Senior Cheminformatics Lead — Drug Discovery Expert

Placements24; Mossel Bay; On-site; ZAR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical aid

Retirement planning

Performance bonuses

Job summary

Placements24 invites applications for a Lead Cheminformatics Scientist at our Mossel Bay, Western Cape facility. This senior role drives drug discovery using computational methods, data science, QSAR modeling, virtual screening and molecular visualization, while shaping the cheminformatics infrastructure and collaborating with medicinal chemists and biologists.

You will mentor junior scientists, present findings to project teams and senior management, and contribute to data management and model

Qualifications

• PhD in Cheminformatics, Computational Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related field.
• Minimum of 6 years of progressive experience in cheminformatics with a focus on drug discovery.
• Expertise in chemical data management, databases, and drawing tools; strong QSAR and ML experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and implementation of cheminformatics strategies for drug discovery.
• Manage and curate chemical databases ensuring data integrity and accessibility.
• Develop QSAR models, ML algorithms, and predictive computational methods.
• Perform virtual screening campaigns to identify lead compounds.
• Collaborate with medicinal chemistry teams to guide design and optimization.
• Analyze large-scale chemical/biological datasets to extract insights.
• Evaluate and integrate new cheminformatics software and technologies.
• Mentor junior cheminformatics scientists and contribute to team development.
• Present findings and recommendations to project teams and senior management.

Skills

Cheminformatics leadership

Data management

QSAR modeling

Machine learning

Programming: Python

Programming: R

Programming: Java

Virtual screening

Medicinal chemistry knowledge

Education

PhD in Cheminformatics or related

Tools

Schrodinger

KNIME

RDKit

Job description

Placements24 invites applications for a Lead Cheminformatics Scientist at our Mossel Bay, Western Cape facility. This senior role drives drug discovery using computational methods, data science, QSAR modeling, virtual screening and molecular visualization, while shaping the cheminformatics infrastructure and collaborating with medicinal chemists and biologists.

You will mentor junior scientists, present findings to project teams and senior management, and contribute to data management and model