Preclinical R&D Scientist - Drug Development

Mercor; Greater London; On-site; GBP 83,000 - 124,000; Part time

Job summary

Mercor is partnering with a venture-backed AI lab building frontier AI platforms and physics-based models for chemistry and drug discovery. They seek hands-on preclinical R&D experts across drug modalities to guide what they build.

This hands-on role blends wet-lab and translational experience with AI-driven data science to shape models that inform lead optimization and IND-enabling decisions. Seniority from IC to Director is welcome, with ~10 hours/week.

Qualifications

• Hands-on preclinical R&D experience at in-house biotech; must have
• Core R&D function in discovery biology, chem, protein/antibody engineering, or PK/PD
• Hands-on experience with one or more drug modalities (small molecules, antibodies, peptides, ADCs, etc.)
• 5+ years of relevant industry R&D experience
• Lead optimization or IND-enabling/preclinical development experience (nice to have)
• Experience at mid-sized or emerging biotech outside top-20 pharma (nice to have)

Responsibilities

• Review technical materials and real-world R&D data in your area of expertise
• Label, classify, and annotate data and model outputs to improve performance
• Provide expert input on target/modality selection, optimization, risks
• Help define structure and quality standards for the client's dataset pipeline
• Participate in expert discussions, interviews, and research engagements

Job description

Mercor is partnering with a venture-backed AI lab building frontier AI platforms and physics-based foundation models for chemistry, materials science, and drug discovery. They're extending their platform into new areas of pharmaceutical development and are looking for hands‑on preclinical R&D experts across drug modalities to help guide what they build.

Are you a preclinical R&D scientist who has taken drug programs from the bench toward the clinic — and curious how AI is reshaping drug discovery? This is a hands‑on role that blends your wet‑lab and translational experience with a growing understanding of how scientific data trains the next generation of AI models.

In this role, you'll:

• Review technical materials and real-world R&D data in your area of expertise

• Label, classify, and annotate scientific data and model outputs to improve model performance

• Provide expert perspective on key scientific and development decisions (target/modality selection, optimization, trade‑offs, risk)

• Help define structure and quality standards for the client's dataset pipeline

• Participate in expert discussions, interviews, and research engagements

You're a strong fit if you:

• Have hands‑on, non‑administrative preclinical R&D experience at a company that develops its own drug assets in‑house and has taken programs to the clinic — Must Have

• Work in a core R&D function: discovery biology, medicinal chemistry, protein/antibody engineering, computational, in vivo/translational, pharmacology/PK-PD, toxicology, or CMC/formulation — Must Have

• Have hands‑on experience with one or more drug modalities (small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, peptides, ADCs, bispecifics, mRNA, siRNA, ASOs, PROTACs, molecular glues, cell therapies, gene therapies, radioligand therapies, etc.) — Must Have

• Have 5+ years of relevant industry R&D experience (flexible based on depth)

• Have taken a program through lead optimization or IND‑enabling/preclinical development (nice to have)

• Have experience at mid‑sized, emerging, or resource‑constrained biotech — ideally currently outside the top-20 pharmaceutical companies (nice to have)

This is a hands‑on preclinical R&D role — likely not the right fit if your work is mainly CRO/CDMO services, academic‑only, QC/analytical‑only, clinical‑development‑only, diagnostics, or regulatory/medical‑writing.

Your work will directly feed into the models reshaping how medicines are discovered, helping intelligent systems reason about real-world pharmaceutical R&D.

Here are more details about the role:

• You will interface directly with the client team.

• This is an ongoing, part-time engagement of roughly 10 hours per week.

• Seniority welcome from individual contributor through Director.