Lead Scientist - Cheminformatics

Job Description

Based at Alderley Park, Medicines Discovery Catapult is a national facility connecting the UK community to accelerate innovative drug discovery.We provide unique scientific capabilities and act as a gateway to UK resources and expertise, supporting UK SMEsto drive the development and industrialisation of new approaches for the discovery of new medicines.By validating new ways of discovering medicines and driving key talent and expertise across the sector, we will support the UK life sciences industry, SMEs and innovators to deliver growth for the UK economy and maintain the UKs heritage position as a globalleader in medicines R&D.Ultimately, new industrialised technologies are vital for delivering new medicines to patients, faster.In March 2020 Medicines Discovery Catapult was tasked with the challenge of co-ordinating the creation of the UKs Lighthouse Labs network and delivery of one of those labs, based at Alderley Park.The Lighthouse Labs are the biggest diagnostic lab projectever established in British history.Role purpose:There is now arareopportunity for an expertcheminformaticianto join our research teams which have been established at Alderley Park.The role of theLead ScientistCheminformatics"istoadvance the scientific contribution ofcheminformaticswithinMDC and for our partner organisations,guidingitsstrategyandactivitiesto supportmedicinesdiscovery. Thecheminformaticiansprovide expert insight intothecheminformatics practical needs ofourDiscoverylabscientists,anddevelopinnovative cheminformaticssolutions toaccelerate the success of theUK industry sectortocreatenew therapeutics.The successful candidate willcollaborateclosely withmembers of theBiomedicalInformaticsteam,andwiththeSoftwareEngineering andDataScience teams.This is adynamicroleforanenthusiastic, experiencedindividualwith a passion to impact UK drug discovery success,interestedtoleadcheminformaticsstrategy, andwork collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environmentsupporting translational research projects.The opportunity to join a world-class laboratory team in this high-profile national organisation, while collaborating with SMEs,Biotechsand leading academic institutes and researchers, should provide a fantastic platform for career development.Although the successful candidates place of work will be Alderley Park, there will be no requirement to be in the office 5 days per week.Main duties and responsibilities:

• Shapethe scientific contribution, including line management responsibility,from thecheminformaticiansworking across multiple internal and external translational science projects.
• Lead the cheminformatics strategy of the company.
• Develop collaborative innovationin partnership with world class lab scientists.
• Workwith strategic collaborators to developcheminformaticssolutions.
• Work with thebusinessengagement team to develop and support business opportunities.

Essentialqualifications, experience and knowledge:

• APhDina relevant areaofcomputationalchemistry, cheminformaticsor equivalent degree, along withextensiveexperiencein academic or industrialdrugdiscovery.
• Proven ability inleading and coaching individuals and teams, and in advancing matrix team success.
• Expert understanding ofdrug action, pharmacology andthe drug discovery process, ideally covering both small molecule therapeutics and biological therapeutics.
• Experience gathering requirements, developing software, managing databases, analysing data to provide cheminformatics solutions.
• Expertise in cheminformatics analyses techniques and key application areascoveringareas such astarget analysis, drug properties and databases, lead optimisation and predictive ADMET.
• Existing right to work in the UK

Desirablequalifications, experience and knowledge:

• Experiencein thecommercial sectorofcheminformatics science, ideally in a leadership role.
• Evidence of impact on chemistry design leading to successful lead molecule development.
• A solid foundation in structural biology, biochemistry and medicinal chemistry will be highly valued.

Closing date for applications: Friday 11th February2022