Senior CADD Scientist

We have an exciting opportunity to join the PharmEnable team and be involved in an important role of delivering our drug discovery programmes. Our mission is to make a difference to patients by developing the next generation of small molecule drugs for challenging diseases.

Who we are: PharmEnable is a drug discovery company using advanced medicinal chemistry and AI approaches to develop highly complex, specific and novel small molecule drugs to treat conditions of high unmet medical need. We are a growing biotech business working on expanding and progressing our drug discovery portfolio.

What your role will be: As a Senior CADD Scientist you are responsible for developing and applying computational methods and workflows to support all aspects of small molecule drug discovery ranging from hit identification to candidate selection. In
this role, you will be critically contributing, alongside other cross-functional project leads, to all aspects of drug discovery by defining and executing the necessary computational strategies to accomplish programme goals. You will:

  • Provide computational support to drug discovery programs from hit identification through lead optimization and ultimately drug candidate selection.
  • Play a central role in the design and definition of computational hypotheses to guide the design of small molecules with improved potency, selectivity, and pharmacokinetic properties.
  • Be curious and innovation driven to actively contributing to the enhancement of our computational platform by identifying, designing and/or implementing new computational models, techniques, and workflows.
  • Be able to work in an interdisciplinary environment with multiple inputs across different scientific areas as chemistry, biology, pharmacology, technology, and computation.
  • Communicate effectively scientific project goals, progress, and outcomes to both project partners and across the organization.
  • Work collaboratively as part of the wider PharmEnable team, contributing to the PharmEnable learning culture and to upholding the company values.

We are interested in: A talented individual with a PhD in computational chemistry, cheminformatics, organic chemistry or a related discipline and a demonstrated track record in computer-aided drug design: structure/ligand-based drug design, cheminformatics, scaffold hopping, molecular docking, pharmacophore, virtual screening, QSAR/QSPR modelling. The prospective candidate is expected to be/have:

  • Experience in supporting and influencing drug discovery projects, from hit identification to lead optimisation.
  • A good working knowledge of drug discovery principles including the fundamentals of medicinal chemistry, assay technologies and disease biology.
  • Comfortable on the Linux command-line.
  • Strong scripting and programming skills (python, bash, awk) are highly desirable.
  • Experience with molecular dynamics simulations (and related techniques like FEP) in an industry setting or at a leading academic institution.
  • Experience with cheminformatics (rdkit, babel) and other molecular modelling packages (ccdc, schrödinger).
  • Familiarity with data science, machine learning/deep learning python packages (pandas, numpy, scikit, tensorflow, keras, etc.) will be a plus.

We are looking for: Someone who is passionate about delivering high quality and innovative science that will ultimately impact patients’ lives. We are a collaborative team, who put great effort into team-work, continuous learning and above all creating a working environment where we embrace each other’s strengths and enable each person to achieve their potential. Your commitment to that way of working will be key.

What we offer: A permanent full-time position and the opportunity to work with a highly motivated team of world-class scientists and business leaders, a flexible approach to working life with the ability to work from home. Originally founded in Cambridge (UK), we are a remote-first company with our team based across a number of different countries. We offer a competitive package and the opportunity for an impactful role within a growing business.

How to apply: To apply for this position please send an email including your CV and Cover Letter to stephanie.sutton@pharmenable.com.

This position will remain open until the right candidate has been found.