Senior Medicinal Chemist: Drug Discovery & Synthesis Lead

Placements24; Randburg; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Performance bonus

Healthcare cover

Retirement plan

Professional development

Job summary

Placements24 in Randburg, Gauteng, is seeking a Senior Pharmaceutical Research Chemist to join our cutting-edge R&D team. You will drive synthesis, purification, and characterization of novel drug-like molecules, applying advanced analytical techniques.

The role emphasizes design of synthetic routes, SAR-driven optimization, and collaboration with biologists to advance drug discovery projects. A PhD in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry with 4+ years of related experience is required; strong

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, or related discipline.
• Minimum of 4 years post-doctoral or industry experience in synthetic chemistry.
• Hands-on experience in reaction design, execution, and purification.
• Proficiency with spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques (NMR, MS, HPLC).
• Strong understanding of SAR and medicinal chemistry principles.
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute multi-step synthetic routes for novel small molecules.
• Synthesize, purify, and characterize compounds using modern organic techniques.
• Utilize analytical methods (NMR, MS, HPLC, IR) to confirm identity and purity.
• Interpret data and troubleshoot synthetic challenges.
• Contribute to hit-to-lead and lead optimization programs.
• Collaborate with biologists and pharmacologists to advance projects.
• Maintain detailed laboratory notebooks and reports.
• Stay current with literature in organic and medicinal chemistry.
• Assist in evaluating new synthetic methodologies and technologies.
• Contribute to patent applications and scientific publications.

Skills

Post-doctoral/industry experience

Organic synthesis

Medicinal chemistry

Problem-solving

Communication skills

Independent work

Team collaboration

SAR knowledge

Analytical thinking

Parallel synthesis experience

Cheminformatics knowledge

Education

Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry or Medicinal Chemistry

Tools

NMR

MS

HPLC

IR

Job description

Placements24 in Randburg, Gauteng, is seeking a Senior Pharmaceutical Research Chemist to join our cutting-edge R&D team. You will drive synthesis, purification, and characterization of novel drug-like molecules, applying advanced analytical techniques.

The role emphasizes design of synthetic routes, SAR-driven optimization, and collaboration with biologists to advance drug discovery projects. A PhD in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry with 4+ years of related experience is required; strong