Technology Innovation Lead

Gubra A/S; Hørsholm; On-site; DKK 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Gubra A/S in Denmark seeks a Technology Innovation Lead to build and steer a cross-functional innovation process, turning ideas into evidence-based opportunities from concept to formal projects.

You will evaluate emerging technologies, define testable hypotheses, and guide feasibility studies, collaborating across discovery scientists and managers to shape Gubra's next-gen peptide technologies.

Qualifications

• PhD in life science with 5+ years in drug discovery in pharma/biotech.
• Broad drug discovery knowledge across disciplines and full discovery process.
• Ability to rapidly assess and triage external technologies to needs.
• Structured, execution-oriented with clear go/no-go recommendations.
• Natural relationship builder who earns trust to achieve innovation goals.

Responsibilities

• Lead the early technology innovation portfolio with clear status and rationale.
• Drive a systematic process to identify tech solutions for unmet needs.
• Design and facilitate feasibility sprints for early-stage ideas.
• Collaborate with Search & Evaluation and BD to define tech needs.
• Align the innovation function with department managers across research.

Skills

Strategic judgement

External tech triage

Structured decisions

Relationship building

Innovation in pharma

Education

PhD in Life Science

Job description

Do you want to shape how Gubra builds its next generation of peptide technologies?
At Gubra, we are strengthening how we identify, evaluate and advance new drug discovery technologies. We are looking for a Technology Innovation Lead to establish and drive a cross-functional innovation process that turns promising ideas from across the organization into evidence-based opportunities, from initial concept and feasibility assessment to formal technology projects. This newly created role offers a unique opportunity to shape how Gubra builds the next generation of technologies, enabling innovative and competitive peptide therapeutics.

About the Role

As Technology Innovation Lead, you will join Gubra’s Discovery organization, a team of more than 60 drug discovery specialists, and play a central role in keeping Gubra at the forefront of technologies that enable differentiated peptide therapeutics and expand the addressable target space.

As a scientific leader, you will evaluate emerging technologies, formulate testable hypotheses, and translate promising concepts into focused proof-of-concept studies. You will define the scientific questions, experimental strategy, and success criteria for each feasibility sprint, working closely with specialists across Gubra. Ideas may come from scientists, Department Managers, or external scouting, and your role is to ensure they all find a fair and structured path forward.

We are looking for an experienced drug discovery specialist with broad scientific curiosity, strong strategic judgement, and a keen eye for technologies that can open new possibilities in drug discovery.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the early technology innovation portfolio and maintain the innovation log with clear status, decisions and rationale
• Drive a systematic process to identify technological solutions to unmet drug discovery needs
• Design and facilitate feasibility sprints for early-stage technology ideas
• Collaborate with Search and Evaluation and BD to define technology needs and provide scientific triage of external platforms
• Facilitate alignment between the innovation function and Department Managers across the research organization

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant life science discipline with 5+ years experience from drug discovery in pharma or biotech
• Depth in at least one drug discovery discipline such as medicinal chemistry, molecular pharmacology or pharmaceutical research combined with the scientific breadth to engage credibly across the full discovery process
• Ability to rapidly assess and triage external technologies against strategic and scientific needs
• Structured and execution-oriented with a clear approach to decisions and go/no-go recommendations
• Natural relationship builder who earns trust by making others' innovation goals easier to achieve
• Experience with innovation processes in pharma or biotech is an advantage

About Gubra & Your Team

You will join the newly established Discovery Technologies and Innovation area at Gubra HQ in Hørsholm, Greater Copenhagen, reporting to Jens Christian Nielsen, Director of Discovery Technologies and Innovation.

We work in a welcoming environment built on trust, helpfulness, and a shared desire to break new ground. We strongly believe that teamwork and knowledge sharing lead to better results and a more enjoyable workday. We offer flexible working conditions, and value regular in-person collaboration to accelerate innovation, and boosts team spirit.

Why Join Gubra?

This is a newly created role with the opportunity to build a core innovation capability from the ground up, influence Gubra's future technology strategy, and work across scientific disciplines to translate emerging technologies into tangible drug discovery impact.

For questions about the position, please contact Director of Discovery Technologies and Innovation, Jens Christian Nielsen ([e-mail]).

About Gubra

Gubra is a disease-agnostic techbio company specialized in peptide-based drug discovery and development as well as preclinical contract research services striving for excellence at all levels. We insist on doing things efficiently – and often differently - to reach the results we aim for. Our vision is to become leaders in the path towards a more sustainable and healthier world. We do that by facilitating the discovery of new medicine, and by acting and inspiring others to fight the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises.

Gubra’s activities are focused on the early stages of drug development and are organised in two main highly synergistic business areas: Biotech and CRO Services. We generate our revenue by performing research for life science companies as well as by partnering projects from our discovery and development pipeline.

Our therapeutic focus is within metabolic and fibrotic diseases, and we specialize in in vivo pharmacology, ex vivo assays, drug profiling, histology, stereology and whole brain and organ imaging. In addition, we offer a full palette of advanced transcriptomics. Our ML/AI-driven peptide drug discovery platform streaMLine enables us to rapidly develop a peptide hit into a non-clinical candidate ready for development. Through a constant focus on high quality, scientific excellence, speed, and solid teamwork we have established ourselves as a highly professional and competent partner in the market.

People are our greatest asset, and our team consists of around 300 employees of which many are located in Hørsholm, Denmark. The mix of people from different cultures and educational backgrounds combined with our entrepreneurial mindset have greatly impacted our working environment, which is characterized by entrepreneurial drive, scientific curiosity, and teamwork – we join forces!

Department: Discovery Technologies and Innovation

Deadline: 20 September 2026

Location: Hørsholm Kongevej, 11B, 2970, Hørsholm, Denmark