← All roles

Head of External Drug Discovery Operations, London

Isomorphic Labs· DDMR
Apply on company site
Hybrid (London)full-timePosted 1w ago

About the role

Head of External Drug Discovery Operations leading externalised drug discovery and preclinical laboratory activities, building and scaling a modern CRO infrastructure for an AI-first drug design platform, and coordinating with global sites to optimise external partnerships, data strategy, and workflow efficiency.

Responsibilities

  • Lead CRO operational strategy and execution: Oversee all external drug discovery and preclinical operations, driving accountability for experimental throughput, data quality control (QC), and end-to-end turnaround times to feed internal computational pipelines.
  • Embed AI-first data architecture: Partner with Data Engineering and Informatics to mandate that external partner deliverables adhere to strict data-generation-by-design standards (standardised schemas, rich metadata capture, machine-readable formats, and direct pipeline integration).
  • Strategic partner governance: Establish vendor selection criteria, governance tiers, and rigorous KPIs. Cultivate collaborative, high-trust relationships with key CROs while enforcing deliverables and rapidly resolving scientific or operational bottlenecks.
  • Internal stakeholder alignment: Partner across London, Boston and Lausanne sites with Heads of Biology, Chemistry, DPC and DMPK/Safety to forecast resourcing demands, balance internal/external capacity, and translate project milestones into actionable external work packages.
  • Evaluate novel platforms and technologies: In collaboration with Business Development and Discovery Leadership, scout, assess, and onboard emerging CRO capabilities and specialised experimental platforms.
  • Commercial and budget stewardship: Collaborate with Procurement, Legal, and Finance to manage the external discovery budget, negotiate MSAs/rate cards, and streamline SOW generation and invoice reconciliation.
  • Build and mentor a talented, motivated team: Recruit, lead, and develop a high-performing team of CRO Scientific Leads, Operations Managers, and Compound Management professionals.

Qualifications

  • Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Chemistry, Biology, Pharmacology, or a related life sciences discipline.
  • Substantial industry track record of biopharma R&D leadership, leading external research, discovery CRO management, or externalised discovery programs within biotech or pharma.

Skills

Required:Pharmacology and discovery leadershipMedicinal/synthetic chemistryData architecture for external researchCommercial and budget managementLeadership and people management
Nice to have:Biologics/Modalities exposure (nice to have)
Last updated Oct 14, 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
Company profileWebsite

More open roles at Isomorphic Labs