Job number
NAT02047
Faculties
Faculty of Natural Sciences
Departments
Department of Chemistry
Salary or Salary range
£49,017 - £57,472 per annum
Location/campus
White City Campus - On site only
Contract type work pattern
Full time - Fixed term
Posting End Date
13 Oct 2025
About the role
We are seeking an ambitious and creative chemical biologist with strong synthetic chemistry skills to join the group of Prof Ed Tate at Imperial College, working on design and application of disruptive new technologies for novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) discovery. The position is available full time starting by early 2026, with the potential for extension.
ADCs offer the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of patients by combining unprecedented efficacy with reduced side effects; they are among the fastest-growing classes of drugs, with a market expected to reach over $30 billion in the next 10 years. This is a rapidly evolving field, and ADC-related spinouts from our lab have raised over $100 million in Venture investment to date (e.g. Myricx Bio,, Siftr Bio, ).
The Tate lab has recently developed a powerful technology platform for de novo discovery of the critical linker component of an ADC directly from patient-derived tissue, enabling selective release of the drug to maximise therapeutic index, combining high potency with low toxicity. You will have the unique opportunity to make foundational contributions to ADC linker technology and its application to in vivo proof of concept studies, whilst collaborating with entrepreneurial innovators at Cancer Research Horizons (CRH), who are supporting the project under the Therapeutic Catalyst scheme. See the Tate group website for recent relevant papers ), for example: Angew Chemie 2023, e ; JACS 2022, 22493; Nat Chem Biol 2021, 776; JACS 2021, 8911; ACS Chem Biol 2020, 1306. Further details will be discussed in confidence with shortlisted candidates.
What you would be doing
You will be responsible for design, synthesis and application of novel selective linkers for targeted delivery, with a focus on linkers for ADCs, using a currently undisclosed proprietary in-house novel linker discovery platform. This work will involve screening patient tissue samples to generate massive substrate profile datasets in high throughput; application of in-house machine learning algorithms to identify optimal linker activity and selectivity; synthesis and characterisation of linker candidates; and proof of concept studies to demonstrate their utility in ADC designs.
You will join a team of outstanding scientists in the Tate lab at Imperial's state-of-the art £200M Molecular Sciences Research Hub at Imperial's White City campus. Our group is culturally diverse and highly multidisciplinary, with project teams encompassing scientists at all levels of experience and from a variety of backgrounds (chemical biology, cell biology, chemical proteomics, cancer biology, drug discovery, etc.). Postdocs in our lab take full responsibility to initiate and run projects, co-lead collaborative teams, write applications for funding and pitches for translational support, and regularly engage in co-supervision of Masters and PhD level students. We are looking for candidates who can thrive in this dynamic and creative environment and take full advantage of the unique training opportunities it offers.
What we are looking for
Essential criteria for the role include:
* Hold, or near completion of, a PhD qualification in an area closely related to the project field, or an equivalent level of professional qualifications and experience
* Strong research track record relative to experience, in academia and/or industry
* Knowledge of linker-relevant synthetic methods.
Desirable experience for this role includes one or more of the following: Design and synthesis of ADC linkers, or related conjugates, experience in solution and/or solid phase peptide synthesis, experience in characterisation of antibody conjugates, experience with machine learning analysis of large datasets, experience working in a team setting and/or with external collaborators, experience in handling biological samples (e.g. tissues, cell lines).
What we can offer you
Working within the Tate group would give you the opportunity to work with >60 scientists at all levels from undergraduates to postdoctoral researchers with our state-of-the-art labs in West London. You will be joining a team with an excellent track record in the areas of antimicrobial resistance and drug discovery, ).
* The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.
* Grow your career: Gain access to Imperial's sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression
* Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 41 days off a year and generous pension schemes).
Further information
Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant.
If you require any further details on the role please contact: Professor Ed Tate:
You will be based at White City Campus, with travel to the Francis Crick Institute required.
Available documents
Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.
Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities mentioned above.
We reserve the right to close the advert prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications. It is therefore advisable that you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
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About Imperial
Welcome to Imperial, a global top ten university where scientific imagination leads to world-changing impact.
Join us and be part of something bigger. From global health to climate change, AI to business leadership, here at Imperial we navigate some of the world's toughest challenges. Whatever your role, your contribution will have a lasting impact.
As a member of our vibrant community of 22,000 students and 8,000 staff, you'll collaborate with passionate minds across nine London campuses and a global network.
This is your chance to help shape the future. We hope you'll join us at Imperial College London.
Our Culture
We work towards equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination, and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to employing a team that has diverse skills, experiences and abilities. You can read more about our commitment on our webpages.
Our values are at the root of everything we do and everyone in our community is expected to demonstrate respect, collaboration, excellence, integrity, and innovation.