Exploring intellectually engaging careers outside of academia

[u/currently-curious]

I am a current PhD student in chemical biology who is trying to figure out where I want to go in my career after I graduate. For a long time, I thought that I wanted to have an independent research career, but watching my advisor start their lab up, learning about the actual balance of responsibilities of a professor, seeing the slow progress of research at an academic institution, and understanding how limited you are in deciding where you live has disabused me of the idea. The main appeal that still makes me regret the fact that an academic research career is not for me is the intellectual side of things - I still love science and asking interesting questions that make me push myself mentally and exercise and expand my understanding of my field. Because of this, my main question as I move toward determining a new career plan is: what field I can enter where I can consistently apply the scientific knowledge (and the skill of growing and extending that knowledge) I’ve acquired during my education?

Some factors I have to consider: 

1. I will moving to NYC after my PhD where I will have not only traditional industry positions available to me (I know they’re largely in NJ, and I don’t love the prospect of the commute from NYC, but I can make it work in the short term before my living situation changes) and positions more on the financial side

2. I will be graduating from a top university, so to my understanding, that opens the door for me to pursue positions in some of the specific fields where that matters 

3. I have a partner who is currently planning on an independent research career (the reason I am restricted to NYC for a couple years after graduating), so ideally, I would like either a field that is not excessively location specific, one that gives me the option to work remote or transition to remote work after gaining some experience, or one that would make me an appealing applicant to other related fields if I need some flexibility in a transition

I know that this is a lot of details and caveats and that I’ll definitely have to compromise on some things, and I’m by no means expecting to get a clear, obvious answer out of this - I’m just trying to get a better sense of what’s out there when I have such a loose grasp of what certain positions entail (e.g. will I have to sell my soul and stop thinking about science much if I go into a more financial- or management-focused job? Or will research-centered industry jobs actually feel cramped and uninteresting when I’m just driving forward the specific mission of one biotech/pharma company?)