Senior Drug Discovery Scientist — Lead Target Identification

Placements24; Mossel Bay; On-site; ZAR 1,800,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Career development

Equity options

Retirement plan

State-of-the-art facilities

Job summary

Placements24 in Mossel Bay seeks a Principal Drug Discovery Scientist to lead early-stage research from target ID through lead optimization. You will mentor scientists, guide experimental design, and drive strategies across biology disciplines.

You will collaborate with medicinal chemistry, DMPK, safety, and translational teams to push transformative therapies forward, while mentoring the team and shaping the research roadmap.

Qualifications

• PhD in Biology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, or related life science discipline.
• 8–10 years of progressive drug discovery experience, leading discovery programs.
• Expertise in target identification, validation, assay development, and lead optimization.
• Proven ability to manage complex biology projects and lead multi-disciplinary teams.
• Strong knowledge of disease biology and therapeutic areas.
• Experience with screening technologies (HTS, phenotypic screening).
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and execution of drug discovery projects from target ID to lead optimization.
• Develop and implement research strategies to validate novel targets.
• Oversee data generation and analysis using molecular biology, cell biology, pharmacology, and HTS.
• Provide scientific leadership and mentorship to a team of scientists.
• Collaborate with medicinal chemistry, DMPK, safety, and translational teams.
• Evaluate literature and technologies to identify new opportunities.
• Present findings to senior management and advisory boards.
• Contribute to patent filings, publications, and regulatory filings.
• Ensure robust experimental design and data integrity.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Mentoring

Communication

Project management

Collaboration

Scientific focus

Problem solving

Education

PhD in Biology/Pharmacology/Biochemistry

Tools

HTS

Phenotypic screening

Job description

Placements24 in Mossel Bay seeks a Principal Drug Discovery Scientist to lead early-stage research from target ID through lead optimization. You will mentor scientists, guide experimental design, and drive strategies across biology disciplines.

You will collaborate with medicinal chemistry, DMPK, safety, and translational teams to push transformative therapies forward, while mentoring the team and shaping the research roadmap.