Lead AI & ML Scientist for Drug Development

UCB S.A.; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

UCB is seeking a Principal Computational Methodologist to join our Advanced Methods and Data Science team, based in Brussels (Belgium), Slough (UK), or Raleigh (US). You will shape how AI, ML, and computational methods support clinical development, biomarker discovery, operational efficiency, and patient experience.

You will guide scientific thinking and build scalable tools that meet scientific, technical, and regulatory expectations.

Qualifications

• PhD in Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, Computational Biology, Statistical Genetics, Mathematics or related field.
• Industry experience in pharma, clinical development, life sciences, or regulated data environments is preferred.
• Proficient in Python or R and able to guide others in practical coding.
• Strong knowledge of supervised, unsupervised, Bayesian, and deep learning methods and their real-world applications.
• Experience with ML infrastructure, reproducible research, Linux/HPC environments, and software or platform development.
• Excellent communication with scientific, technical, medical, and business partners in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team.

Responsibilities

• Lead AI and ML projects addressing clinical development, biomarker, operational, and decision-support needs.
• Design, build, test, and refine modern deep learning models for text, graphs, biological sequences, and clinical data.
• Develop generative AI applications using foundation models and large language models.
• Run rigorous, reproducible AI experiments on internal and public datasets to generate publishable results.
• Partner with engineering teams to package methods into applications, platforms, and scalable validated solutions.
• Mentor colleagues, share knowledge, and represent the team through publications, presentations, and external collaborations.

Skills

Python

R

Deep learning

Bayesian methods

Communication

Education

PhD in Statistics/CS/Engineering/Computational Biology/Genetics/Math

Tools

Linux/HPC

ML infrastructure

Software development

Job description

UCB is seeking a Principal Computational Methodologist to join our Advanced Methods and Data Science team, based in Brussels (Belgium), Slough (UK), or Raleigh (US). You will shape how AI, ML, and computational methods support clinical development, biomarker discovery, operational efficiency, and patient experience.

You will guide scientific thinking and build scalable tools that meet scientific, technical, and regulatory expectations.