Lead Synthetic Organic Chemist — Drug Discovery & Leadership

Placements24; Rustenburg; On-site; ZAR 1,800,000 - 2,600,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary package

Health benefits

Retirement plan

Career development opportunities

Job summary

Placements24 in Rustenburg, North West, ZA, seeks a Lead Synthetic Organic Chemist to guide multi-step syntheses and develop scalable routes for novel therapeutics. You will mentor chemists, design rich synthetic strategies, and collaborate with medicinal chemists to advance drug candidates in a fast-paced R&D setting.

The role demands a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with at least 5 years of experience in pharmaceutical research, strong leadership, and a track record of publications or patents.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry or closely related field is required.
• Minimum 5 years of post-doctoral or industrial experience in synthetic organic chemistry.
• Proven leadership experience managing chemistry projects and teams.
• Strong knowledge of a wide range of organic reactions and methodologies.
• Experience with retrosynthetic analysis and route design.
• Hands-on use of modern spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques.
• Solid understanding of stereochemistry and asymmetric synthesis.
• Track record of publications and/or patents.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage synthetic organic chemistry projects focused on new chemical entities.
• Design and execute multi-step syntheses to access target molecules.
• Optimize reaction conditions to improve yield and purity.
• Develop purification strategies for complex mixtures.
• Troubleshoot challenges and innovate solutions.
• Characterize compounds using NMR, MS, HPLC, IR.
• Collaborate with medicinal chemists on SAR studies.
• Mentor junior chemists and contribute to IP through patents.

Skills

Leadership

Retrosynthesis

Route design

Spectroscopy

Stereochemistry

Publications

Mentoring

Education

Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry

Job description

Placements24 in Rustenburg, North West, ZA, seeks a Lead Synthetic Organic Chemist to guide multi-step syntheses and develop scalable routes for novel therapeutics. You will mentor chemists, design rich synthetic strategies, and collaborate with medicinal chemists to advance drug candidates in a fast-paced R&D setting.

The role demands a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with at least 5 years of experience in pharmaceutical research, strong leadership, and a track record of publications or patents.