Chemistry Lead (Peptides), London

Isomorphic Labs is applying frontier AI to help unlock deeper scientific insights, faster breakthroughs, and life-changing medicines with an ambition to solve all disease. The future is coming, enabled by the power of machine learning, with diseases curtailed or cured through better and faster drug discovery. Join an interdisciplinary team driving groundbreaking innovation and contribute toward ambitious goals within an inspiring and collaborative culture.

Isomorphic Labs (IsoLabs) was launched in 2021 to advance human health by building on and beyond the Nobel-winning AlphaFold system. Our interdisciplinary team of drug discovery experts and machine learning specialists has built powerful new predictive and generative AI models that accelerate scientific discovery at digital speed. By harnessing AI's powerful capabilities, we can model complex biological phenomena to help design novel molecules, anticipate how drugs will perform and develop innovative medicines to treat and cure some of the world’s most devastating diseases.

Join our expanding Exploratory Sciences team, focused on tackling proteins critical for disease biology that have traditionally been considered intractable. We are a small, multi-disciplinary team within the Drug Design and Medical Research function at Isomorphic Labs. We work at the interface of machine learning, chemical biology and drug discovery to apply our platform to the toughest problems in drug discovery, and we collaborate closely with multiple teams across Isomorphic Labs. We have a strong growth mindset and prioritise continued development and learning as we hope to build the next generation of drug discovery scientists.

This role is for a Chemistry Lead, specialising in peptides. We’re also willing to consider applications from those with PhD experience in peptide design and synthesis but no professional experience yet, as we plan to open junior positions within this team in the near future.

As a member of the Peptides team, you will deliver the development and application of a state-of-the-art peptide design platform. This will involve applying our platform in novel ways and critically driving portfolio projects toward the clinic. You will design and execute bold strategies to tackle problems that are currently considered impossible. Working alongside world-leading AI/ML and Drug Design Platform teams, you will deliver scientific expertise and strategic direction to drive both improvements in the Platform and help solve unsolved drug design problems.

Ready to elevate your scientific career? Isomorphic Labs offers a unique environment to tackle stimulating challenges, push your boundaries and accelerate your personal and professional growth. If you are a skilled and ambitious scientist looking to take the next step in your career, joining Isomorphic Labs will challenge you with novel problems and provide an amazing opportunity for professional growth and development.

What You Will Do

• Apply your state-of-the-art knowledge of peptide design and synthesis to compose novel approaches to long standing challenges in drug discovery.
• Utilise internal AI/ML models to solve challenging drug discovery problems.
• Collaborate internally and with third party organisations, interacting within multidisciplinary teams to support data-driven delivery of high quality scientific solutions.
• Represent the company externally, interacting with existing and prospective collaborators and contract research organisations (CROs).
• Prepare detailed scientific proposals and reports to support new and ongoing programs.
• Embrace and champion our culture of inclusion and continuous professional development.

Skills And Qualifications

Essential

• PhD in Chemistry, or a related technical field, or equivalent industrial experience.
• 3+ years professional experience in a Chemistry role, either operating within a biotech or pharma setting, or within a Post Doc position.
• Practical experience in the design and synthesis of therapeutic peptides, ideally with experience of applying these skills to active drug discovery projects.
• Experience of coding in Python, or a willingness to learn in-role.
• A genuine passion and enthusiasm for applying AI/ML to drug design and how this can transform the field.
• Excellent communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills, with an ability to work effectively in a cross-functional, collaborative team environment.
• A track record of creative problem solving with a strong growth mindset, adaptability, and eagerness to learn new concepts and techniques.

Nice to have

• Experience working with or managing activities at contract research organisations (CROs).
• Experience with peptide screening techniques.
• Experience of contributing to structure-based drug design (SBDD) problems.
• Experience of applying ML methods to drug discovery problems.
• Track record of authorship of relevant scientific manuscripts.

Culture and values

We are guided by our shared values. It’s not about finding people who think and act in the same way. These values help to guide our work and will continue to strengthen it.

• Thoughtful — Thoughtful at Iso is about curiosity, creativity and care. It is about good people doing good, rigorous and future-making science every single day.
• Brave — Brave at Iso is about fearlessness, but it’s also about initiative and integrity. The scale of the challenge demands nothing less.
• Determined — Determined at Iso is the way we pursue our goal. It’s a confidence in our hypothesis, as well as the urgency and agility needed to deliver on it.
• Together — Together at Iso is about connection, collaboration across fields and catalytic relationships.
• Creating An Extraordinary Company — We believe that to be successful we need a team with a range of skills and talents.

We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis protected by applicable law.

Hybrid working — It’s hugely important for us to share knowledge and build strong relationships with each other, and we find it easier to do this if we spend time together in person. This is why we follow a hybrid model, and would require you to be able to come into the office 3 days a week.