  We design variational pulse sequences tailored for neutral atom quantum
simulators and show that we can engineer layers of single-qubit and multi-qubit
gates. As an application, we discuss how the proposed method can be used to
perform refocusing algorithms, SWAP networks, and ultimately quantum chemistry
simulations. While the theoretical protocol we develop still has experimental
limitations, it paves the way, with some further optimisation, for the use of
analog quantum processors for variational quantum algorithms, including those
not previously considered compatible with analog mode.
