Join us.
Principal Medicinal Chemist
The Company
BenevolentAI unites technology with human intelligence to re-engineer drug discovery and deliver life-changing medicines. We have developed the Benevolent Platform®, a drug discovery platform built on powerful data foundations with state of the art machine learning and AI technology. Our technology empowers scientists to decipher the vast and complex code underlying human biology, find new ways to treat disease and personalise medicines to patients. Benevolent has active in-house R&D drug programmes in disease areas such as neurodegeneration, immunology, oncology and inflammation and has research and commercial collaborations with leading pharmaceutical and research organisations. The company is headquartered in London with a research facility in Cambridge (UK) and a further office in New York.
Who we are
We are an eclectic bunch at Benevolent, united by our belief that innovative thinking and purposeful technology can truly change outcomes for the better. Our mission is to re-engineer drug discovery and deliver life-changing medicines for patients in need and we do this by applying AI, machine learning and other advanced technologies to reinvent the ways drugs are discovered and developed. We strive to bring together unique skills and perspectives across biology, chemistry, engineering, AI research, informatics, precision medicine and drug discovery.
The Role
We are looking for an experienced medicinal chemist at Principal Scientist level. As a key part of our Chemical Sciences team, you’ll be responsible for leading a team of internal and CRO chemists on one or more of our Drug Discovery programmes from Hit ID through to Lead Optimisation and Candidate delivery, utilising AI to drive down cycle times and identify the best compounds for progression into the clinic.
The successful Candidate will be working to support small molecule Drug Discovery at our laboratory research facility on the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge (UK). Working with cheminformaticians, computational chemists, AI modellers and drug discovery colleagues you’ll devise creative ways to reimagine the way medicines are discovered.
Primary Responsibilities
- You will be primarily responsible for defining the medicinal chemistry strategy on one or more Drug Discovery programmes, utilising all available tools including our proprietary AI chemistry platform, and managing the work of a team of internal and external CRO chemists.
- With a strong medicinal chemistry background and a broad knowledge of synthetic organic chemistry, you will work as a highly influential member of project teams and may lead project teams, providing clear strategic direction aligned with company goals.
- You will work closely with experts across biology, pharmacology & DMPK as well as machine learning and cheminformatics experts.
- Improve the drug discovery process through proactive and positive problem-solving allowing you to contribute strategically and implement ideas to drive projects forward.
- As well as working within our lab-based team in Cambridge, an additional part of the role could be the efficient synthesis of novel molecules making use of modern practical methods.
- Direct supervision of others will form part of the role and matrix leadership of cross-functional teams may also be required.
- You will establish and maintain close working relationships with Senior Management for project planning, alignment and delivery.
We are looking for someone with
- A PhD or equivalent experience in synthetic organic chemistry or very closely related area.
- 5+ years experience in an industrial setting applying medicinal chemistry expertise to the successful advancement of Drug Discovery projects to important milestones.
- A track record of significant, innovative personal contributions to the progression of drug discovery programmes.
- You’ll have a strong ability to critically analyse and act upon complex datasets across e.g. synthetic chemistry, biological and DMPK data, AI predictions and many other areas.
- Previous line management experience and the ability to motivate and develop team members preferred.
Nice to haves
- Examples of using novel data analyses or AI approaches in compound design or progression would be an advantage.
- Previous project leadership experience would be an added advantage.
Together, we envision a world in which no disease goes untreated. If you are benevolent, curious, want to tackle real world problems and are willing to embrace new ideas, hit that ‘apply’ button and join us.
Important Note
It has come to our attention that unfortunately fraudsters have been falsely offering jobs and set-up fake interviews under the guise of being a Benevolent recruiter. We therefore advise you to be very stringent about who is reaching out to you. Any enquiry from our team will only be made via the email careers@benevolent.ai or an email from this domain @benevolent.ai. Please flag any suspicious contact request to hello@benevolent.ai
