Director, Medicinal Chemistry

Exscientia is an AI-driven pharmatech company committed to discovering, designing and developing the best possible drugs in the fastest and most effective manner. Exscientia developed the first-ever functional precision oncology platform to successfully guide treatment selection and improve patient outcomes in a prospective interventional clinical study, as well as to progress AI-designed small molecules into the clinical setting. Our pipeline demonstrates our ability to rapidly translate scientific concepts into precision-designed therapeutic candidates, with more than 25 projects underway. By designing better drugs, faster, we believe the best ideas of science can rapidly become the best medicines for patients.

We are now adding key appointments to our group – Director, Medicinal Chemistry. Reporting to the Executive Director of Medicinal Chemistry (US), this position is integral in building and delivering the Company’s drug discovery pipeline as it executes the next phase of its life cycle. We are looking for proven drug hunters to join our team.

As a senior member of the scientific community, you will be influencing and impacting across projects. Building on you experience you will work with the Executive Director of Medicinal Chemistry (US) to continuously look for ways to improve the effectiveness of project delivery.

Leading drug discovery projects, you will influence and implement the project strategy to deliver the agreed objectives. Moreover, you will work closely with Computational Designers to set overall medicinal chemistry strategy and be responsible for the delivery of lead and candidate milestones.

The influence of this position extends beyond Exscientia’s project portfolio. Suitable candidates will be expected to proactively influence the evolution of our technology platform to identify and define key improvements and areas of opportunity and innovation. In addition, you will have the opportunity to provide input into the selection of potential new targets to support decisions on their inclusion in the Exscientia portfolio (e.g. tractability assessments, hit-finding strategies).
As a seasoned drug hunter, you will also provide mentorship to the next generation of medicinal chemists as they build their careers within Exscientia.

As the Director, Medicinal Chemistry you will have the opportunity to:

• Demonstrate leadership on drug discovery projects, develop a medicinal chemistry strategy in line with the goals of the TPP and collaboratively drive the implementation with the computational design team.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with the colleagues developing the computational platforms as well as design teams to further the development and improvement of computational tools and algorithms.
• Build and manage a focussed team of junior members of the chemistry team, mentoring and coaching the next generation of drug hunters.
• Enthusiastically evaluate and integrate algorithm-derived compound designs.

Requirements

• A Ph.D. in Chemistry or a related field.
• 10+ years’ experience in a drug discovery environment with a proven track record of delivering drug candidates.
• Experience leading cross functional small molecule drug discovery programs from hit selection through lead optimization and into in vivo safety and efficacy studies.
• Experience managing external chemistry resource.
• Experience of drug discovery within the oncology therapeutic area.
• Expert-level knowledge and experience of modern aspects of small molecule optimisation including: quality metrics, computer-aided drug design, the role of physiochemical properties in compound quality, interpretation of in vitro and in vivo PK studies and the key aspects that drive human dose.
• Work and communicate effectively both locally and potentially with external collaborators in spoken and written English.

Desirable Skills:

• Experience with data modelling approaches, e.g. regression and/or classification methods.
• Experience with modern hit identification approaches and data analysis tools.
• Experience in the field of fragment-based lead generation.
• Experience in multiple target classes (e.g. GPCRs, proteases, NHR, kinases).

Benefits

• Work together to make a positive contribution to patients by revolutionising the pharmaceutical industry through AI-driven discovery.
• We will work with you to kick-start or further grow your career – from funding for professional development and conference attendance. To the opportunity to acquire valuable skills, work on probl