Vertex Summer 2025 Intern, Computational Chemistry (Boston, MA)

Job Description

The Vertex Internship Program offers students the opportunity to learn about the pharmaceutical industry from a hands-on perspective. You will be working closely with and learning from some of the brightest people in the industry. When you join our internship program you should not be surprised to see that our environment is one that is innovative and team oriented, where collaboration is not just a word, and "we are relentless" is in everything we do. Students can expect to be challenged by their project plan, connect with other interns,and feel valued by the Vertex community. Not only will interns learn about their day-to-day tasks through their specific work assignments, but they will interact and have exposure to our organizational leaders and their teams.

Job Summary:

The Vertex Internship Program offers students the opportunity to learn about the pharmaceutical industry from a hands-on perspective. We are looking for a computational chemist intern to join our global Data and Computational Sciences (DCS) team at Vertex. This position is part of the Boston Computational Drug Discovery subgroup dedicated to developing and applying computational approaches to drug discovery projects. As a key member of the team, the intern will conduct data analyses, interpret outcomes, and generate appropriate visualization to communicate results with collaborators. The intern will collaborate cross-functionally across Vertex and have ample opportunities to interact with other members of DCS.

Key Responsibilities:

• Review key literature on physics-based approaches on protein-peptide modelling.
• Apply computational and/or ML methods to problems related to protein design, modeling, or prediction, especially in relation to structure-based techniques.
• Champion the development of an internal workflow for peptide modelling and binding affinity prediction based on the methods reviewed, in collaboration with DCS colleagues.
• Present the efforts to DCS leadership, colleagues and key partner lines.

Qualifications:

• Currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in computational chemistry, informatics, computational biology, or a related field in the computational biology data sciences
• Strong knowledge of protein structure modelling
• Solid understanding of basic principles of protein-protein interactions
• Expertise in physics-based computational approaches for peptides/proteins
• Familiarity with the Rosetta software package
• Demonstrated ability in at least one scripting language (R, Python) and familiarity with Linux/Unix systems
• Comfort and successful track record presenting data analysis results to audiences of various technical expertise
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively with project teams
• Permanent legal authorization to work in the United States
• Candidate must be enrolled in an advanced degree program if graduating before June 2025
• Candidate must be available to work full-time, 40 hours per week from June - September 2025

This job posting is for a temporary role with a third-party agency partner that provides services to Vertex. The individual selected for this role will be offered the role as an employee of that third-party agency; compensation, medical benefits, fringe benefits and other terms and conditions of employment shall be presented by the third-party agency upon offer.

Company Information

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation.

Vertex is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person's race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Vertex is an E-Verify Employer in the United States. Vertex will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.

Any applicant requiring an accommodation in connection with the hiring process and/or to perform the essential functions of the position for which the applicant has applied should make a request to the recruiter or hiring manager, or contact Talent Acquisition at ApplicationAssistance@vrtx.com