Job Introduction
We are looking for:
At Pharmaron we offer:
- Vibrant and dynamic employment – we are a highly specialised, growth company operating in a critical sector of the economy – our future is strong and exciting!
- Opportunities to develop your skills and yourself – our rapid growth brings greater opportunities for you to learn and grow faster!
- A great team where we all support each other – enjoy your work – after all you spend about a third of your time here!
Requirements:
- PhD in Informatics, Cheminformatics, Computational Chemistry, Molecular Modelling or a closely related field.
- Evidence of input to Data Science and/or Cheminformatics support of research, as demonstrated by appropriate papers, presentations, or code contributions to open-source projects.
- Strong in at least one programming language, preferably Python.
- Experience of creating, querying and modifying database resources.
- Strong and demonstrable programming and technical skills and familiar with open source and proprietary scientific libraries e.g. RDKit or other leading industry toolkits.
- Excellent communicator with the ability to effectively contribute to multi-disciplinary scientific teams.
- Experience with software installation/maintenance/interactions in desktop and cloud environments.
- A solid understanding of AI and ML approaches and their application to drug discovery projects
- Experience with machine learning and major machine learning frameworks, especially in the context of cheminformatics.
- Experience in commercial tools, such as those from Schrodinger, ChemAxon, Pipeline Pilot and KNIME.
- Capable of processing and deriving novel insights from large data resources, e.g. AlphaFold, ChEMBL, SureChEMBL, and PubChem.
- Sufficient knowledge of drug discovery to understand the bottlenecks in drug design and how informatics solutions can help solve these.
- Experience with advanced data visualization as well as analysis techniques such as active learning or multi-parameter optimisation.
Key roles and responsibilities:
- Maintain and proactively develop database resources, visualization and associated software as new projects, requirements and software capabilities emerge
- Play an integral role in supporting the efficient and effective transitioning of projects from target identification into active drug discovery projects.
- Contribute to drug discovery projects to which you are assigned in our portfolio working closely with drug discovery scientists.
- Install and/or develop cheminformatics algorithms and implement research prototypes to test their impact on our client drug discovery projects.
- Develop processes and customisable workflows that can be adapted and applied across the drug discovery portfolio.
- Work with drug discovery scientists and translate their feedback into algorithmic improvements.
- Collaborate and communicate effectively with members of the integrated Drug Discovery and the wider scientific and technical groups to deliver on company and client goals.
- Some travel to Pharmaron sites in China and to partner sites will be required.
Our Company: “We are a dynamic, fast-growing company, with an enviable reputation for leading edge science, offering contract research services to some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, solving what were believed to be unsolvable scientific challenges”.
We believe in our ability to relentlessly push forward the boundaries of scientific excellence, delivering solutions for our clients, always operating ethically and with integrity. We take pride in our professionalism and commitment to always deliver our very best work.
Pharmaron acquired the Hoddesdon campus, consisting of several purpose built scientific and administrative buildings together with a purpose built conference area in February 2017. The research building has more than 5,000m2 of premier R&D space and houses an established Process Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry and Drug Discovery teams. In addition, a Formulation Development team was also recently established. The Hoddesdon site has state-of-the-art Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standard facilities for the development of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), Formulation Development (FD) and Process Chemistry (PC).
- We offer a competitive salary and a progressive and comprehensive suite of employee benefits.
- We offer state of the art working environment on site.
- We offer the opportunity for growth and development and will support funding for relevant training and development programmes.
Why Should You Apply?
- This is an opportunity for you as a Cheminformatician professional to make a real impact in a highly scientific and regulated environment, demonstrate leadership, ambition and the desire to grow with the department.
- Build and shape your career in an environment that sets and commits to the highest standards.
- To be part of a team who support each other, embrace and solve technical challenges and put excellence at the heart of all that we do.
Pharmaron is a premier R&D service company supporting the life sciences industry. Founded in 2004, Pharmaron has invested in its people and facilities having established diverse drug R&D service capabilities, ranging from synthetic, medicinal, and analytical chemistry, biology, DMPK, pharmacology, drug safety assessment, radiochemistry and isotopically labelled metabolism, chemical & pharmaceutical development to clinical development. With operations in China, US and UK staffed by over 19,000 employees, Pharmaron has an excellent track record in the delivery of R&D solutions to its partners in North America, Europe, Japan, and China.