Automation Scientist, Biology – Drug Discovery

Your work will change lives. Including your own. We are expanding our in-vitro pharmacology capabilities at our Milton Park site and are seeking a motivated and dynamic early career scientist to join the Biology Automation team and Primary Pharmacology group.

In this role, you will work on a leading-edge automation platform, helping to push laboratory automation towards autonomous science and entirely hands-free assay execution. You will work within the team to ensure that the large-scale automation platform meets its objectives and that all our automated assays are fit-for-purpose and appropriately quality-controlled. You will regularly run biochemical and cell-based screening assays that deliver high-quality data to project teams and learn how to develop and validate new assays. This includes being responsible for analysing and reporting data while providing interpretation and context in project team meetings, as well as troubleshooting any issues with assays and equipment.

In this role, you will:

• Develop and run automated, semi-automated and manual biochemical and cell-based assays, to help drive development of small molecule therapeutics with a focus on compound characterisation and the rapid identification of candidate molecules.
• Implement latest scientific developments and evaluate new technologies.
• Collaborate with cross functional project teams to drive drug discovery programs forward by producing decision making data in a timely manner.
• Engage in continual learning and development, gaining exposure to multiple scientific disciplines and the drug discovery process, from initial target identification through to candidate selection.
• Innovate in a truly leading-edge automation laboratory, pushing the boundaries of drug discovery and laboratory automation.

The Team You’ll Join: You will join the Primary Pharmacology group as part of a small team focused mainly on laboratory automation, but also providing key assay data of our own to project teams. The group provides critical data, driving multiple drug discovery projects within multidisciplinary project teams. We work on a range of target classes that could include kinases, proteases, epigenetic targets, or protein:protein interactions etc. Our work covers indications including but not limited to Oncology, Neurology, and Immunology/Inflammation, often in areas of highly novel biology. These positions are primarily laboratory-based and offer significant scope for personal growth and continual learning across a range of activities dependent on your experience and ambition.

The Experience You’ll Need:

• Education: BSc/HND in Biology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, or a related discipline.
• Technical Knowledge: A good understanding of Enzyme kinetics (e.g., Michaelis-Menten kinetics and mechanism of action studies) and data analysis regarding dose-response relationships.
• Assay Technologies: Practical understanding of biochemical techniques and technologies such as Fluorescence, Luminescence, FRET, and Fluorescence Polarisation (FP).
• Automation Interest: A keen interest in automation, robotics, and laboratory liquid handling.
• Soft Skills: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to communicate technical information to a non-specialist audience.
• Adaptability: Flexible, adaptable, and able to work across multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.

Nice to have:

• Some work experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry.
• Experience of Medium or High Throughput Screening (HTS) and in vitro assay development, assay optimisation and validation.
• Previous use of automation or liquid handling equipment.

Working Location & Compensation: This is a lab-based role in our Milton Park site. Employees are expected to work on-site 100% of the time, with occasional flexibility. At Recursion, we believe that every employee should be compensated fairly. Based on the skill and level of experience required for this role, the estimated current annual base range for this role is £41,000 to £52,000. You will also be eligible for an annual bonus and equity compensation, as well as a comprehensive benefits package.

The Values We Hope You Share: We act boldly with integrity. We are unconstrained in our thinking, take calculated risks, and push boundaries, but never at the expense of ethics, science, or trust. We care deeply and engage directly. Caring means holding a deep sense of responsibility and respect - showing up, speaking honestly, and taking action. We learn actively and adapt rapidly. Progress comes from doing. We experiment, test, and refine, embracing iteration over perfection. We move with urgency because patients are waiting. Speed isn’t about rushing but about moving the needle every day. We take ownership and accountability. Through ownership and accountability, we enable trust and autonomy—leaders take accountability for decisive action, and teams own outcomes together. We are One Recursion. True cross-functional collaboration is about trust, clarity, humility, and impact. Through sharing, we can be greater than the sum of our individual capabilities.

Our values underpin the employee experience at Recursion. They are the character and personality of the company demonstrated through how we communicate, support one another, spend our time, make decisions, and celebrate collectively.