Computational Chemist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Computational Chemist studies and solves problems in chemistry using computer programs and modelling. May use computational analysis in research to develop new products or chemical processes.
Job Outlook
There were 6 Computational Chemist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 292 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Chemist industry, which includes the Computational Chemist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Computational Chemist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $150,345.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $150,345.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Computational Chemist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $109,482.
Education and Experience
Posted Computational Chemist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 20.89% |
| Master's Degree | 34.25% |
| Doctoral Degree | 86.64% |
| Other | 1.03% |
Posted Computational Chemist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 22.3% |
| 3 to 5 years | 40.54% |
| 6 to 8 years | 14.86% |
| 9+ years | 22.3% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Computational Chemist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Research (67.81%)
- Communication (39.38%)
- Leadership (22.26%)
- Innovation (22.26%)
- Presentations (18.84%)
- Problem Solving (18.49%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (16.1%)
- Writing (16.1%)
- Influencing Skills (14.38%)
- Forecasting (14.38%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Workflow Management (23.97%)
- Small Molecules (30.14%)
- Data Analysis (22.6%)
- Biology (29.45%)
- Ligand (27.4%)
- Computational Chemistry (81.51%)
- Conformational Isomerism (8.22%)
- GROningen MAchine For Chemical Simulations (GROMACS) (7.88%)
- Artificial Intelligence (42.12%)
- Chemistry (66.78%)
- Physics (28.42%)
- Medicinal Chemistry (31.16%)
- Machine Learning (52.74%)
- Quantum Chemistry (9.93%)
- Molecular Dynamics (33.56%)
- Drug Discovery (43.15%)
- Homology Modeling (8.56%)
- Python (Programming Language) (43.84%)
- Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (9.93%)
- Cheminformatics (23.63%)
- Computer-Aided Drug Design & Discovery (6.85%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Materials Science (11.64%)
- Computational Tools (15.41%)
- Computational Modeling (8.9%)
- Physical Science (3.77%)
- Quantum Mechanics (14.04%)
- Collaborative Research (8.22%)
- Algorithms (13.01%)
- Biopharmaceuticals (8.22%)
- Computer-Aided Design (4.11%)
- Biophysics (15.07%)
- Computer Simulation (12.33%)
- Chemical Engineering (9.93%)
- Computer Science (12.33%)
- Computational Biology (10.27%)
- Linux (11.3%)
- Data Mining (7.53%)
- Molecular Modeling (16.78%)
- Scalability (2.74%)
- Automation (6.85%)
- Java (Programming Language) (4.11%)
- Biochemistry (17.81%)
- Density Functional Theory (6.51%)
- Predictive Modeling (11.99%)
- Software Development (7.53%)
- Physical Chemistry (8.22%)
- Biotechnology (14.04%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (16.1%)
- Statistics (4.79%)
- Pharmaceuticals (18.15%)
- R (Programming Language) (13.36%)
- Informatics (7.53%)
- Deep Learning (8.56%)
- PyTorch (Machine Learning Library) (5.14%)
- Scientific Literature (9.59%)
- Software Engineering (4.45%)
- Molecular Docking (10.27%)
- Data Science (16.44%)
- Simulations (11.99%)
- Structural Biology (10.27%)
- Scripting (18.49%)
- Programming Languages (11.64%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Large-Scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS) (5.82%)
- Molecular Mechanics (6.16%)
- Structural Bioinformatics (1.37%)
- Theoretical Chemistry (5.48%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Computational Chemistry (92.61%)
- Machine Learning (59.92%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Computational Chemist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Assistant Professor of Chemistry
- Computational Scientist
- Adjunct Professor of Chemistry
- Associate Professor of Chemistry
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- Computational Biologist
- Research Chemist
- Geochemist
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Research Scientist
- Computer Scientist
- Computational Biologist
- Data Scientist
- Chemist (General)
- Manufacturing Chemist
- Research Associate (General)
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Computational Chemist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Merck KGaA Darmstadt Germany (11)
- Meta (11)
- Novartis (11)
- University of California (9)
- The University of Texas System (9)
- Amgen (8)
- Understanding Recruitment (7)
- Argonne National Laboratory (7)
- AbbVie (7)
- Eli Lilly (7)
North Carolina
- Research Triangle Institute (2)
- RTI International (2)
- Oerth Bio (1)
- Inotiv (1)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.