Senior Director - Computational Drug Discovery

Zealand Pharma; Søborg; Hybrid; DKK 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Zealand Pharma is seeking a Senior Director, Computational Drug Discovery to lead a跨-site, world-class team across Copenhagen and Cambridge. You will set vision, drive strategy, mentor scientists, and partner with chemistry, biology, and DMPK to accelerate drug discovery.

You will champion FAIR data, MLops, and LLM integration while shaping research programs and external collaborations to advance peptides, small molecules, and antibodies toward development candidacy.

Qualifications

• PhD in computational chemistry/biology or life sciences with 10+ years of Biopharma R&D.
• At least 2 years of people leadership experience.
• Strong expertise in structure prediction, docking, MD/FEP, and design.
• Experience leading multi-site teams and collaborating across disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a global computational drug discovery team.
• Provide computational leadership for programs and portfolio.
• Advance AI strategy, FAIR data, MLops, and foundation models integration.
• Collaborate with chemistry, biology, and DMPK to drive development.

Skills

Structure prediction

Docking & MD

Pharmacology & DMPK

Generative design

AI/ML in discovery

Education

PhD in computational chemistry/biology

Tools

MD simulations

FEP/TI modeling

Job description

Your new position

As Senior Director, Computational Drug Discovery, you will mentor and grow a global team across two sites — Cambridge, USA and Copenhagen, DK — setting the vision and driving the computational strategy to support Zealand's multi-modal pipeline including peptides, small molecules and antibodies. Partnering closely with Molecular Platform and Medicinal Chemistry teams, you will build the people, processes and advanced computational methods needed to strengthen in-silico validation of hypotheses and prioritize the molecules that get synthesized and tested. This is first and foremost a people leadership role: your success will be measured as much by the team you build and grow as by the science you help advance.

We Offer Exciting Responsibilities

• Build, mentor, and grow a world-class team across Copenhagen, DK and Cambridge, USA, investing in the development of computational scientists while working side by side with medicinal chemists, protein engineers, structural biologists, molecular pharmacologists, PharmDev, and DMPK to ensure that computational science meaningfully shortens the time from concept to development candidate
• Serve as Chemistry Lead or Research Project Leader (RPL) for one or more programs and contribute computational leadership across the wider research portfolio
• Contribute to target evaluation, modality selection, and portfolio prioritization, bringing a computational lens to whether a target is tractable and with what
• Guide your team's contributions to ensure robust progression of candidates, applying clear understanding of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, ADME, immunogenicity, and developability, including computational input into DMPK risk and CMC-relevant properties
• Contribute to Zealand's Research AI strategy and execution, building and contributing to FAIR data foundations, MLops and reproducible scientific computing, LLM integration and agentic orchestration and evaluation, and evaluation, training and deployment of domain specific foundation models
• Cultivate strategic academic, biotech, and tech collaborations, represent Zealand at conferences, consortia, and external innovation forums, and contribute to business development and licensing efforts where computational and chemistry diligence is required

Your profile

You Are An Inclusive, Collaborative Leader Who Combines Deep Quantitative Expertise In Drug Discovery With Strategic Portfolio And Pipeline Focus, And The Ability To Tactically Integrate Emerging And Classical Methods To Develop Innovative Fit-for-purpose Solutions. Beyond Technical Proficiency, You Bring At Least 2 Years Of People Leadership Experience, And You Are Adaptable, Agile, And An Excellent Collaborator Who Thrives In a Fast-moving, Multi-site Environment. You Can Lead a Diverse Team Of Computational Scientists And Influence And Engage With Broad Functional Teams Across Geographies. You Have a Ph.D. (or Equivalent Advanced Degree) In Computational Chemistry/Biology/Structural Biology Or a Relevant Life Sciences Discipline, With 10+ Years Of Biopharma R&D Experience. As a Technical Leader, You Bring Credibility To Guide And Coach Your Team Through Hands-on Expertise In At Least Two Of The Following Areas

• Structure prediction & modeling: co-folding and structure prediction, homology and complex modeling, and integration with experimental cryo-EM and X-ray data, with rigorous evaluation of confidence metrics and their limitations, applied to antibody (CDR-loop prediction, paratope/epitope analysis) and peptide/macrocyclic design, as well as target assessment and druggability
• Structure and ligand based drug design: docking and physics-based modeling (MD, FEP/TI, QM/MM) for relative and absolute binding, with rigorous understanding of the applicability domains of different methods and how to combine approaches where any single method falls short, plus sequence-activity modeling, permeability and half-life analysis for peptides, and embeddings for peptide sequence space
• Pharmacology, ADMET/DMPK and developability prediction: including half-life, solubility, stability, aggregation propensity, immunogenicity risk, developability, and affinity/selectivity analysis
• Generative design: diffusion- and language-model-based protein/binder generation, generating foundation-model embeddings for natural and non-natural peptides, and awareness of adjacent modalities (siRNA, oligonucleotides)

You are an inclusive leader who builds bridges across diverse teams and disciplines, and is passionate about mentoring and developing talent. You understand the key role of computational sciences in driving portfolio strategy and can bring ideas to impact with discipline and urgency. You are technology-forward, with demonstrated adoption of FAIR data principles, and advocate for integrating LLMs and biological foundation models spanning biologics and chemistry space in drug discovery. You understand how to apply machine learning methods to accelerate the DMTA cycle, and how to evaluate published models for calibration, pitfalls/limitations, and performance against qualified benchmarks.

Your new team

This role leads a computational drug discovery team across two sites and reports to the Head of Research AI and Computational Sciences. You will be responsible for leading a team that is willing to push the scientific boundaries, and you will be entrusted with leading innovation while delivering critical pipeline deliverables.

Let's bond and be bold

We have a unique culture, characterized by excellent teamwork and strong engagement across the organization. And we want you to help us strengthen this culture. Making bonds is at the core of everything we do. From discovering and developing the best new peptide drugs for patients, to engaging with our partners or connecting with each other. We bond through curiosity and playfulness as a team, allowing ourselves to challenge common thinking and drive future innovation. Join us and let's bond and be bold.

For further information about the position, please contact Vice President, Research AI and Computational Sciences, Dipen Sangurdekar, [e-mail].

We are committed to an inclusive recruitment process and welcome applications from all job applicants.

About Zealand Pharma A/S

Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company focused on advancing medicines for obesity and metabolic health. Combining more than 25 years of peptide R&D expertise with a proprietary data platform that leverages advanced data-driven and AI/ML approaches, Zealand Pharma aims to lead a new era in obesity and metabolic health. To date, more than ten Zealand Pharma-invented drug candidates have entered clinical development, of which two products have reached the market and three candidates are in late-stage development. The Company has collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for research, development, and commercialization. Founded in 1998, Zealand Pharma is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a U.S. presence in Boston, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.zealandpharma.com.