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Job Title: Research Scientist, Analytical Chemistry
Reports To: Principal Scientist
Employment Status: ☒ Full\-Time ☐ Part\-Time
Employment Type: ☒ Hourly/Non\-Exempt ☐ Salary/Exempt
About IMCS:
At Integrated Micro\-Chromatography Systems (IMCS), you will collaborate across departments and gain broad exposure to the business. Because IMCS is a smaller organization, you will interact regularly with team members and executives in a highly visible work environment. Our products support the evolving needs of clinical and research laboratories through advanced technologies that improve testing efficiency. By integrating with existing automation systems, IMCS solutions help advance precision medicine by generating high\-quality data. We are committed to accuracy and to delivering fast, reliable results that support machine learning and advanced algorithms.
Job Summary:
This position is a one\-year transitory role where the candidate will be provided technical training in preparation for field applications and sales role. For the first year, the candidate is responsible for executing and analyzing experiments related to protein functionalities. This position is initially a part of the applied research and development team, supporting role in assay implementation using company’s existing product lines. As part of the research team in the first year, the Research Scientist will learn the analysis and characterization of the established products in the company portfolio, including development and implementation of established analytical processes of such products to advance research programs of the company. Relevant first year research analytics include, but are not limited to, measuring catalytic efficiency of glucuronidase and sulfatase enzymes against multiple glucuronidated or sulfated targets, following and understanding current assay protocols, measuring protein long\-term stability, and workflow validations. This position will include substantial involvement with high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography\-mass spectrometry (LC\-MS) systems. The competent candidate will transition to field applications and sales role in the second year to recruit new customers and expand new workflows with existing customers by highlighting the benefits of the company’s products.
Responsibilities (may include but not limited to):
- Plan and execute independent research work at project level, including but not limited to project planning, writing, reagent and equipment coordination and validation, experiment execution, data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation.
- Report status of assigned projects through the preparation of detailed reports and documentation that summarize experiment results. Interprets results of experiments and makes recommendations for improvements.
- Communicate all steps from planning through reporting, both through verbal (A/V) presentations and written documents to both junior staff and senior management.
- Establishing novel analytical methods and workflows that leverage IMCS products.
- Protocol guidance and robustness testing prior to discussions with sales and marketing teams for promotion of company products and workflows.
- Participating in poster preparations, corporate marketing collaterals such as application notes and peer reviewed article preparations.
- Investigate the feasibility of applying relevant scientific principles and concepts to inventions, projects, and problems.
- Ability to communicate with third parties (non\-company affiliates) while maintaining confidentiality and still exchanging highly technical contents.
- All listed tasks and responsibilities are deemed essential functions to this position; however, business conditions may require reasonable accommodation for additional tasks and responsibilities.
Required Qualifications (knowledge AND experience):
- Ph.D. (preferred) in Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related field and 0\+ years combined postdoctoral and relevant work experience; or
- M.Sc. in Microbiology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related field and 3\+ years relevant work experience;
- Bachelor’s Degree in chemistry, biochemistry, or analytical chemistry or 5\+ years of equivalent industry experience.
- Skilled in HPLC, LC\-MS/MS, and other chromatography.
- Hands\-on experience in mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography.
- Working knowledge of different types of chromatography and associated column chemistries as well as relevant buffer systems used for reverse, normal or ion exchange chromatography.
- Experience with small molecule analysis on HPLC with various detectors (UV, diode array, mass spectrometry).
- Ability to troubleshoot and modify protocols to achieve final objective.
- Knowledge of bioanalytical methods and standard protein quality assays are required.
- Ability to prioritize and work quickly to complete projects in limited timeframe.
- Excellent organizational and verbal/written communication skills.
- Must be resourceful and self\-motivated.
Preferred Qualifications (knowledge OR experience):
- Exceptional candidates will demonstrate proficiency in latest technologies used in downstream processing (i.e. membrane chromatography or monoliths).
- Experience with different mass spectrometry software and associated software (TraceFinder, Chromeleon, MassHunter, etc).
- Prior work experience in Biotech industry (3\-4 years).
- Demonstrated ability to work in team setting as well as independently on multiple projects in parallel.
- Demonstrate a firm understanding of chromatography, chromatography theory, and
NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE
Job Type: Full\-time
Pay: $85,000\.00 \- $100,000\.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
Salary Context
This $85K-$100K range is in the lower quartile for Research Scientist roles in our dataset (median: $195K across 149 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.
The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.
Across the 4,317 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 4% of the market. At IMCS, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
Skills in Demand for This Role
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.
Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Scientist roles pay a median of $222,200 based on 378 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $194,400. This role's midpoint ($92K) sits 58% below the category median. Disclosed range: $85K to $100K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($287,500) and Research Engineer ($272,100). By seniority level: Entry: $110,000; Mid: $194,400; Senior: $227,400; Director: $274,554; VP: $241,000.
IMCS AI Hiring
IMCS has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across Research Scientist. Based in Irmo, SC, US. Compensation range: $100K - $100K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 15% (635 positions) offer remote work, while 3,657 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (1,650 roles, $220,000 median); San Francisco (1,335 roles, $265,000 median); Los Angeles (708 roles, $214,112 median).
Career Path
Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.
The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.
What to Expect in Interviews
Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 4,317 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 138 entry-level, 2,071 mid-level, 1,655 senior, and 453 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 15% of the market (635 positions). The remaining 3,657 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $215,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $266,300. The 90th percentile reaches $320,790. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($287,500 median, 34 roles); Research Engineer ($272,100 median, 227 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($244,000 median, 23 roles).
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 4,317 open positions across 15 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (3,004), Data Scientist (345), AI Software Engineer (309). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (138) are outnumbered by mid-level (2,071) and senior (1,655) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 453 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 15% of all AI roles (635 positions), with 3,657 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $215,000. Top-quartile roles start at $266,300, and the 90th percentile reaches $320,790. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $287,500 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $145,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (2,249 postings), Aws (1,224 postings), Azure (938 postings), Rag (915 postings), Gcp (660 postings), Pytorch (640 postings), Prompt Engineering (624 postings), Kubernetes (559 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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