Senior Computational Chemist - Drug Discovery (Hybrid, Pretoria)

Placements24; Pretoria; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Cutting-edge software licenses

Conference attendance

Job summary

Placements24 in Pretoria, South Africa, seeks a Senior Computational Chemist to advance drug discovery using state-of-the-art modeling. This hybrid role blends office and remote days at our Gauteng facility, in a collaborative R&D team.

You will design drug candidates, develop QSAR models, and apply docking, MD, and QM/MM methods. You’ll work with medicinal chemists, biologists, and pharmacologists to translate data into therapies, with Python scripting and HPC experience essential.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computational Chemistry, Cheminformatics, or related discipline.
• Minimum 6 years of post-doctoral or industrial experience in computational drug discovery.
• Strong molecular modeling, simulation, and data analysis capabilities.
• Programming experience in Python; scripting for automation is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Apply computational chemistry techniques to design and optimize drug molecules.
• Develop and validate QSAR and other predictive models.
• Utilize cheminformatics tools for library design, virtual screening, and data analysis.
• Collaborate with medicinal chemists to guide synthesis and interpret results.
• Work with biologists and pharmacologists to understand targets and pathways.
• Analyze large datasets to identify trends and opportunities.
• Develop and maintain databases for structures, properties, and activities.
• Stay current with advancements in computational chemistry and software tools.
• Contribute to patent applications and scientific publications.
• Communicate complex findings to multidisciplinary teams in Gauteng.

Skills

Molecular modelling

Python scripting

Team collaboration

HPC experience

Education

PhD in Computational Chemistry or related

6+ years post-doctoral or industrial experience

Tools

Schrodinger

MOE

Amber

GROMACS

Cheminformatics tools

Job description

Placements24 in Pretoria, South Africa, seeks a Senior Computational Chemist to advance drug discovery using state-of-the-art modeling. This hybrid role blends office and remote days at our Gauteng facility, in a collaborative R&D team.

You will design drug candidates, develop QSAR models, and apply docking, MD, and QM/MM methods. You’ll work with medicinal chemists, biologists, and pharmacologists to translate data into therapies, with Python scripting and HPC experience essential.