Head of Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Design, London (AI Drug Discovery)

Location: London, UK; hybrid model requiring office attendance 3 days per week

Company

hirify.global applies AI and machine learning to drug discovery, building predictive and generative models and a drug design engine for developing novel medicines.

What you will do

• Provide scientific leadership and strategic direction for the medicinal chemistry team and London drug design portfolio.
• Guide chemistry leads through complex scientific challenges and support programs through clinical candidate nomination.
• Manage and mentor a layered organisation of approximately 25 medicinal chemists, setting goals and developing scientific talent.
• Champion an AI-first approach by helping chemists apply AI tools and providing direction to AI platform teams.
• Build effective collaboration across medicinal chemistry, computational drug design, biology, and pre-clinical development.
• Represent the company externally, manage CRO resources, monitor KPIs, and optimise drug discovery workflows.

Requirements

• PhD in synthetic organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, or a related technical field, or equivalent industrial experience.
• At least 10 years of industrial experience in a pharma, biotech, or CRO setting.
• Track record of leading medicinal chemistry efforts from hit identification through lead optimisation or candidate nomination, with familiarity with DMPK optimisation.
• Experience in line management, mentorship, scientific talent development, strategic thinking, and complex decision-making.
• Experience working with and closely managing CRO resources.
• Strong scientific achievements demonstrated through publications, patents, and presentations.

Nice to have

• Experience with fragment-based drug design.
• Experience with structure-based drug design.
• Experience leading large teams and managing through other managers.

Culture & Benefits

• Interdisciplinary collaboration between drug discovery experts and AI/ML specialists.
• Supportive environment focused on scientific growth, shared learning, and continuous professional development.
• Values-led culture centred on thoughtful, brave, determined, and collaborative work.
• Commitment to equal employment opportunities and workplace accommodations where needed.
• Hybrid working with three days per week in the office to support knowledge sharing and collaboration.