pre-seed round led by Ananda Impact Ventures. The round also includes Stefan Oschmann (former CEO of Merck KGaA), Andreas Treichl (former CEO of Erste Group), Alexis Ohanian (co-founder of Reddit), Patrick Nathen (co-founder of Lilium), and others.

See here for some coverage: EU Startups (English) and brutkasten (German).

This is a fully remote position and you can work from anywhere in the world. Collaboration will be primarily asynchronous through our digital tools, with occasional video calls for check-ins and project updates. No travel is required for this role.

You'll receive AI-generated synthesis pathways via our online platform for your review and annotation on a flexible weekly basis. You can choose when to complete the work within agreed-upon deadlines.

Absolutely! We're always looking for talented individuals who share our passion for transforming pharma and driving sustainability. For candidates who demonstrate exceptional skills and alignment with our mission, we're very open to exploring expanded responsibilities and potentially full-time roles. You can check our Open Positions @ Elio for other current opportunities.

We encourage you to apply! If you're passionate about sustainable chemistry and have relevant experience, we'd love to hear from you. The most important factor is your expertise and enthusiasm for the mission.