Associate Director, Drug Discovery Toxicology

Recursion; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 93,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading TechBio company in London is seeking an Associate Director for Drug Discovery Toxicology. This role involves providing expertise in safety assessments throughout drug development, collaborating with diverse project teams. Candidates should possess a relevant advanced degree and substantial experience in safety sciences. The position offers a competitive salary in the UK, with opportunities for bonuses and equity compensation, and a hybrid working model.

Benefits

Annual bonus

Equity compensation

Comprehensive benefits package

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in safety sciences in the Biotech/Pharma industry.
• Strong background in novel methods for identifying toxicities.
• Experience with in silico and in vitro safety assessments.

Responsibilities

• Lead safety assessments for drug discovery projects.
• Collaborate with project teams to address safety issues.
• Prepare summaries for project teams and senior leadership.

Skills

Expertise in toxicology

Excellent communication skills

Project leadership

Experience with safety assessment

Education

DVM, PharmD, or PhD in relevant field

Board Certification in Toxicology (DABT/ERT)

Job description

Associate Director, Drug Discovery Toxicology

London, England; New York, New York

Your work will change lives. Including your own.

Please note: Our offices will be closed for our annual winter break from December 22, 2025, to January 2, 2026. Our response to your application will be delayed.

The Impact You’ll Make

We are seeking an experienced Drug Discovery Toxicologist who will provide project teams with scientific expertise and leadership for the safety assessment of Recursion programs from early discovery, through to candidate selection and beyond. You will contribute to the assessment and selection of novel drug targets and optimisation of novel candidate molecules using innovative molecular, cellular and in vivo technologies to maximise predictive safety science and investigative toxicology.

In this role, you will:

• Represent Toxicology as the Subject Matter Expert on cross‑functional project teams within Discovery
• Provide expert input, guidance and strategy on project safety assessments, with a specific focus on discovery projects
• Act as a key resource for early safety assessment during the drug discovery phase, providing scientific knowledge and expertise to cross‑functional project teams
• Use established toxicology screening strategies to predict, assess and mitigate target‑ and drug‑related safety risks in support of the drug discovery portfolio
• Refine and implement innovative experimental strategies and use the data to assess and/or provide mechanistic understanding of safety issues
• Collaborate with CROs to ensure best practice for in vitro and/or in vivo safety assessment
• Prepare verbal and written summaries for internal discussions. Work with the Discovery teams to develop optimal strategies to address specific safety issues within the project teams
• Present summary data to project teams, Recursion senior leadership and external partners as needed

The Team You’ll Join

Reporting to the Head of Toxicology, you will have responsibility for the safety assessment of compounds moving through Discovery and into Development. As the Toxicology subject matter expert, you will work collaboratively with project team members across functions including pharmacology, DMPK and chemistry to support progression of compounds through the portfolio.

The Experience You’ll Need

• DVM, PharmD, PhD in toxicology, Pathology, Physiology, Biochemistry or expertise in related biological scientific disciplines with an emphasis on Oncology/Immunology is preferred. Board Certification in Toxicology (DABT/ERT) is a plus
• 7+ years experience in safety sciences in the Biotech/Pharma industry
• Experience in project team membership as a toxicology representative in a matrix environment
• Experience with in silico and in vitro safety assessment is a must; experience with in vivo safety assessment would be an advantage
• An in‑depth knowledge of discovery toxicology, and experience designing and critically evaluating results of exploratory toxicology studies
• Experience of secondary pharmacology assessment would be an advantage
• An understanding of in vitro to in vivo translation of potential toxicities and implications for human safety
• Broad background in novel methods of identifying potential toxicities and developing risk mitigation plans
• Experience with the use of AI tools to predict toxicology endpoints would be an advantage
• Highly motivated scientist, who can work independently, with excellent oral/written communication skills

Working Location & Compensation:

This is office‑based, hybrid role can be based in either our New York City or London office. Employees are expected to work in the office at least 50% of the time. Relocation support can be provided for this role. At Recursion, we believe that every employee should be compensated fairly. Based on the skill and level of experience required for this role, the estimated current annual base range for this role is:

• $182,700 - 229,900 USD for candidates based in the United States
• £93,500 - £109,700 GBP for candidates based in the United Kingdom

You will also be eligible for an annual bonus and equity compensation, as well as a comprehensive benefits package.

The Values We Hope You Share:

• We act boldly with integrity. We are unconstrained in our thinking, take calculated risks, and push boundaries, but never at the expense of ethics, science, or trust.
• We care deeply and engage directly. Caring means holding a deep sense of responsibility and respect - showing up, speaking honestly, and taking action.
• We learn actively and adapt rapidly. Progress comes from doing. We experiment, test, and refine, embracing iteration over perfection.
• We move with urgency because patients are waiting. Speed isn’t about rushing but about moving the needle every day.
• We take ownership and accountability. Through ownership and accountability, we enable trust and autonomy—leaders take accountability for decisive action, and teams own outcomes together.
• We are One Recursion. True cross‑functional collaboration is about trust, clarity, humility, and impact. Through sharing, we can be greater than the sum of our individual capabilities.

Our values underpin the employee experience at Recursion. They are the character and personality of the company demonstrated through how we communicate, support one another, spend our time, make decisions, and celebrate collectively.

More About Recursion

Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX) is a clinical‑stage TechBio company leading the space by decoding biology to radically improve lives. Enabling its mission is the Recursion OS, a platform built across diverse technologies that continuously generate one of the world’s largest proprietary biological and chemical datasets. Recursion leverages sophisticated machine‑learning algorithms to distill from its dataset a collection of trillions of searchable relationships across biology and chemistry unconstrained by human bias. By commanding massive experimental scale — up to millions of wet lab experiments weekly — and massive computational scale — owning and operating one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, Recursion is uniting technology, biology and chemistry to advance the future of medicine.

Recursion is headquartered in Salt Lake City, where it is a founding member of BioHive, the Utah life sciences industry collective. Recursion also has offices in Toronto, Montréal, New York, London, Oxford area, and the San Francisco Bay area. Learn more at www.Recursion.com, or connect onX (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.

Recursion is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, local, or provincial human rights legislation.

Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

Equal Opportunity Employment Information (Recursion)

We are committed to a high‑performing workplace where everyone feels like they belong and can do the best work of their careers. We reward merit and contribution as we strive for a workplace that reflects the communities in which we operate and the patients we intend to serve. To this end, we invite you to self‑identify your race/ethnicity and gender. This information will be kept confidential and will not be used to favor or discriminate against any candidate. It will not be shared with the hiring managers or otherwise considered as part of your application. Submission of this information is voluntary and refusal to provide any or all of the information requested will not subject you to any adverse treatment.