Head Computational Chemist - Drug Discovery & Materials R&D

Placements24; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental insurance

Retirement fund

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 seeks a Lead Computational Chemist in Tembisa, Gauteng to helm cutting-edge R&D in catalysis, drug discovery and materials science. You will guide a team, develop state-of-the-art quantum and molecular simulations, and communicate insights to stakeholders.

Strong leadership and a track record of publications are essential. The role requires a PhD and 7+ years of experience in computational chemistry, with expertise in DFT, MD, and high-performance computing environments.

Qualifications

• PhD in computational chemistry or related discipline with strong publication record.
• 7+ years hands-on computational chemistry research; 2+ years in leadership.
• Expertise in quantum chemistry methods (DFT, ab initio) and molecular modeling (MD, MC).

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of computational chemists; provide scientific direction.
• Develop, implement, and validate advanced computational models and algorithms.
• Design and run large-scale molecular simulations and quantum calculations.
• Collaborate with experimental chemists and materials scientists to interpret results.
• Oversee integration of computational tools into drug discovery and materials design.
• Manage projects, timelines, resources and budgets.

Skills

Quantum chemistry

Molecular modeling

MD simulations

Monte Carlo

Python

C++

Data analysis

Team leadership

Education

Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry

Tools

Gaussian

ORCA

LAMMPS

GROMACS

Schrödinger Suite

Job description

Placements24 seeks a Lead Computational Chemist in Tembisa, Gauteng to helm cutting-edge R&D in catalysis, drug discovery and materials science. You will guide a team, develop state-of-the-art quantum and molecular simulations, and communicate insights to stakeholders.

Strong leadership and a track record of publications are essential. The role requires a PhD and 7+ years of experience in computational chemistry, with expertise in DFT, MD, and high-performance computing environments.