Associate Director / Director - Integrated Drug Discovery & Project Leadership

Talentmark; Great Abington; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Nxera Pharma is seeking an Associate Director / Director to lead integrated drug discovery and project leadership at Granta Park, Cambridge. This senior role will guide programmes from target validation through hit identification, collaborating with Biology, Chemistry, DMPK and Informatics.

Reporting to the Head of Molecular Pharmacology, you will provide scientific and people leadership, build a high-performing team, manage portfolios, and drive strategy and milestones across discovery

Qualifications

• PhD (preferred) or MSc in Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology or a related life sciences discipline.
• Extensive, industry-based experience within biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical drug discovery.
• Demonstrated success leading integrated drug discovery programmes.
• Proven experience line managing and developing multidisciplinary discovery science teams.
• Strong understanding of small molecule hit identification and screening strategies.
• Excellent communication, strategic thinking and stakeholder management skills.
• Familiarity with target identification and target validation approaches.
• Ideally with experience in GPCR pharmacology and an understanding of metabolic or endocrine disease.

Responsibilities

• Leading integrated drug discovery projects from target validation through hit identification and lead optimisation in partnership with Biology, Chemistry, DMPK, Translational Sciences and Informatics.
• Provision of scientific leadership for cross-functional project teams, ensuring robust decision making and project progression to ambitious timelines.
• Supporting portfolio governance, prioritisation, forecasting and resource planning.
• Line managing and mentoring multidisciplinary scientists, fostering a culture of scientific excellence, innovation and accountability.
• Building an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing team.
• Providing strategic oversight of small molecule hit identification campaigns using internal and external capabilities.
• Working closely with medicinal chemistry and biology teams to design effective screening cascades and data-driven progression strategies.
• Provide scientific input into target assessment, translational relevance and portfolio opportunities.

Skills

PhD/ MSc in life sciences

Drug discovery leadership

People leadership

GPCR pharmacology (preferred)

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Target identification & validation

Excellent communication

Education

PhD (preferred)

MSc in Pharmacology/ Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology

Tools

GPCR platforms

Job description

Talentmark are working in partnership with Nxera Pharma, to recruit an Associate Director / Director - Integrated Drug Discovery & Project Leadership.

Location:

Granta Park, Cambridge. You will need to be on-site for four days a week.

About the company:

Nxera Pharma is a technology-powered, global biopharmaceutical company advancing next-generation small molecule therapies from hit finding through early clinical development. The company combines deep GPCR biology expertise with structure-based drug design to generate highly differentiated, high-quality molecules with strong translational potential.

Powered by its proprietary NxStar™ platform, Nxera's discovery engine integrates structural biology, receptor pharmacology, computational design, and medicinal chemistry to unlock challenging GPCR targets. This platform-driven approach enables smart molecule design, rapid iteration, and disciplined progression into development.

About the role:

Reporting to the Head of Molecular Pharmacology this senior leadership position will provide scientific, strategic and people leadership across Nxera's discovery portfolio. The successful candidate will lead multidisciplinary scientists, provide project leadership for integrated drug discovery programmes, drive innovation across discovery technologies, and contribute to target identification, target validation and hit identification strategies. The role is intended to provide broad leadership capability across Molecular Pharmacology and Integrated Drug Discovery, ensuring delivery of high-quality assets while developing future scientific leaders.

Responsibilitieswill include:

• Leading integrated drug discovery projects from target validation through hit identification and lead optimisation in partnership with Biology, Chemistry, DMPK, Translational Sciences and Informatics.
• Provision of scientific leadership for cross-functional project teams, ensuring robust decision making and project progression to ambitious timelines.
• Supporting portfolio governance, prioritisation, forecasting and resource planning.
• Line managing and mentoring multidisciplinary scientists, fostering a culture of scientific excellence, innovation and accountability.
• Building an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing team.
• Providing strategic oversight of small molecule hit identification campaigns using internal and external capabilities.
• Working closely with medicinal chemistry and biology teams to design effective screening cascades and data-driven progression strategies.
• Provide scientific input into target assessment, translational relevance and portfolio opportunities.

Skills and Experience:

• PhD (preferred) or MSc in Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology or a related life sciences discipline.
• Extensive, industry-based experience within biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical drug discovery.
• Demonstrated success leading integrated drug discovery programmes.
• Proven experience line managing and developing multidisciplinary discovery science teams.
• Strong understanding of small molecule hit identification and screening strategies.
• Excellent communication, strategic thinking and stakeholder management skills.
• Familiarity with target identification and target validation approaches.
• Ideally with experience in GPCR pharmacology and an understanding of metabolic or endocrine disease.

It is essential that applicants hold entitlement to work in the UK.