Computational Chemist Jobs

We are CBN, Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, with primary manufacturing operations based in Canada. CBN employs over 1,500 people worldwide. CBN was established in 1897 to supply security-printed products to the Canadian government, which it has done continuously ever since. The supply of Canadian currency, passports, and postage stamps are three important activities entrusted to the Company and, as a result, the company is recognized as part of Canada’s critical infrastructure. CBN has expanded from this base to the supply of the same and related products to other countries and today more than half of CBN’s sales originate outside of Canada.

CBN creates secure documents with original designs that include a comprehensive set of intricate security features, making them extremely difficult to counterfeit. Our scientists and production team have previously developed and deployed leading innovations in substrates, inks, coatings and more. With this proven history of technical leadership, CBN has the resources and insight to develop this new, more broadly applicable technology.

We are developing a new manufacturing technology that is automated, of high precision, and heavily parallelized. We will use it to make counterfeit-proof banknotes, passports, and drivers licenses. This technology has broader applicability to secure documents of all types, as well as to computers, medical uses, and environmental remediation. To support this effort, we are hiring a team of subject matter expert scientists and engineers.

Summary

This position will be providing computational modeling support to a development team exploring molecular candidates for several ongoing surface functionalization and characterization studies. The classes of molecules include organic and organometallic targets, with the experimental team looking to enhance their understanding of deposition, surface presentation, surface configurations, and surface mobility through molecular modeling. Additionally, this position will involve close collaborations with surface science and synthetic chemistry colleagues as they iterate over molecular designs to improve their functionality. The current design work relies heavily on electronic structure methods, with efforts being made to explore the applicability of additional molecular modeling and simulation techniques to accelerate surface reactivity, activation, and function optimization.

Keywords

surface science, density functional theory, materials science, vibrational spectroscopy, property prediction, solid-state modeling, solid-state density functional theory, molecular modeling, reactive force fields, ReaxFF, DFTB, molecular dynamics, structure prediction, chemisorption, organic chemistry, chemical reactions, surface phenomena, experimental support, STM, SPM, AFM

Duties and Responsibilities

• Methodology testing to explore alternative theoretical approaches to exploring relevant surface phenomena (reactivity, characterization, surface binding mode surveys)
• Close collaboration with an interdisciplinary team to design new molecular systems and simulate experimental observables
• Thorough documentation of modeling studies, and the provision of theoretical contributions to team reports summarizing the states of ongoing research
• Electronic structure simulations of molecular properties and reactive intermediates for the prediction of new candidates and interpretation of results from ongoing experimental studies

Required Skills and Experience

• PhD in computational chemistry or related field
• Demonstrated experience using molecular dynamics simulations involving radical reactive intermediates, conformation sampling of molecules on surfaces, and/or reactive surface chemistry
• Effective written and verbal communication skills in English. The candidate must be able to work with a delocalized team of researchers with widely varying technical backgrounds. The ability to effectively communicate with other scientists and engineers who do not have a chemistry or theory background is important.
• Willingness and ability to learn supplementary material outside one’s field of specialization
• Demonstrated knowledge in a wide range of computational chemistry methods
• Demonstrated experience in the use of molecular (Q-Chem, Gaussian, etc.) and/or solid-state (Siesta, VASP, etc.) DFT packages
• Demonstrated experience closely collaborating with experimental teams

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experimental knowledge in the areas of STM/AFM, organic synthesis, or nanosystems
• Breadth of knowledge in computational methods ranging from molecular mechanics to highly-correlated electronic structure theory
• Record of expertise in other surface science or materials chemistry characterization techniques (XPS, HREELS, etc.)
• Python, cloud computing familiarity (Amazon Web Services or High-Performance Computing)

Compensation

• Medical and Dental Benefits
• Competitive Salary
• Pension
• Paid time off, including holidays

Work Environment

The employee will work primarily at a facility in Ottawa, Canada.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position, with a minimum expectation of 40 hours per week. Hours are somewhat flexible, and some late evenings may be required. This position has no supervisory responsibilities.

Travel

Limited travel within Canada and the US is required.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited is committed to achieving a skilled and diversified workforce that reflects the diversity of the Canadian population. We encourage applications from women, visible minorities, people with disabilities and Aboriginal people. Canadian Bank Note Company Limited is committed to developing inclusive, barrier-free selection processes and work environments. If contacted regarding this competition, please advise the interview coordinator of any accommodation measures you may require.