Head of Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Design, 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. A future enabled and enriched by the incredible power of machine learning. A future in which diseases are curtailed or cured starting with better and faster drug discovery. Come and be part of an interdisciplinary team driving groundbreaking innovation and play a meaningful role in contributing towards us achieving our ambitious goals, while being a part of an inspiring and collaborative culture.

About Iso

Isomorphic Labs (IsoLabs) was launched in 2021 to advance human health by building on and beyond the Nobel-winning AlphaFold system. Since then, 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. Our name comes from the belief that there is an underlying symmetry between biology and information science. By harnessing AI’s powerful capabilities, we can use it to 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. We have built a world-leading drug design engine comprising AI models that are capable of working across multiple therapeutic areas and drug modalities. We are continually innovating on model architecture and developing cutting-edge capabilities to advance rational drug design.

About the Medicinal Drug Design Team

We have an established, dynamic team of ~25 Medicinal Chemists in London, who are fundamentally redefining how drugs are designed. By partnering deeply with our AI/ML colleagues, we are doing more than just leveraging the Isomorphic Labs Drug Design Engine - we are actively shaping it. We use our domain expertise to challenge and refine our algorithms, creating a powerful symbiotic relationship that drives our internal and collaborative portfolios. Our team works closely together in a supportive environment, where everyone is valued for their medicinal chemistry expertise and experience they bring to the group. We have a strong growth mindset and prioritise continued development and learning.

Your impact

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Head of Medicinal Chemistry to join our Drug Design team. This is a pivotal role for a motivated scientific leader who is eager to shape the future of drug discovery at the intersection of medicinal chemistry and artificial intelligence. You will provide scientific leadership and strategic direction for the Medicinal Chemistry team, responsible for delivery and guidance of projects to clinical candidate nomination. Additionally, you will oversee and mentor a team of talented Medicinal Chemists, fostering their scientific growth and career development. Working alongside world-leading AI/ML Scientists, you will play a critical role in driving project success, enhancing our AI platform through expert feedback, and developing a high-performing Chemistry team. Critical to this role will be the ability to build highly effective and efficient connectivity with Computational Drug Design, Biology and Pre-Clinical Development teams to accelerate pace to the clinic. If you are a skilled Medicinal Chemist with leadership experience and a passion for applying cutting-edge technology to complex scientific challenges, this role offers an unparalleled opportunity for impact and growth.

What you will do

• Utilise your deep track record of modern drug design to oversee and deliver the London Drug Design portfolio, providing technical portfolio guidance.
• Rather than acting as a hands-on project lead, you will act as a senior advisor, empowering and strategically guiding your Chemistry Leads to navigate complex scientific challenges and drive programs to clinical candidate nomination.
• Provide direct line management and strategic oversight for a growing team of ~25 Medicinal Chemists. You will manage a layered structure, setting clear goals, mentoring your management team, and fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture across the entire department.
• Champion an AI-First Approach, actively ensuring that every chemist in the organisation is empowered and supported in the application of AI tools.
• Collaborate both internally and with third-party organisations, to build highly effective and efficient connectivity between Chemistry, Computational Drug Design, Biology, and Pre-Clinical Development teams to accelerate pace to the clinic.
• Represent the company externally, interacting with existing and prospective collaborators. You will effectively manage large-scale CRO resources and monitor KPIs to maintain high-quality, rapid delivery.
• Constantly look for ways to do drug discovery differently. Optimise workflows, challenge traditional medicinal chemistry dogmas, and champion our culture of inclusion and continuous professional development.

Skills and qualifications

Essential:

• PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry or a related technical field, or equivalent industrial experience.
• Solid foundation in medicinal chemistry with a minimum of 10+ years previous industrial experience within a pharma/biotech/CRO setting.
• Proven track record of leading medicinal chemistry efforts on drug discovery projects, demonstrating significant contributions to project progression (ideally from Hit Identification through to Lead Optimisation/Candidate Nomination, with familiarity of optimisation of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK).
• A genuine passion for drug discovery and a visible desire to move away from "business as usual," coupled with enthusiasm for the potential of AI/ML to transform the field.
• Demonstrated experience in line management, mentorship, and developing scientific talent.
• Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities applied to complex drug discovery challenges.
• Experience of working with and closely managing CRO resource.
• Strong track record of scientific achievement, evidenced by publications, patents, and presentations.

Nice to have:

• Experience of successful application of fragment-based drug design approaches.
• Experience of structure-based drug design.
• Proven track record of leading large teams and managing through other managers.

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. Because disease won’t wait, so neither should we.
• Together: Together at Iso is about connection, collaboration across fields and catalytic relationships. It’s knowing that transformation is a group project, and remembering that what we’re doing will have a real impact on real people everywhere.

Creating an extraordinary company

We believe that to be successful we need a team with a range of skills and talents. We're building an environment where collaboration is fundamental, learning is shared and every employee feels supported and able to thrive. We value unique experiences, knowledge, backgrounds, and perspectives, and harness these qualities to create extraordinary impact. 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 (currently Tuesday, Wednesday, and one other day depending on which team you’re in). If you have additional needs that would prevent you from following this hybrid approach, we’d be happy to talk through these if you’re selected for an initial screening call.