Head of Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Design, London
Isomorphic Labs· DDMR
Hybrid (London)Full-timePosted 5mo ago
About the role
Experienced scientific leader to direct the London Medicinal Chemistry team within Isomorphic Labs, shaping drug discovery strategy at the intersection of medicinal chemistry and AI, delivering projects to clinical candidate nomination and mentoring a large team in a hybrid work environment.
Responsibilities
- Provide scientific leadership and strategic direction for the Medicinal Chemistry team, delivering projects to clinical candidate nomination.
- Direct line management and strategic oversight for ~25 Medicinal Chemists, setting goals and mentoring managers.
- Champion an AI-First Approach, enabling chemists to leverage AI tools and collaborate with AI/ platform teams.
- Foster connectivity between Chemistry, Computational Drug Design, Biology, and Pre-Clinical Development to accelerate clinic pace.
- Represent the company externally and manage CRO resources and KPIs to ensure high-quality, rapid delivery.
- Continuously optimise workflows and challenge traditional medicinal chemistry dogmas, promoting inclusion and professional development.
Qualifications
- PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry or related field, or equivalent industrial experience.
- Minimum 15+ years industrial experience in pharma/biotech/CRO settings with a proven track record leading medicinal chemistry efforts on drug discovery projects (Hit Identification to Lead Optimisation/Candidate Nomination; DMPK familiarity).
- Demonstrated line management, mentorship, and talent development experience.
- Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills in complex drug discovery contexts.
- Experience managing CRO resources.
Skills
Required:Medicinal Chemistry leadership
Benefits
- Hybrid working model with in-person office presence required 3 days per week (Tue, Wed, and one other day)
Last updated Sep 2, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
About Isomorphic Labs
Reimagining Drug Discovery Process with AI
Isomorphic Labs is building a future where frontier AI can help to unlock deeper scientific insights, faster breakthroughs, and life-changing medicines.
AIBiotechnologyDrug DiscoveryPharmaceuticalsliquid-ai-recruiting-target
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