Jobs in Heilbronn, Germany

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: the AI Structural Biology (AISB) Network focused on protein co-folding and binding affinity prediction and the ADMET Network focused on small-molecule property addition we have just launched ApherisFold 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.

We are looking for a Senior Director Computational Drug Discovery to build and lead 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 worlds 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 to drug programs of our customers. Your role is to ensure that scientific direction workflows and recommendations are grounded in how drug discovery is actually executed in 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.

Define which drug discovery problems modalities and data types Apheris prioritizes with our product offerings.

• Own scientific direction across modalities data and workflows
• Guide how 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
• Hire and integrate 12 additional team members over the next 69 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
• Lead deep scientific discussions on program strategy model application and decision-making trade-offs.
• Provide authoritative guidance grounded in real-world drug discovery experience.
• Represent Apheris in the scientific ecosystem
• Strengthen Apheris reputation as a serious neutral partner for computational drug discovery.
• Drive hands-on scientific leadership across customer programs
• Ensure recommendations reflect how discovery programs are actually run not theoretical workflows.
• Review and challenge analyses models and conclusions to maintain a high scientific bar.
• Partner closely with Product and ML / AI teams
• Shape prioritization decisions by grounding them in customer impact and discovery realities.
• Act as a scientific bridge between customers and internal development teams.

Lead a core team already in place including a senior medicinal chemist and a forward-deployed scientist both with top-tier academic and industry backgrounds.

Engage comfortably and credibly with leading computational drug discovery scientists at large pharmaceutical companies.

Build trust and credibility through publications talks and direct engagement with the community.

Give concrete actionable scientific direction to application scientists and customer teams.

• 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 including proven impact on drug discovery programs from hit finding through lead optimization.
• Deep practical expertise in structure-based and ligand-based design ADMET modeling and integration of experimental and biophysical data.
• Exceptional understanding of modern ML approaches in drug discovery with sound judgment on where ML materially improves outcomes.
• Strong scientific credibility demonstrated through 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 discovery teams.
• 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.

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

• 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 Days at our Berlin HQ or a different European location (3x a year)

Full-Time