Associate Director, Medicinal Chemist

CK Group are recruiting for an experienced and entrepreneurial Director in Medicinal Chemist, to join a London based start–up biotechnology company on a permanent basis. This is an exciting opportunity to join a fast–paced environment, where you will have a significant influence on company strategy and performance.The Company:Drug discovery biotech company focused on the discovery and development of therapeutics, inspired by naturally–occurring molecules and traditional remedies. On offer is a competitive salary (dependent on experience), pension, private medical, life assurance and stock options.Location:The company is based in London, and offers remote/ hybrid working.The Role:Joining a growing international team, the Lead Medicinal Chemist will lead the discovery and medicinal chemistry efforts, by identifying novel chemical matter, contributing to the company's intellectual property position, and acting as medicinal chemistry expert. You will set the strategy and ensure the execution of deliverables, is in line with the clients short and long–term R&D strategy.Responsibilities:

• Oversee discovery and chemistry clinical research organisations (CROs) and other external resources. This includes active vendor management, compound profiling, and data analysis, interpretation and presentation
• Strategically plan, oversee, and execute discovery activities
• Lead multidisciplinary drug discovery project teams
• Expert for discovery, medicinal chemistry and chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) and formulation activities

Your Background:

• PhD. in Organic Chemistry or Medicinal Chemistry with strong drug discovery experience in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry (8+ years)
• Proven track record of medicinal chemistry successes in, new chemical entity (NCE) library and pro–drug development, hit–to–lead optimisation and delivery of (pre) clinical candidates
• Broad background across aspects of drug discovery, with knowledge of structural biology, computational chemistry, ADME/PK, in vitro assays, and in vivo pharmacology
• Experience in managing chemistry CRO activities and academic collaborators
• Strong project management skills that motivate and inspire others
• Interest in ethnobotanical/plant medicine (desirable)

Apply:It is essential that applicants hold entitlement to work in the UK. Please quote job reference 54266 in all correspondence.