Team Lead, Chemistry (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 a 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 predictive and generative AI models that accelerate scientific discovery at digital speed. Our name reflects the belief in a symmetry between biology and information science. By harnessing AI’s capabilities, we model complex biological phenomena to help design novel molecules, anticipate drug performance, 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 that are critical for disease biology but historically 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 tough problems in drug discovery, collaborating with multiple teams across Isomorphic Labs. We prioritise continued development and learning to build the next generation of drug discovery scientists. We are expanding and investing in our multi-disciplinary Peptides team within Exploratory Sciences, recruiting a number of talented scientists to drive projects toward the clinic. This role is for a Team Lead, Chemistry, specialising in peptides.

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 driving portfolio projects toward the clinic. You will design and execute bold strategies to tackle problems currently considered impossible. Working alongside world-leading AI/ML and Drug Design Platform teams, you will provide scientific expertise and strategic direction to improve the Platform and help solve unsolved drug design problems.

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 in multidisciplinary teams to support data-driven delivery of high-quality scientific solutions. This requires understanding fundamentals of diverse disciplines including ML, Biology, Chemistry and DMPK, and communicating effectively with experts in those fields.
• Manage members of the growing team and CRO resource, mentoring and supporting their development.
• 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.
• 5+ years professional experience in a Chemistry role, either in biotech/pharma or within a Post Doc position.
• Practical experience in the design and synthesis of therapeutic peptides, ideally applying these skills to active drug discovery projects.
• Experience leading a high-performing team, mentoring and empowering people to thrive in their roles.
• Experience coding in Python, or willingness to learn in-role.
• A genuine passion for applying AI/ML to drug design and how this can transform the field.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively in a cross-functional, collaborative environment.
• A track record of creative problem solving with a 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 contributing to structure-based drug design (SBDD) problems.
• Experience 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 strengthen it. Thoughtful —curiosity, creativity and care; Brave —initiative and integrity; Determined —pursuing our goal with urgency and agility; Together —connection and collaboration across fields. We strive to create an extraordinary company and environment where collaboration is fundamental, learning is shared, and every employee feels supported and able to thrive. We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

Hybrid working is important for sharing knowledge and building strong relationships. 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 team). If you have additional needs that would prevent following this approach, we’re happy to discuss them if you are selected for an initial screening call.