Senior Pharmaceutical Chemist & Team Lead — Drug Discovery

Placements24; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 1,600,000 - 2,300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Retirement fund with company-contrib

Professional development opportunities

Paid time off and holidays

Career advancement opportunities

Supportive team culture

Job summary

Placements24 in Cape Town seeks a Lead Pharmaceutical Chemist to steer discovery programs and mentor a team of medicinal and synthetic chemists. You will design multistep routes, perform SAR-driven optimization, and collaborate with biology, pharmacology and toxicology teams to advance drug candidates.

The role emphasizes leadership, strategic thinking, and an ability to manage timelines and budgets, with a focus on safety and regulatory compliance.

Qualifications

• PhD in Organic Chemistry or Medicinal Chemistry.
• 7+ years pharma R&D with drug discovery success.
• Extensive experience in asymmetric synthesis and complex molecules.
• Medicinal chemistry design principles and SAR analysis expertise.
• Strong leadership and team management capabilities.
• Excellent problem-solving and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor medicinal and synthetic chemists.
• Design and execute multi-step synthetic routes for novel small molecules.
• Conduct SAR studies to optimize drug candidates.
• Oversee scale-up and process optimization of promising compounds.
• Collaborate with biologists, pharmacologists, and toxicologists.
• Manage project timelines, resources and budgets.
• Ensure compliance with safety and regulatory guidelines.
• Stay current with literature and advances in medicinal chemistry.
• Contribute to IP through patent filings.

Skills

Leadership

Medicinal chemistry

SAR analysis

Problem solving

Communication

Education

PhD in Organic Chemistry

Tools

ChemDBs

Molecular modeling

NMR/MS/HPLC

Job description

Placements24 in Cape Town seeks a Lead Pharmaceutical Chemist to steer discovery programs and mentor a team of medicinal and synthetic chemists. You will design multistep routes, perform SAR-driven optimization, and collaborate with biology, pharmacology and toxicology teams to advance drug candidates.

The role emphasizes leadership, strategic thinking, and an ability to manage timelines and budgets, with a focus on safety and regulatory compliance.