Technical Lead, Medicines Safety Technologies

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; Royal Borough of Greenwich; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

MHRA invites applications for a senior technical post within the Beyond ADMET: AI for Medicines Safety regulatory sandbox. The postholder will provide specialist scientific leadership across the programme, judging emerging methods, datasets and evidence and ensuring technical workstreams stay on track.

The role covers AI, toxicology, pharmacology and regulatory science with broad stakeholder engagement. Responsibilities include leading evaluation of methodologies, coordinating technical

Qualifications

• Degree in a relevant scientific, technical or healthcare discipline.
• Postgraduate qualification (MSc/PhD or equivalent) in AI, computational biology, pharmacology, toxicology, data science, bioinformatics or pharmaceutical sciences.
• Extensive experience in AI, machine learning, healthcare data science, modelling, toxicology or pharmacology.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams and external stakeholders.
• Experience preparing technical reports, briefings or regulatory submissions.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior scientific and technical leadership for the Beyond ADMET sandbox programme, ensuring robustness and alignment with regulatory objectives.
• Collaborate with Head, AI for Medicines Safety to leverage complementary expertise.
• Lead evaluation of emerging methodologies, datasets and evidence for AI-enabled medicines development and regulatory decisions.
• Provide technical oversight of project activities, ensuring scientific rigour and quality.
• Give expert input into design, delivery and evaluation of sandbox activities and use cases.
• Coordinate technical workstreams and integrate scientific, technical and regulatory activity.
• Monitor deliverables, milestones, risks and mitigations across workstreams.
• Build relationships with technical experts across MHRA, industry, academia and government.
• Represent the programme at meetings, workshops and stakeholder events.
• Translate outputs into regulatory and scientific outcomes and write reports and presentations.
• Contribute to future frameworks, guidance and policy in regulatory science.

Skills

AI & ML

Healthcare data science

Pharmacology

Toxicology

NAMs

Education

MSc/PhD in AI or related field

Job description

This senior technical post sits within the MHRA's Beyond ADMET: AI for Medicines Safety regulatory sandbox, a programme testing how artificial intelligence can change medicines development and safety work. The postholder gives specialist scientific leadership across the programme, judging emerging methods, datasets and evidence and keeping technical workstreams and deliverables on track. The role works alongside the Head, AI for Medicines Safety and covers AI, toxicology, pharmacology and regulatory science, with stakeholder engagement across industry, academia and government. Applications must go through the Civil Service Jobs site.

What the job involves

• Provide senior scientific and technical leadership for the Beyond ADMET sandbox programme, keeping activities robust and aligned with regulatory objectives
• Work with the Head, AI for Medicines Safety so the programme draws on complementary expertise
• Lead evaluation of emerging methodologies, technologies, datasets and evidence for AI-enabled medicines development, safety assessment and regulatory decisions
• Provide technical oversight of project activities, ensuring scientific rigour and quality
• Give expert input into the design, delivery and evaluation of sandbox activities and use cases
• Coordinate technical workstreams and integrate scientific, technical and regulatory activity
• Monitor technical deliverables and milestones, identifying risks, issues and dependencies and proposing mitigations
• Build relationships with technical experts across the MHRA, industry, academia, government and life sciences
• Represent the programme at meetings, workshops, conferences and stakeholder events
• Translate programme outputs into regulatory and scientific outcomes, and write reports, briefings and presentations
• Support AI-enabled regulatory science capability across the MHRA and contribute to future frameworks, guidance and policy
• Deputise for the Head, AI for Medicines Safety at meetings, workshops and stakeholder engagements

Qualifications

• Degree in a relevant scientific, technical or healthcare discipline, or equivalent experience
• Postgraduate qualification (MSc, PhD or equivalent experience) in a relevant field such as AI, computational biology, pharmacology, toxicology, data science, bioinformatics or pharmaceutical sciences

Experience

• Significant experience and recognised expertise in AI and machine learning, healthcare data science and computational modelling, preclinical assessment, toxicology and NAMs, or pharmacology and drug development
• Applying scientific expertise to complex regulatory, healthcare, research or industry challenges, evaluating evidence and turning findings into recommendations
• Working with multidisciplinary teams and engaging external stakeholders, including academia, industry and research organisations
• Preparing technical reports, scientific assessments, briefings, publications or regulatory submissions
• AI model development, validation or deployment in healthcare or life sciences, or ADMET prediction, computational toxicology, modelling and simulation or related disciplines

Skills & knowledge

• Recognised technical expertise in pharmacology, toxicology, drug development, safety science, NAMs or related disciplines, or in AI, machine learning, healthcare data science or related disciplines
• Critically evaluating scientific evidence, AI methodologies, model performance and validation approaches
• Strong analytical skills and interpreting complex scientific, technical and data-driven information
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including explaining highly technical concepts to diverse audiences