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Drug Discovery Intern Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Internship

San Francisco, CA ยท On-site

$17.75 - $23.50/hr

Leading pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Novartis are rapidly adopting our platform to power their drug discovery programs. Our mission is to accelerate progress towards new cures ...

... drug discovery leads. You need to understand both the AI/ML research community and the biotech ... You have experience building university partnerships or intern/new-grad pipelines * You have a ...

... drug discovery leads. You need to understand both the AI/ML research community and the biotech ... You have experience building university partnerships or intern/new-grad pipelines * You have a ...

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Drug Discovery Intern information

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$8

$17

$24

How much do drug discovery intern jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 7, 2026, the average hourly pay for drug discovery intern in the United States is $17.04, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $14.42 and $19.23 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a drug discovery intern do?

A Drug Discovery Intern assists research teams in the early stages of developing new pharmaceutical compounds. Their tasks often include conducting laboratory experiments, analyzing data, and supporting the design and screening of potential drug candidates. They work under the supervision of experienced scientists and may also help with documenting findings and maintaining lab equipment. This role provides valuable hands-on experience in pharmaceutical research and helps interns understand the drug development process.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a drug discovery intern, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Drug Discovery Intern, you generally need a background in chemistry, biology, or a related field, along with foundational laboratory skills. Familiarity with laboratory information management systems (LIMS), analytical instruments like HPLC or mass spectrometry, and basic data analysis software is typically required. Strong attention to detail, problem-solving abilities, and effective teamwork are standout soft skills in this role. These competencies are vital for accurately conducting experiments, analyzing results, and contributing meaningfully to the fast-paced and collaborative environment of drug discovery.

What types of projects and daily tasks can a drug discovery intern expect to work on?

As a Drug Discovery Intern, you can expect to participate in various stages of early research and development, such as conducting laboratory experiments, analyzing biological data, and assisting with compound screening. Daily tasks often include preparing samples, maintaining lab equipment, documenting results, and collaborating with researchers on ongoing projects. Interns typically work under the supervision of senior scientists and have opportunities to attend team meetings, present findings, and learn about the drug discovery pipeline. This hands-on experience helps interns develop technical skills and gain insight into collaborative research environments in the pharmaceutical industry.
More about Drug Discovery Intern jobs
What cities are hiring for Drug Discovery Intern jobs? Cities with the most Drug Discovery Intern job openings:
What are the most commonly searched types of Drug Discovery jobs? The most popular types of Drug Discovery jobs are:
What states have the most Drug Discovery Intern jobs? States with the most job openings for Drug Discovery Intern jobs include:
Infographic showing various Drug Discovery Intern job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 75% Full Time, 20% Part Time, 1% Temporary, 2% Contract, and 1% Nights. Highlights an 97% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 2% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $35,436 per year, or $17 per hour.

Solutions Engineering Intern - Commerical Team (Chicago)

Salt Ai

Evanston, IL โ€ข Remote

$30 - $40/hr

Part-time

Re-posted 19 days ago


Job description

(Chicago based) Applied AI Intern – Salt Os

Office of the CBO & Sales Solutions

Help Us Build the Future of AI for Regulated Industries

Our Mission

Salt AI is founded by industry veterans in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence and life sciences. Salt AI is dedicated to providing reliable and transparent AI solutions that advance the underlying goals and purpose of life sciences teams. We’ve focused our collective expertise on a tech-enabled offering that realizes successful outcomes faster and more efficiently than previously imagined.

Salt is building the intelligence layer for the enterprise. In a world where AI is fragmented across models, tools, and data silos, Salt unifies them through a compliance-first orchestration platform. Our OS turns regulated industries like life sciences into intelligent, adaptive systems—where autonomous AI agents operate securely, governably, and in harmony. Salt is defining how enterprises will deploy and scale AI responsibly at the foundation level.

About This Role

Salt AI is looking for a motivated intern to work directly with our Chief Business Officer and Sales Solutions team. You’ll help design, prototype, and implement AI-driven solutions across pharmaceutical, biotech, and enterprise applications—with hands-on exposure to how agentic AI can transform real-world R&D and commercial workflows. You’ll work directly with the Salt toolkit alongside experienced scientists, engineers, and forward-deployed solutions experts.

This is a ground-floor opportunity at the intersection of AI orchestration infrastructure, life sciences, and enterprise go-to-market—helping shape how regulated organizations adopt AI in their most critical processes.

Example Projects

• Computational protein design workflows to accelerate therapeutic discovery

• Clinical trial design with agentic leverage

• Drug discovery pipelines using multi-agent coordination (e.g., modeling, simulation, optimization, critic agents)

• Personalization engines driving omnichannel customer touchpoints

• AI copilots for genetic counseling

• Full-team workflow design for agent-led financial restructurings

What You’ll Do

• Architect and iterate on agent-based systems that execute complex workflows, particularly in drug discovery and life sciences R&D.

• Work alongside the CBO and solutions engineers to understand client workflows end-to-end, from initial discovery through prototype delivery.

• Build functional workflow prototypes using Salt’s orchestration platform, translating client and research problems into working demonstrations.

• Reproduce and evaluate existing AI models and research papers to assess their applicability within Salt’s infrastructure.

• Help identify opportunities within drug discovery and adjacent domains where AI can meaningfully enhance processes and outcomes.

• Support the development and optimization of ML and deep learning models for research applications, adapting them for new use cases.

• Research domain-specific requirements across life sciences, financial services, and energy—feeding findings back to the commercial and product teams.

• Contribute to reusable templates, documentation, and technical content that enable partners to self-serve and scale.

• Stay current with emerging AI trends, agent frameworks, and orchestration tooling, and share insights with the broader team.

• Collaborate cross-functionally to translate scientific and business problems into AI-driven approaches.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related field.

• Experience with LLMs, agent frameworks, or workflow orchestration tools (e.g., LangChain, AutoGen, BioNemo, or similar).

• Familiarity with AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, or similar).

• Academic or personal AI/ML project experience—you’ve built things, not just studied them.

• Exposure to analyzing or reproducing research papers.

• Coursework or project work related to life sciences, bioinformatics, or computational biology.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Effective communication and teamwork skills—able to translate technical concepts into practical, client-facing applications.

• Willingness to learn and adapt in a fast-paced, build-from-scratch environment.

Nice to Have

• Prior experience in drug discovery or AI research.

• Interest in pharmaceutical or biotech applications, particularly therapeutic discovery pipelines.

• Familiarity with scientific computing environments, data lineage, or provenance tracking.

• A scrappy mentality—comfortable wearing multiple hats, driving clarity in ambiguous situations, and doing whatever it takes to move things forward.

• Professional-level English communication skills.

You’ll Know You’re Succeeding If

• You’re consistently thinking about how clients use the prototypes and workflows you build, and which problems they solve.

• The tools and templates you build become reusable assets that the solutions team relies on, not one-off demos.

• Cross-functional teams—commercial, product, and engineering—see the value in your work and pull you into new conversations.

• You’re learning fast and contributing meaningfully to real client engagements.

Perks and Benefits

• Competitive internship compensation based on location.

• Fully remote environment, working primarily within U.S.-based time zones.

• Direct mentorship from senior leadership including the CBO and solutions engineering team.

Join Us

At Salt AI, we’re building more than just a product—we’re creating the systems that will power the future of AI deployment for regulated industries. If you’re excited about building at the intersection of AI infrastructure, life sciences, and enterprise sales, we’d love to hear from you. We’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive team and encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and experiences.