Chemoinformatician

at  Astex Pharmaceuticals

3-YEAR FIXED-TERM CONTRACT

Astex Pharmaceuticals is a world leader in innovative drug discovery and development. The company has successfully applied its proprietary Fragment-Based Drug Discovery platform to generate multiple new drug candidates that are progressing in clinical development. Successful collaborations have led to three launched oncology drugs (Kisqali® partnered with Novartis, Balversa® partnered with Janssen and Truqap™ partnered with AstraZeneca). Astex continues to grow and focuses on Neurological Disorders and Oncology.

DESIRABLE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• PhD or equivalent experience in computational chemistry or a related field
• Software development experience in industry or an academic setting
• Python / JavaScript programming experience, awareness of RDKit or similar chemical toolkits
• Basic understanding of relational databases, especially within a chemical context
• Working knowledge of organic chemistry
• Excellent team working, written and verbal communication skills

THE ROLE

Astex has a strong history in developing web-based applications to support its internal fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) platform and carrying out cutting edge research in this area. We are seeking a talented and highly motivated scientist for a cheminformatics position within our Computational Chemistry and Informatics (CCI) group. This will involve the use of modern cheminformatics and structure-based design methods for designing, implementing, and maintaining tools that help Astex scientists make informed, data-driven decisions.
The ideal candidate will have a PhD (or equivalent experience) in computational chemistry or a related field, with an aptitude for software development, and a keen interest in developing web applications. The successful candidate will contribute to our internal software platform as well as ongoing drug discovery projects, working closely with both scientists and developers to bridge the gap between these areas of expertise. Good communication skills are essential to ensure seamless integration and collaboration within the team and the larger organisation.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, develop and maintain bespoke cheminformatics and database web applications
• Keep abreast of the latest technologies to identify new opportunities
• Provide informatics support for drug discovery programs