Remote Lead Medicinal Chemist - Drive Drug Discovery

Placements24; Durban; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote work arrangement

Stock options

Performance bonuses

Health insurance

Career growth

Job summary

Placements24 is recruiting a Lead Medicinal Chemist to drive drug discovery from a remote-first hub. You will lead a team in designing, synthesizing, and optimizing novel candidates, guiding SAR studies, and coordinating with biology, pharmacology, and computational chemistry groups in a virtual setting.

This is a senior role demanding strategic leadership and deep synthetic expertise. The role offers a fully remote work setup with Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, ZA as a virtual community anchor,

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry with emphasis on synthetic methodology.
• 8–10+ years in medicinal chemistry within pharma/biotech.
• Proven lead discovery experience from hit to candidate nomination.
• Strong synthetic chemistry expertise and mechanism understanding.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of medicinal chemists in design, synthesis and optimization of novel candidates.
• Develop innovative synthetic routes for complex targets and SAR-driven lead optimization.
• Oversee SAR studies and guide optimization strategies.
• Collaborate virtually with biologists, pharmacologists, and computational chemists.

Skills

Leadership in science

Medicinal chemistry strategy

SAR understanding

NMR/MS data interpretation

Cheminformatics tools

Team mentoring

Scientific communication

Remote collaboration

Education

Ph.D. in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry

Tools

NMR data analysis software

Computational chemistry software

Data interpretation tools

Job description

Placements24 is recruiting a Lead Medicinal Chemist to drive drug discovery from a remote-first hub. You will lead a team in designing, synthesizing, and optimizing novel candidates, guiding SAR studies, and coordinating with biology, pharmacology, and computational chemistry groups in a virtual setting.

This is a senior role demanding strategic leadership and deep synthetic expertise. The role offers a fully remote work setup with Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, ZA as a virtual community anchor,