Context. The S235AB star forming region houses a massive young stellar object which has recently been reported to exhibit possible evidence of jet rotation – an illusive yet crucial component of disk aided star formation theories. Aims. We confirm the presence of a molecular counterpart to the jet and we also study the molecular environment in S235AB. Methods. We search for velocity wings in the line emission of thermal SiO (J = 2–1, v = 0), a tracer of shocked gas, which would indicate the presence of jet activity. Utilising other lines detected in our survey we use the relative intensities of intra species transitions, isotopes, and hyperfine transitions to derive opacities, temperatures, column densities, and abundances o...