Principal Scientist / Associate Scientific Director – Computational Chemistry

What you will be doing:

• Deliver high‑quality computational chemistry support across drug discovery programmes, from target identification through to clinical candidate nomination
• Apply structure‑based and ligand‑based small molecule drug design methods including docking, QSAR, pharmacophore modelling, virtual screening, MD and QM calculations, to guide medicinal chemistry and solve complex design challenges
• Provide expert guidance to medicinal chemists and multidisciplinary project teams, integrating computational insight with experimental data
• Deliver and interpret high‑quality computational outputs, providing clear, pragmatic recommendations to project teams and clients
• Work seamlessly with medicinal chemistry, biology, DMPK and safety colleagues as a senior scientific partner
• Mentor and develop computational chemists, setting high standards for scientific thinking, quality and integrity
• Contribute to proposals, reports and client interactions, articulating the value of computational chemistry clearly and credibly
• Maintain the highest standards of scientific integrity and continuously develop your technical knowledge

At Associate Scientific Director level, you will also:

• Shape the strategic direction and growth of the computational chemistry service offering
• Act as a recognised subject‑matter expert across the organisation and externally
• Influence capability development, methodology adoption, and long‑term service evolution
• Play a key role in client engagement, proposal strategy, and scientific positioning

About you:

• You will hold a PhD in computational chemistry or a closely related discipline
• You will have significant industrial drug discovery experience within pharma, biotech, or CRO settings
• You will bring strong expertise in structure‑based and ligand‑based small molecule drug design and the practical application of computational tools
• You will be comfortable working in multidisciplinary project teams and communicating complex science clearly
• You will be organised, adaptable, and able to deliver across multiple projects in a fast‑paced environment
• At Associate Scientific Director level, you will also demonstrate clear scientific leadership, strategic thinking, and service‑level influence
• Knowledge of peptide and/or contemporary modality structure-based drug design would be an advantage

What you will get:

In addition to a competitive salary, we provide generous holiday entitlement, a pension scheme with enhanced employer contributions, a health cash plan covering a range of therapy treatments, a cycle to work scheme, a retail discount scheme, death in service benefit, a discretionary bonus scheme, and free on-site parking. You’ll also have access to our BHN Extras platform, offering cashback, discounts, and tech/home purchases via salary sacrifice. Colleague wellbeing is important to us, we offer 24/7 virtual GP access, emotional support services, and a comprehensive wellbeing hub. We’re proud of our inclusive, supportive culture and provide a range of learning and development opportunities to help you grow both personally and professionally.

About [Employer hidden — sign up to reveal]:

[Employer hidden — sign up to reveal] is a multi-disciplined Contract Research Organisation based in the UK providing market-leading scientific services globally. Over the past 25 years, [Employer hidden — sign up to reveal] and its heritage companies have played a pivotal role in guiding numerous clients along their path to clinical success and many of these clients have evolved into enduring scientific collaborators. From our 4 sites across the UK, we provide world-leading expertise to the pharmaceutical, biotech, agrochemical, and material science industries. We have clients across Europe, Asia, and the US, who value our knowledge-based, science-led, and customer-focused approach.

Additional Details

• Department: Chemistry
• Job Title: Principal Scientist / Associate Scientific Director – Computational Chemistry
• Salary: Competitive (depending on experience and scope of leadership)
• City: Chapel-en-le-Frith
• Country: United Kingdom