Team Lead, Medicinal Drug Design, London, Lausanne

Medicinal Drug Design Lead, London or Lausanne

We are here to advance human health, by re-imagining drug discovery with the power and pace of artificial intelligence.

The future is coming. A future enabled and enriched by the incredible power of machine learning. A future in which diseases are curtailed or cured by better and faster drug discovery. 

Our values exist in service of that future. We think they’ll help us bring it closer, too.

Come and be part of an interdisciplinary team driving groundbreaking innovation and play a meaningful role in contributing towards us achieving our ambitious goals, while being a part of an inspiring and collaborative culture.

The world we want tomorrow is the one we’re building today. It starts with the culture at this company. It starts with you. If this ticks you

About Iso

Isomorphic Labs (IsoLabs) was founded in 2021 and is led by Sir Demis Hassabis. Our aim is to usher in a new era of biomedical breakthroughs and find cures for some of humanity’s devastating diseases.

Our foundations are built on the success of Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold, but we didn’t stop there! We are continuing to develop and implement state-of-the-art technologies as we move towards our goal of dramatically accelerating and improving the process of designing and bringing new medicines to patients.

We have built a world-leading drug design engine comprising foundational AI models that are capable of working across multiple therapeutic areas and drug modalities. The company is continually innovating on model architecture and developing cutting-edge capabilities to advance rational drug design.

About the Medicinal Drug Design Team

We are a growing, dynamic team of medicinal chemists within the Drug Design and Medical Research function. We drive the medicinal chemistry strategy for our internal portfolio and collaboration projects. Crucially, we partner closely with our AI/ML colleagues, using our domain expertise to enhance the Isomorphic Platform and leverage its power to accelerate drug design. We foster a supportive, learning-focused environment where every member is valued, and continuous professional development is a priority.

Your impact 

As part of our expansion, we are seeking an experienced and strategic Medicinal Chemistry Team Lead to join our Medicinal Drug Design Team. This is a pivotal role for a motivated scientific leader eager to shape the future of drug discovery at the intersection of medicinal chemistry and artificial intelligence.

You will provide scientific leadership and strategic direction for key drug discovery projects, guiding them from initiation towards clinical candidate selection. You will also be responsible for line managing and mentoring a small team of talented medicinal chemists, fostering their scientific growth and career development. Working alongside world-leading AI/ML scientists, you will play a critical role in driving project success, enhancing our AI platform through expert feedback, and building a high-performing chemistry team. If you are a skilled medicinal chemist with leadership experience and a passion for applying cutting-edge technology to complex scientific challenges, this role offers an unparalleled opportunity for impact and growth.

What you will do 

• Apply your knowledge and track record of modern drug design / discovery principles and synthetic organic chemistry to execute Drug Design programs, either as a Chemistry Lead or an overall Project Lead. 
• Provide strategic input and technical direction to our AI/ML platform teams. 
• Collaborate both internally and with third party organisations, interacting within multidisciplinary teams, to support data-driven delivery of high quality scientific solutions to complex technical problems. 
• Represent the company externally, interacting with existing and prospective collaborators and Contract Research Organisations (CROs). 
• Manage CRO resource and other members of the growing team, mentoring and supporting their development. 
• Prepare detailed scientific proposals and reports to support new and ongoing programs. 
• Embrace and champion our culture of inclusion and continuous professional development. 
• Provide direct line management for a team of 2-4 medicinal chemists. Set clear goals, provide regular feedback, support their professional development, and foster a collaborative and high-performance team environment.

Skills and qualifications 

Essential:

• PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry or a related technical field, or equivalent experience.
• Solid foundation in medicinal chemistry with a minimum of 8+ years previous industrial experience within a pharma/biotech/CRO setting. 
• Proven track record of leading medicinal chemistry efforts on drug discovery projects, demonstrating significant contributions to project progression (ideally from Hit Identification through to Lead Optimisation/Candidate Nomination).
• Demonstrated experience in line management, mentorship, and developing scientific talent.
• Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities applied to complex drug discovery challenges.
• Experience and expertise working on Lead Optimisation programs, with familiarity of optimisation of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK). 
• Strong strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities applied to complex drug discovery challenges.
• Experience of working with and closely managing CRO resource. 
• A strong track record of scientific achievement, evidenced by publications, patents, and presentations.
• A genuine passion for drug discovery and enthusiasm for the potential of AI/ML to transform the field.

Nice to have:

• Direct experience of working in a Pharma, Biotech or CRO on drug discovery collaborations, ideally in a chemistry or project lead role. 
• Experience of contributing to Structure-Based Drug Design problems. 
• Experience of successful application of fragment-based drug design approaches. 

Excited about this opportunity? We encourage you to apply by Friday, May 23rd, 2025.

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 will continue to strengthen it. 

Thoughtful
Thoughtful at Iso is about curiosity, creativity and care. It is about good people doing good, rigorous and future-making science every single day.

Brave
Brave at Iso is about fearlessness, but it’s also about initiative and integrity. The scale of the challenge demands nothing less.

Determined
Determined at Iso is the way we pursue our goal. It’s a confidence in our hypothesis, as well as the urgency and agility needed to deliver on it. Because disease won’t wait, so neither should we.

Together
Together at Iso is about connection, collaboration across fields and catalytic relationships. It’s knowing that transformation is a group project, and remembering that what we’re doing will have a real impact on real people everywhere.

Creating an extraordinary company

We believe that to be successful we need a team with a range of skills and talents. We're building an environment where collaboration is fundamental, learning is shared and every employee feels supported and able to thrive. We value unique experiences, knowledge, backgrounds, and perspectives, and harness these qualities to create extraordinary impact.

We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis protected by applicable law. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Hybrid working

It’s hugely important for us to share knowledge and build strong relationships with each other, and we find it easier to do this if we spend time together in person. This is why 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 which team you’re in). If you have additional needs that would prevent you from following this hybrid approach, we’d be happy to talk through these if you’re selected for an initial screening call.

Please note that when you submit an application, your data will be processed in line with our privacy policy.

>> Click to view other open roles at Isomorphic Labs