Senior Lead Medicinal Chemist — Drug Discovery

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

Benefits offered by this job

Generous performance-based bonuses

Comprehensive health coverage

Job summary

Placements24 is recruiting a Lead Drug Discovery Chemist for a premier pharma research setting in Welkom, Free State. You will guide a team of chemists to design, synthesize, and optimize novel therapies, advancing candidates through the preclinical pipeline in close collaboration with biology, pharmacology, and toxicology teams.

You will use SBDD and computational chemistry to steer synthesis, manage timelines and budgets, and contribute to strategy, publications, and patents in a fast-paced,

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry or Medicinal Chemistry.
• 7+ years of drug discovery experience in pharma/biotech.
• Proven track record advancing drug candidates from hit to lead.
• Extensive experience in modern synthetic organic chemistry techniques.
• Strong SAR/SPR understanding.
• Experience with computational chemistry tools and databases.
• Excellent leadership and communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary research environment.
• Results-oriented mindset.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of medicinal chemists, providing scientific direction and project oversight.
• Design and execute synthetic routes for novel chemical entities with therapeutic potential.
• Optimize lead compounds through iterative cycles of design, synthesis, and biological testing.
• Collaborate with biology, DMPK, and toxicology departments.
• Utilise SBDD and computational chemistry tools to guide synthesis efforts.
• Manage project timelines, budgets, and resources for chemistry activities.
• Ensure high-quality data generation and meticulous notebooks/documentation.
• Contribute to strategic planning of the drug discovery portfolio and identify new research opportunities.
• Prepare reports, publications, and patent applications related to discovery projects.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

Mentoring

Strategic thinking

Project oversight

Education

Ph.D. in Organic/Medicinal Chemistry

Tools

SBDD software

Molecular modelling tools

ChemDraw/cheminformatics

Job description

Placements24 is recruiting a Lead Drug Discovery Chemist for a premier pharma research setting in Welkom, Free State. You will guide a team of chemists to design, synthesize, and optimize novel therapies, advancing candidates through the preclinical pipeline in close collaboration with biology, pharmacology, and toxicology teams.

You will use SBDD and computational chemistry to steer synthesis, manage timelines and budgets, and contribute to strategy, publications, and patents in a fast-paced,