Small Molecule Chemist Opportunities Various Levels in Craigavon

Location: Craigavon, Northern Ireland

Hours: 37.5 hours per week, Monday-Friday

Salary: Competitive

Business Unit: Almac Sciences

The Business Unit Almac Sciences provides a wide range of custom synthesis services, technologies and products to the pharmaceutical industry, supporting clients from drug discovery through to commercialisation of new chemical entities. The business offers solutions aimed at accelerating entry into early-stage clinical development and supports the development and manufacture of small molecule and peptide therapeutics.

Within small molecule API development platform at Almac, we deliver intelligent processes to deliver safe, agile and scalable chemistry and API manufacture from early development through to commercial supply, integrating non-GMP and kilo-lab capabilities, cGMP manufacturing in Craigavon, and key technical platforms from specialists in flow chemistry, biocatalysis and physical sciences.

Advancing human health requires exceptional people. Your talent, experience and passion will help us make an exceptional difference to the health of patients around the world.

The Opportunity We are seeking Small Molecule Chemists at various levels to join our Early Phase and Late Phase Chemical Development and Custom and Flow Chemistry teams in Craigavon. These roles will support the design, development, optimisation, intensification, scale-up and delivery of synthetic chemistry and process development activities for small molecule APIs, key intermediates, and related pharmaceutical development projects spanning the preclinical to commercial landscape.

Depending on experience, successful candidates will contribute to client projects ranging from early route scouting and gram-scale synthesis through to process optimisation, kilo-lab transfer, non-GMP manufacture, cGMP manufacturing support, late phase process development and commercial launch. The roles will involve high-quality experimental design and execution, technical troubleshooting / problem solving, clear process documentation generation, strict adherence to cGMP quality systems, strong safety awareness, and effective communication with multidisciplinary project teams and clients.

These opportunities are suitable for candidates ranging from early-career chemists seeking structured development through to experienced chemists capable of providing technical leadership across synthetic, process chemistry and scale-up projects.

Roles Available:

• Graduate Chemist: The Graduate Chemist will perform synthetic chemistry activities under close supervision, while developing theoretical knowledge, practical laboratory capability and an understanding of pharmaceutical process development.
• Chemist: The Chemist will perform high-quality synthetic chemistry to agreed timelines. The role will involve delivery of contract research projects, gram-scale synthesis and process development work prior to the synthesis of larger quantities of target molecules.
• Senior Chemist: The Senior Chemist will undertake the responsibilities of the Chemist role with additional duties, including providing technical input and leadership on assigned projects and actively addressing technical issues as they arise.
• Technical Leader: The Technical Leader will lead synthetic chemistry, process chemistry and scale-up projects for clients to agreed timelines. The post holder will provide technical leadership on assigned projects, address technical issues, and support the successful delivery and transfer of chemistry into manufacturing-relevant environments.

Key Responsibilities:

• Planning, executing and documenting synthetic organic chemistry experiments to support route scouting, route development, process optimisation and scale-up activities.
• Developing robust, scalable and safe continuous or batch processes suitable for transfer into kilo lab, non-GMP or GMP manufacturing environments.
• Performing gram-scale and larger-scale synthesis of small molecule APIs, intermediates, regulatory starting materials and related compounds.
• Troubleshooting synthetic routes, impurity profiles, reaction performance, work-up operations and isolation procedures.
• Supporting process understanding, control strategy development and readiness for manufacturing transfer.
• Working collaboratively with analytical development, project management, manufacturing, quality, engineering, physical sciences and technology teams.
• Applying strong safety, quality and documentation standards in line with pharmaceutical development expectations.
• Preparing clear technical updates, laboratory records, development summaries and project reports.
• For senior-level roles, providing technical direction, mentoring less experienced chemists and contributing to project strategy and risk management.

Candidate Profile:

We are looking for motivated chemists with a strong foundation in synthetic organic chemistry and an interest in pharmaceutical process development. Candidates should be comfortable working in a fast-paced, client-focused technical environment and should demonstrate scientific curiosity, practical problem-solving ability and a commitment to safe, high-quality delivery.

Essential Criteria:

• Degree in Chemistry or a closely related discipline.
• Scientific curiosity and strong organic chemistry knowledge.
• Practical experience in synthetic organic chemistry, either through academic research, industrial placement, postgraduate study or relevant industry experience.
• Ability to plan, execute, analyse and clearly document laboratory experiments.
• Strong awareness of laboratory safety and good scientific practice.
• Effective communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively within multidisciplinary project teams.
• Ability to manage priorities and deliver work to agreed timelines.

Desirable Criteria:

• Postgraduate qualification, or equivalent experience, in organic chemistry, synthetic chemistry, process chemistry or a related discipline.
• Industry-based experience in the synthesis and analysis of organic molecules.
• Experience in process development chemistry, route optimisation, Design of Experiments, scale-up, impurity control, crystallisation or isolation process development.
• Experience in flow chemistry development and integration into manufacturing processes (e.g. flow hydrogenations, flow photochemistry and flow electrochemistry).
• Experience in hazard evaluation of chemical processes.
• Familiarity with GMP, non-GMP or pharmaceutical development environments.
• Experience using analytical data to support reaction optimisation, impurity understanding and process decision-making.
• For senior roles, evidence of technical leadership, supervision, mentoring or project ownership.

Why Join Almac Sciences?

As part of a busy team within a growing organisation operating in a technically challenging industry, successful candidates will benefit from personal and professional development opportunities across the Almac Group. You will contribute to the development and manufacture of small molecule APIs across the product lifecycle, from early phase development through to late phase, process validation and commercial supply.

Recent internal materials highlight Almac Sciences broad experience across preclinical, clinical, registration and commercial projects, supported by technical expertise, project management and quality systems. The role also offers exposure to integrated technology platforms and development capabilities, including flow chemistry, biocatalysis, physical sciences, analytical development and scalable API manufacturing.

Recruitment Agencies: Almac will only accept applications from agencies or business partners that have been invited to work on this role by the Talent Acquisition team. Speculative candidate CVs received or submitted directly to hiring managers will be considered unsolicited, and no fee will be payable.

Closing Date: 5pm Sunday 26 Jul 2026

Skills: Chemistry, API, scale up chemistry, Custom and Flow Chemistry, small molecules

Benefits: Flexible Schedules, Staff Discounts, Employee Referral Bonus, Rewards for Years Of Service, Group Healthcare Scheme, Pension Scheme