Senior Director, Computational Drug Discovery

Apheris; Remote; EUR 100.000 - 150.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

A leading technology firm in pharmaceutical R&D seeks a Senior Director, Computational Drug Discovery to build and lead a high-impact team. In this hands-on role, you will engage directly with top pharmaceutical companies, guide scientific strategy, and influence product development. Required qualifications include a PhD and 8+ years of experience in computational drug discovery. The position offers competitive compensation, generous benefits, and a remote-first work environment with HQ office days in Berlin.

Leistungen

Competitive compensation

Generous holiday allowance

Wellbeing budget

Work-from-home budget

Learning and development budget

Qualifikationen

• 8+ years of post-PhD industry experience in computational drug discovery.
• Exceptional understanding of modern ML approaches in drug discovery.
• Demonstrated experience leading computational drug discovery teams.

Aufgaben

• Build and lead a high-impact computational drug discovery team.
• Engage with pharma R&D leaders to drive scientific strategy.
• Define drug discovery problems and guide application evolution.

Kenntnisse

Computational drug discovery

Leadership

Machine learning in drug discovery

Mentoring

Scientific credibility

Ausbildung

PhD in computational chemistry or related field

Jobbeschreibung

About Apheris

At Apheris, we are building the future of how AI is applied in pharmaceutical R&D.
Our federated computing technology enables global pharma companies to collaborate securely on large AI models that accelerate drug discovery, without ever sharing their proprietary data. By powering multi-partner data networks across small molecules, antibodies, and protein folding, Apheris is redefining how science and AI intersect.
Apheris is a neutral technology and solutions provider. We do not conduct internal drug discovery research,and we do not develop proprietary drug assets. Instead, we support pharmaceutical computational drug discovery teams with production-grade applications, models, and infrastructure that help advance their own drug programs.
We currently host two flagship networks: theAI Structural Biology (AISB) Network,focusedon protein co-folding and binding affinity prediction, and theADMET Network,focusedon small-molecule property prediction. In addition, we havejustlaunchedApherisFold, an enterprise co-folding solution that enables pharma teams to deploy cutting-edge models such as OpenFold 3 and Boltz-2 directly within their own environments.

What we expect from you

• PhD in computational chemistry, cheminformatics, computational drug discovery, or a closely related field.
• 8+ years of post-PhD industry experience in computational drug discovery or computational chemistry, includingproven impact on drug discovery programs from hit finding through lead optimization.
• Deep, practicalexpertisein structure-based and ligand-based design, ADMET modeling, and integration of experimental and biophysical data.
• Exceptionalunderstanding of modern ML approaches in drug discovery, with sound judgment on where ML materially improves outcomes.
• Strong scientific credibility,demonstratedthrough prior roles at leading pharma, top-tier biotech, or recognized computational drug discovery technology providers, and a solid publication record.
• Demonstrated experience leading and mentoring computational drug discoveryteams.
• Comfortable operating hands-on in a fast-moving, venture-backed, remote-first environment.
• Clear motivation to enable customer drug discovery programs rather than run internal pipelines.

What we offer you

• Direct collaboration with world-leading computational drug discovery scientists across major pharmaceutical companies.
• A leadership role with real influence on company direction, scientific priorities, and product strategy, working closely with the founders.
• Regular interaction with our Scientific Advisory Board and external experts at the forefront of the field.
• The opportunity to build and scale the computational drug discovery function from the ground up.
• Competitive compensation, including meaningful early-stage virtual share options.
• Generous holiday allowance
• Great suite of benefits, including a wellbeing budget, mental health benefits, a work-from-home budget, a co-working stipend and a learning and development budget
• Remote-first working – work where you work best, whether from home or a co-working space near you
• Office Daysat our Berlin HQ or a different European location(3x a year)

About the role

We are looking for a Senior Director, Computational Drug Discovery tobuild andlead a small, high-impact computational drug discovery team and to serve as a peer-level scientific counterpart to senior computational chemistry and drug discovery leaders at the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
You will work closely with Product, ML/AI, and Commercial teams to shape how Apheris’ applications, models, and data networks are applied todrugprogramsof our customers. Your role is to ensure that scientific direction, workflows, and recommendations are grounded in how drug discovery isactually executedin industry and deliver measurable value in practice.
This is a hands-on, externally facing leadership role. It requires deep scientific credibility, comfort giving and challenging scientific direction, and the ability to engage directly with senior scientific stakeholders at our pharma customers. You will lead a team of application scientists with a background in computational or medicinal chemistry. You stay on top of state-of-the‑art machine learning developments in drug discovery and are comfortable operating hands‑on in a fast-paced, venture-backed, remote-first environment.

Nice to have

• Background as an application scientist at a leading computational chemistry or drug discovery software provider.
• Experience leading computational drug discovery teams at aTechBioor advanced biotech.
• Priorexposure to federated, multi-partner data collaborations.
• Experience shaping product direction for scientific software platforms.

Logistics

About you

Our mission statement

What you will do

• Own scientific direction across modalities, data, and workflows
  • Define which drug discovery problems, modalities, and data types Apheris prioritizeswith our product offering.
  • Guidehow applications and models should evolve to remain maximally useful to pharma teams.
  • Balance scientific ambition with practicality and adoption in customer environments.
• Build and lead an established, growing computational drug discovery team
  • Lead a core team already in place, including a senior medicinal chemist and a forward‑deployed scientist, both with top‑tieracademic andindustry backgrounds.
  • Hire and integrate 1–2additionalteam members over the next 6–9 months as customer demand scales.
  • Set clear scientific direction and execution standards across all customer‑facing programs.
• Act as the senior scientific counterpart to pharma R&D leaders
  • Engage comfortably and credibly with leading computational drug discovery scientists at large pharmaceutical companies.
  • Lead deep scientific discussions on program strategy, model application, and decision‑making trade‑offs.
  • Provideauthoritative guidance grounded in real‑world drug discovery experience.
• Represent Apheris in the scientific ecosystem
  • Build trust and credibility through publications, talks, and direct engagement with the community.
  • Strengthen Apheris’ reputation as a serious, neutral partner for computational drug discovery.
• Drive hands‑on scientific leadership across customer programs
  • Give concrete, actionable scientific direction to application scientists and customer teams.
  • Ensure recommendationsreflecthow discovery programs areactually run, not theoretical workflows.
  • Review and challenge analyses, models, and conclusions tomaintaina high scientific bar.
• Partner closely with Product and ML/AI teams
  • Translate customer needs and scientific insight into clear product and model requirements.
  • Shape prioritization decisions by grounding them in customer impact and discovery realities.
  • Act as a scientific bridge between customers and internal development teams.