Principal AI Scientist in Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences

AstraZeneca; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading pharmaceutical company is seeking a Principal AI Scientist in the UK. This pivotal role focuses on leveraging generative AI to transform drug development processes. The ideal candidate will hold a PhD in natural sciences and possess extensive experience in drug design or pharmaceutical chemistry. Responsibilities include leading AI systems design and collaborating across teams to enhance drug development workflows. Working with us means joining a mission-driven organization focused on life-changing medicines and innovations in healthcare.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Excellent benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• PhD in natural sciences required.
• Several years of experience in drug design or development.
• Expert knowledge in generative AI applied to drug design.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of agentic AI systems.
• Deliver AI-based solutions for drug development.
• Collaborate with scientific and IT teams for integration.

Skills

Generative AI application in drug design

Pharmaceutical chemistry knowledge

Excellent communication skills

Project leadership

Team player

Education

PhD in natural sciences

Job description

Overview

Do you have the expertise and passion to harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) for drug development in the pharmaceutical industry? Join AstraZeneca and use your expertise to implement ground-breaking methodologies, accelerate digital innovation, and help deliver life-changing medicines to patients worldwide.

This isn’t just a role, it’s your opportunity to transform the future of medicine and improve millions of lives.

The role

We are seeking a Principal AI Scientist to join our team in Cambridge or Macclesfield, UK. This role is at the heart of driving agentic AI and cross-departmental digital transformation within Pharmaceutical Sciences. The ideal candidate will have experience deploying graph-based deep learning and/or agentic AI systems in chemistry, drug delivery and formulation science and will be skilled at harnessing and connecting scientific knowledge from complex data.

You’ll leverage your expertise to develop and lead efforts in implementing agentic AI solutions into predict-first driven drug development workflows, bridge experimental and data science, and collaborate with automation specialists to implement self-learning lab concepts. You will help shape our approach to leveraging AI models, design orchestration and prompt engineering strategies, and collaborate to stay at the forefront of fundamental AI developments.

Your core responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of agentic AI systems to facilitate scientific discovery and drive productivity.
• Deliver agentic AI and generative AI-based solutions for drug development tasks.
• Embed within and collaborate across scientific, digitisation, and IT teams to ensure AI-driven solutions are impactful and well-integrated into current workflows.
• Represent the group internally and externally, sharing insights on deploying agentic AI to unlock data-driven value within R&D.
• Foster a scientific culture that connects lab innovation with advanced computational methods, leading to a predict-first mindset in early drug development.
• Collaborate internally and externally to pursue the development of foundation models for Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC).

Essential requirements for the role

• PhD in natural sciences
• Several years of industrial experience in drug design, pharmaceutical chemistry, or drug development
• Expert knowledge in using generative AI applied to drug design and development (e.g., Graph ML and representation learning; agentic AI and orchestration; scientific data integration)
• Domain knowledge in computational chemistry, chemical informatics, and/or laboratory and data workflows (preferred)
• Excellent communication skills, written and spoken; self-motivated team player
• Experience in project leadership
• Demonstrated system-level design and platform thinking
• Demonstrated external reputation (e.g., via internationally recognised publication track record)

Why AstraZeneca

At AstraZeneca, we turn ideas into life-changing medicines and strive to meet the unmet needs of patients worldwide. Working here means being entrepreneurial, thinking big, and working together to make the impossible a reality. The work aims to impact patients globally and advance scientific progress.

Location

Cambridge or Macclesfield, UK

Salary

Competitive + Excellent Benefits

So, what’s next?

Are you ready to join us? Please apply with your CV and cover letter no later than 15 February 2026.

Where can I find out more?

Our Social Media:

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"When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That’s why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn’t mean we’re not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility."

Date Posted: 02-Feb-2026

Closing Date: 15-Feb-2026

Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates perform at their best. If you need any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.