Principal Scientist - Medicinal Chemistry

Principal Scientist – Medicinal Chemistry

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About Ignota Labs
Ignota Labs is a multi-award-winning drug turnaround company tackling one of the industry’s biggest bottlenecks: drug safety. Through cutting-edge explainable AI, we identify and resolve toxicity issues in promising drug candidates, unlocking their potential to become safe, effective therapies.

At Ignota Labs, you’ll work at the intersection of computational innovation and real-world drug development. Our mission is ambitious, and we’re building a team of forward-thinking scientists who want to shape the future of drug discovery while accelerating their own career growth.

About The Role

This is not your typical medicinal chemistry role. As a Principal Scientist – Medicinal Chemist, you will lead efforts to fix and optimise in-licensed drug candidates, applying your expertise to address safety and efficacy challenges. You’ll use advanced computational tools, data-driven strategies, and your deep understanding of medicinal chemistry to transform promising molecules into clinic-ready candidates.

Your work will focus on integrating AI-driven insights with experimental data, driving small molecule programmes from hit identification through to lead optimisation and beyond. For chemists ready to step into a leadership role, this position offers substantial opportunities to expand your impact and expertise.

What Makes This Role Unique

• You will critically evaluate prior research, synthesising large datasets to pinpoint the causes of safety and efficacy failures in in-licensed candidates.
• You will design and optimise molecules to overcome safety liabilities, leveraging state-of-the-art computational and medicinal chemistry techniques.
• This role provides a unique opportunity to work with AI-enabled drug discovery technologies, solving challenges that traditional methods cannot.
• Significant growth potential for scientists eager to take on leadership responsibilities in a fast-paced, high-impact environment.

What You’ll Do

• Lead medicinal chemistry efforts across multiple small molecule drug discovery programmes, focusing on addressing safety issues in in-licensed assets.
• Analyse preclinical and clinical data to identify the root causes of molecule failures, designing actionable solutions.
• Use structure-based drug design (SBDD), cheminformatics, and structure-activity relationship (SAR) data to optimise compound properties.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including computational chemists, biologists, DMPK experts, and AI scientists, to drive project success.
• Lead compound design initiatives, applying hypothesis-driven problem-solving to overcome toxicity and efficacy challenges.
• Manage external collaborations with CROs, academic partners, and other stakeholders to support drug development efforts.
• Present programme updates, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership, contributing to strategic decision-making.
• Mentor junior scientists and contribute to building a world-class medicinal chemistry team.

Requirements

Who You Are

A great medicinal chemist for Ignota Labs is not just skilled in compound design but passionate about tackling complex scientific problems. You are:

• Scientifically Driven: Excited to dive into the “why” of a drug’s failure and find innovative ways to address it.
• Strategic and Data-Informed: Comfortable making decisions based on complex, incomplete datasets.
• Collaborative: Skilled at integrating insights from diverse disciplines to inform your work.
• Growth-focused: Eager to take on leadership opportunities and make a lasting impact in a high-growth environment.

What You’ll Bring

• A PhD in Medicinal Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, or a related field with 5+ years of industry experience, or equivalent expertise.
• Proven expertise in small molecule drug discovery, including lead optimisation and hit-to-lead.
• Strong understanding of SBDD, SAR, and computational tools to guide compound design.
• Experience identifying and addressing safety or DMPK challenges in drug discovery.
• The ability to synthesise and interpret preclinical and clinical data to inform compound optimisation strategies.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and a track record of overcoming complex medicinal chemistry challenges.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to present findings to multidisciplinary teams and leadership.

Benefits

What We Offer

• A competitive salary (circa £70k), performance-based bonus, pension, and significant equity in a high-growth startup.
• A collaborative, flexible, hybrid working environment with remote options and tools to support seamless communication.
• Mentorship and opportunities to grow into a leadership role as the company expands.
• Vitality health insurance, including mental health, dental, and optical care.
• The chance to work on cutting-edge science and solve the toughest problems in drug discovery.

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Science

Industries

IT Services and IT Consulting

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