Director Drug Discovery, Candidate Center CCA

EURAXESS Ireland; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 68,000 - 86,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

End-of-year bonus 8.3%

Public transport reimbursement

Bike scheme

Pension ABP 70%

GoodHabitz access

Staff associations

Job summary

Amsterdam UMC seeks a Director of Drug Discovery to establish and lead a new Candidate Center CCA, building a state-of-the-art screening lab. You will drive both target-based and cell-based drug discovery with AI support, coordinating cross-disciplinary teams and external collaborations.

You will oversee assay development, identify translational projects, and contribute to securing grants, aiming for a self-sustaining program within three years.

Qualifications

• PhD in (bio)medical sciences or related field.
• Experience in drug discovery or screening (industry/biotech/academia).
• Broad expertise in assay design/validation for target- and cell-based discovery.
• Experience or affinity with AI-supported drug discovery.
• Hands-on experience with biochemical/biophysical assays like SPR/TR-FRET and phenotypic screening.
• Experience with acquiring grants/outside funding.

Responsibilities

• Set up and expand a state-of-the-art drug discovery lab.
• Develop, validate and maintain target-based and cell-based screening systems.
• Run screens according to current international standards.
• Identify projects with high translational potential for drug discovery.
• Contribute to the acquisition of grants and external funding.

Skills

PhD in biosciences

Drug discovery experience

Assay design expertise

Grant funding experience

AI-assisted drug discovery

Education

PhD in life sciences

Tools

SPR

TR-FRET

High-content imaging

Job description

Pharmacological sciences » Clinical pharmacology

Pharmacological sciences » Pharmacy

Biological sciences » Biology

Biological sciences » Laboratory animal science

Organisation/Company Amsterdam UMC Research Field Pharmacological sciences » Clinical pharmacology Pharmacological sciences » Pharmacy Biological sciences » Biology Biological sciences » Laboratory animal science Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Application Deadline 29 Nov 2026 - 22:59 (UTC) Country Netherlands Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Not Applicable Hours Per Week 36.0 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Candidate Center CCA is a new drug discovery lab within Cancer Center Amsterdam (CCA). It aims to identify and develop new drug leads for the treatment of cancer. The goal is to bring these leads to a stage where they can progress into clinical development or be taken further by industry.
The lab covers two complementary screening approaches:

• Target-based drug discovery: biochemical and biophysical assays on validated molecular targets, such as enzyme activity and binding assays (e.g. SPR, TR-FRET or comparable techniques). The aim is to identify and optimize hits with a demonstrable mechanism of action.
• Cell-based drug discovery: phenotypic screening assays, reporter cell lines and high-content imaging in relevant oncology cell models, to capture more complex biological responses and functional effects.

AI-supported drug discovery is a prominent part of this approach, in collaboration with expert groups in this field on campus. Combined with the tumor biology expertise of the research groups within CCA, this allows screens to be focused on the most relevant targets and compounds, and kept limited in scale. Projects are selected together with these groups on the basis of their translational potential.
What the lab will deliver:

• High-quality reporter assays and drugsthat directly enable commercialization or clinical trials
• Projects that lead to patentable composition-of-matter IP, with potential for licensing or spin-out to industry

The position is for 3 years, followed by an evaluation based on the KPI and Go/No-Go framework of the Candidate Center.
This is a new position. As Director Drug Discovery, you will set up and lead Candidate Center CCA, and you will have room to shape the lab yourself. You initiate, coordinate and carry out collaborative screening programs with academic groups across CCA. You are responsible from assay development to hit identification, and you remain involved in hit optimization together with other capacity groups.
Activities include:

• Setting up and expanding a state-of-the-art drug discovery lab within the infrastructure of the Candidate Center and CCA
• Developing, validating and maintaining target-based and cell-based screening systems
• Running screens according to current international standards
• Identifying, together with academic groups, projects with high translational potential for drug discovery
• Contributing to the acquisition of grants and external funding

Within the Translational Management Team, you are ultimately responsible for the funding and execution of the Candidate projects. You will have the opportunity to build Candidate Center CCA into a productive, financially self-sustaining screening center, with its own technical team, that delivers multiple new drug leads. You will work towards this with clear, shared milestones: progress is reviewed annually against the Candidate Center KPIs (external funding, invention disclosures, patent applications, and spin-offs or licenses), with an integral evaluation after three years.

• a PhD in (bio)medical sciences, (bio)chemistry, pharmacology or a related discipline;
• work experience in a drug discovery or screening environment, for example in industry, biotech or an academic screening facility, and an understanding of the full drug discovery trajectory, including hit optimization;
• broad expertise in assay design and validation for both target-based and cell-based drug discoveryExperience or affinity with AI-supported drug discovery, for example to prioritize compounds and keep screens focused;
• hands-on experience with biochemical/biophysical assays (e.g. SPR, TR-FRET) and with phenotypic screening, reporter cell lines and high-content imaging;
• experience with acquiring grants or external funding.

We are looking for the following personality traits:

• a proactive individual who enjoys building a new lab from the ground up;
• someone who takes ownership of both the science and the finances, and delivers on commitments;
• commercially and industry-aware;
• a strong connector who brings together academic groups, AI experts and management around shared projects.

Additional Information

• A new position with room to build and shape a drug discovery lab from the ground up.
• A 1.0 FTE appointment for a period of 3 years. After this period, an evaluation based on the KPI and Go/No-Go framework of the Candidate Center determines whether the contract is extended, for a fixed or indefinite term.
• Classification in salary scale 12: € 6.052 to € 7.684 gross for full-time employment (depending on education and experience). In addition to a good basic salary, we offer 8.3% end-of-year bonus. Calculate your net salary here .
• Holiday hours: 194.4 per year based on full-time employment and possibility to save additional hours.
• 100% reimbursement for public transport travel costs. If you travel by foot, bicycle, or car, a mileage allowance of €0.21 per km applies (up to a maximum of 40 km one way by car).
• Do you prefer walking or cycling? Take advantage of our good bike scheme.
• Pension accrual with the ABP, of which we pay 70% of the premium.
• Free and unlimited access to our online learning environment GoodHabitz.
• An active staff association and Jong Amsterdam UMC association, both of which organize fun (sports) activities and events.