Associate Director Medicinal Chemistry

About the Company

Relation is a sector-defining TechBio company developing transformational medicines. We leverage single-cell multi-omics, functional assays, and machine learning to drive disease understanding and discover therapies for devastating diseases.

Responsibilities

• Lead medicinal chemistry strategy across discovery programmes to drive scientific and portfolio impact
• Manage medicinal chemistry activities from hit identification through to development candidate selection
• Design and optimise novel chemical matter using structure-based design and multiparameter optimisation
• Partner with cross-functional colleagues in biology, machine learning, translational sciences, toxicology, and DMPK
• Lead and manage external collaborations and CRO partnerships
• Represent medicinal chemistry in project teams, governance forums, and portfolio reviews
• Mentor colleagues and contribute to the growth of discovery capabilities

Requirements

• PhD in medicinal chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, or a related scientific discipline
• Significant experience leading medicinal chemistry programmes in biotech, pharma, or CRO environments
• Proven success progressing drug discovery programmes through lead optimisation to development candidate selection
• Deep expertise in structure-based drug design and multiparameter optimisation
• Experience managing productive collaborations with CROs and external partners
• Strong record of scientific achievement (publications, patents, or molecule progression)
• Excellent communication and influencing skills within a cross-functional, matrixed environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with modalities such as peptides, ADCs, oligonucleotides, or targeted delivery approaches