Head of Computational Chemistry

Job Title:Head of Computational Chemistry

Location:Hybrid, Cambridge

Salary:Competitive salary and benefits

Description:

We have an exceptional opportunity for an experienced computational chemist and drug hunter to lead the Computational Chemistry team at Nxera Pharma (formerly Sosei Heptares).

This is an exciting position, leveraging the NxWave platform to lead application of computational approaches in drug discovery projects and develop novel, computational methodology, for wider utility. 

COMPANY:

Nxera Pharma is a technology powered biopharma company, in pursuit of new specialty medicines to improve the lives of patients with unmet needs in Japan and globally, focused on therapeutic areas in inflammation diseases, neurology and immunology.

In addition to several products being commercialized in Japan, they are advancing an extensive pipeline of over 30 active programs from discovery through to late clinical stage internally and in partnership with leading pharma and biotech companies including Lilly, GSK, AbbVie, Verily, Neurocrine, Takeda, Genentech/Roche, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Medicxi, Aditum Bio.

This pipeline is focused on addressing major unmet needs in some of the fastest-growing areas of medicine across CNS, GI and immunology, metabolic disorders and rare diseases, and leverages the power of their unique and industry leading GPCR-targeted structure-based drug discovery “NxWave” platform to provide a sustainable source of best- or first-in-class candidates.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

This is an influential leadership post in a highly collaborative environment. The successful applicant will manage a team of computational chemists supporting a diverse portfolio of internal and partnered projects. They will also play an active role as a member of the Discovery leadership team, using their knowledge and experience to contribute to growing the function and influencing R&D and company strategy.

In this role, the successful candidate will:

Ensure scientific excellence of the computational chemistry team through effective line-management and mentoring, supporting delivery of key internal and partnered milestones. Work with key stakeholders across other disciplines in Nxera Pharma to influence R&D strategy and define and execute high quality computational strategies that enhance delivery of projects across the portfolio. Drive continuous growth and development of cutting-edge SBDD & CADD methodologies. Lead implementation of innovative computational solutions (e.g. ML/AI workflows) that add value in the NxWave drug design process. Support growth of our NxStaR Platform Technology by implementation of machine learning and AI approaches for in silico protein design.

QUALIFICATIONS:

As Head of Computational Chemistry you will require:

Demonstrable leadership skills and the ability to lead a team of experienced computational scientists. Track record of impactful contributions within relevant sector(s) including pharma, biotech, academia, CRO. Evidence of broad expertise in computational sciences with an emphasis on structure-based drug design (including GPCRs), ligand- and structure-based virtual screening, cheminformatics, and machine learning. Demonstrable technical excellence in aspects of predictive modelling (AI/ML), such as: QSAR, active learning, molecular generation, etc. Track record of identifying, developing, and applying innovative solutions to scientific and technological problems faced in computational molecular design and in the wider drug discovery organisation. Extensive knowledge of related disciplines (e.g. chemistry, biology, DMPK, safety) with demonstrable evidence of developing and implementing new scientific strategies in collaboration. Proficiency in membrane protein structural modelling using the latest AI implementations. Evidence of influencing project and organisational scientific strategy. Excellent written and oral communication skills and the ability to interact effectively with scientists in other disciplines and external partners with a positive, collegial, collaborative attitude.

BENEFITS:

Competitive salary and benefits package.