Lead Medicinal Chemist

Jazz Pharmaceuticals; Sittingbourne; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Join Jazz Pharmaceuticals as a medicinal chemist in a hybrid role focused on drug discovery and development. In this position, you will lead innovative teams to discover small-molecule therapeutic agents, passionate about improving patient outcomes through advanced chemistry techniques.

Qualifications

• Solid foundation in medicinal chemistry with pharma/biotech/CRO experience.
• Mastery of medicinal chemistry principles and drug design.
• Experience in scientific publications in medicinal chemistry.

Responsibilities

• Lead medicinal chemistry and drug design efforts in project teams.
• Mentor a small team of synthetic & medicinal chemists.
• Coordinate CRO activities related to medicinal chemistry.

Skills

Leadership

Problem-solving

Organic synthesis

Medicinal chemistry

CADD techniques

Team-working

Education

MSc/PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, or Medicinal Chemistry

Tools

ADME/DMPK

Cheminformatics tools

AI/ML-enabled technologies

Job description

This is a hybrid role, where you will be expected to work onsite a least 4 days per week

Job Role:

We are looking for a dynamic, creative and talented medicinal chemist with a strong background in organic synthesis, ADMET/DMPK and cutting-edge CADD techniques, to join our expanding Discovery & Medicinal Chemistry department. Reporting to the Director of Medicinal Chemistry, you will apply your expertise, leadership and guidance to discover and develop novel small-molecule therapeutic agents. You will be working within a patient-focused, science-driven and multi-disciplinary biopharmaceutical environment, covering all stages of the drug discovery process. You will collaborate with scientists from other disciplines within Jazz Pharmaceuticals and with external collaborators to build an innovative portfolio of therapeutics across our exciting and growing oncology and neuroscience pipelines. Working at the forefront of drug discovery you will advance projects from target selection to pre-clinical drug candidates and FiH trials, and contribute to the growth of the medicinal chemistry team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead medicinal chemistry and drug design efforts in multi-disciplinary and highly collaborative project teams to discover and develop novel small-molecule therapeutics for high unmet medical needs.
• Apply your knowledge and technical skills to champion and execute research projects either as a chemistry or project lead.
• Collaborate effectively with other departments and functions to advance research discovery programs expeditiously from hit identification to high quality pre-clinical candidates.
• Lead, manage and mentor a small team of talented synthetic & medicinal chemists, fostering their scientific growth and career development.
• Coordinate CRO activities, providing synthetic and medicinal chemistry expertise and guidance.
• Contribute to the overall corporate medicinal chemistry strategy.
• Present plans and results internally, including at board level, and externally at conferences.
• Contribute to the writing of patent applications and scientific publications.
• Keep up to date with the latest scientific advances and trends in medicinal chemistry to deliver the next-generation therapies.

Requirements & Qualifications:

• MSc/PhD in a relevant scientific discipline (Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry) with a solid foundation in medicinal chemistry built in a pharma/biotech/CRO setting.

• Passion for drug discovery with a deep entrepreneurial and problem-solving attitude.
• Mastery of all the theoretical and practical principles of medicinal chemistry, organic synthesis and drug design.
• Broad knowledge of biophysical, biochemical and cell-based assays used in the early stages of the drug discovery process.
• In depth understanding of the multi-parameter optimization process and ability to integrate disease biology, ADME/DMPK and toxicology data to solve complex drug discovery problems.
• Sound knowledge in cutting-edge cheminformatic tools, AI/ML-enabled technologies and in silico drug design, including both structure- and ligand-based methodologies.
• Excellent leadership, management, organizational and team-working skills, and a talent to deliver project milestones within the expected time frame.
• Demonstrated track record of scientific publications in medicinal chemistry applied to drug discovery.
• Exceptional oral, written and interpersonal communication skills, and ability to develop and grow strong cross-functional collaborations.