Senior Cheminformatics Data Scientist

Aqemia; London; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Aqemia, a pioneering pharmatech company, seeks a Senior Computational Chemist in London to enhance their virtual screening team. The role emphasizes innovative methodologies to improve drug discovery processes and involves extensive analysis of complex datasets for molecular interactions. Ideal candidates will hold a PhD and have substantial experience in the pharma sector, aiming to make a significant impact in critical therapeutic areas.

Benefits

Possibility of 2 remote days per week

Relocation support

French lessons granted if needed

Qualifications

• Must have at least 5 years' experience in pharmaceutical or biotech industry.
• Deep experience in scientific data analysis related to drug discovery.
• Strong background in molecular interactions and SAR.

Responsibilities

• Optimize and advance virtual screening pipeline and methodologies.
• Analyze large datasets for chemical insights.
• Contribute to hit identification through virtual screening campaigns.

Skills

Analytical skills

Data analysis

Python programming

Education

PhD in Computational Chemistry or Biophysics

Tools

RDKit

Job description

About AQEMIA

AQEMIA is a next-gen pharmatech company generating one of the world's fastest-growing drug discovery pipeline.

Our mission is to design fast innovative drug candidates for dozens of critical diseases, such as immuno-oncology.

Our unique approach leverages quantum-inspired physics algorithms to power generative AI in designing novel drug candidates—without relying on experimental data.

We already delivered several drug discovery successes within our internal pipeline and through collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. Our most advanced programs are currently in vivo optimization.

About the Team and the Role

We are looking for a Senior Computational Chemist with deep expertise in molecular interactions, structure-activity data analysis, protein and ligand preparation, and large-scale data interpretation to join our Virtual Screening team. You will be part of the Rocket Launcher team, which is fully dedicated to hit identification through high-throughput virtual screening campaigns.

These campaigns span multiple biological targets and involve screening millions of compounds, requiring both robust infrastructure and cutting-edge scientific methodologies. In this role, you will contribute to the optimization and advancement of our virtual screening pipeline, both in terms of computational strategy and technological stack.

A key part of your responsibilities will be the analysis of large datasets to derive meaningful chemical insights (such as ligand chemical diversity, patentability assessment, and the quality of predicted protein-ligand complexes). You will also be expected to develop and implement new methodologies to improve virtual screening performance (for example in the selection of target structures, or evaluation of docking poses and binding modes).

Your profile

• We are looking for a pragmatic, impact-driven computational chemist with strong analytical skills.

• Must-Have Qualifications:
• PhD in Computational Chemistry, Biophysics with a strong focus on molecular interactions, SAR and molecular property prediction.
• Industry Experience: At least 5 years of experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, or CRO companies, with a focus on computational chemistry for small molecules in the hit identification phase.
• Deep experience in tools like RDKit, etc
• Python programming skills
• Data analysis skills
• Deep experience in scientific data analysis, ideally in drug discovery.

• Nice-to-Have Qualifications:
• Demonstrated experience leading multi-team scientific initiatives.
• Understanding of statistical methods and exploratory data analysis.
• Knowledge of high-performance computing or cloud environments.

At AQEMIA, we believe innovation thrives in the right environment. We’re looking for someone who is:

- Impact-driven & pragmatic: values results that are practical and scientifically rigorous.

- Curious & eager to learn: keen on staying at the frontier of science.

- Motivated by high challenges: enthusiastic about pushing boundaries in drug discovery.

- Team-oriented: thrives in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams.

- Humble & open: welcomes feedback and continuous growth.

Kindly note: We are currently unable to offer visa sponsorship or support visa-related processes for UK-based positions.

Aqemia’s Recruitment team leads all recruitment activities for the company. We will not recognize any notional ownership recruitment companies claim over candidates presented directly to hiring managers without our Recruitment team's consent. Unsolicited resumes sent to us from recruiters do not constitute any type of relationship between the recruiter and Aqemia, and we will not be obligated to pay fees should we hire from those resumes.

Why Join Us ?

At AQEMIA, we work for a mission: joining us means having your own impact on changing the way drugs are discovered, and helping to shape thedirectionof our fast-growing company and team.

Expanding Drug Discovery Pipeline : Focused on critical therapeutic areas like Oncology, CNS, Immuno-inflammation... with in vivo proof of concept/patent stage programs. Collaborations with top Pharma, including a $140M Sanofi deal.

Interdisciplinary Team: brilliant talent from tech and life sciences.

DeepTech Recognition: Part of French Tech 120 and France 2030.

Prime Location : Based in central Paris and London (King's Cross) with the possibility of 2 remote days per week.

International Environment : The work language is English - relocation support and French lessons granted if needed.

Strong Financial Backing : $100M raised from leading European and International investors