Medicinal Drug Design Lead - Small Molecule
Location: Central London, UK
Working Schedule: Hybrid (3 days on-site per week)
Salary: Competitive + bonus + equity
Candidates currently based in Europe who are open to relocating to London are encouraged to apply.
BioTalent are partnered with an innovative biotechnology company operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence and drug discovery. The organisation is building advanced computational platforms designed to accelerate how new medicines are discovered and developed.
Their teams combine experienced medicinal chemists with machine learning scientists to design and optimise novel therapeutic molecules using modern computational tools. The company is expanding its scientific capabilities and continuing to invest heavily in its drug discovery programmes.
We’re looking for a Medicinal Drug Design Lead to join the Drug Design team. This role will be responsible for:
* Leading medicinal chemistry design strategy across drug discovery programmes
* Driving compound optimisation from hit identification through lead optimisation
* Working closely with computational scientists and AI teams to guide molecule design
* Collaborating with external CRO partners responsible for compound synthesis
* Analysing SAR data and refining compound design strategies
* Contributing to scientific publications, intellectual property and discovery reports
You’ll work closely with cross‑functional teams across computational biology, machine learning and drug discovery, contributing to the development of innovative therapeutic programmes.
Key Requirements
We’re ideally looking for someone with:
* A PhD in Medicinal Chemistry, Synthetic Organic Chemistry or a related discipline
* 5+ years of industry experience in medicinal chemistry within biotech, pharma or a CRO environment
* Experience contributing to drug discovery programmes, ideally from hit discovery through lead optimisation
* Familiarity with structure‑based drug design and modern medicinal chemistry strategies
* Experience working with external CRO partners to support compound synthesis
* Strong communication and collaboration skills within multidisciplinary scientific teams
Experience with fragment-based drug design or working alongside computational drug design teams would be beneficial.
Please note that if you meet most of the requirements but not all, we still encourage you to apply.
What’s on Offer
* Competitive salary, bonus and equity package
* The opportunity to work at the intersection of medicinal chemistry and artificial intelligence
* A collaborative scientific environment working alongside world‑class researchers
* The chance to contribute to the development of next‑generation drug discovery technologies
* Hybrid working from the company’s London office
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