200 staff. Limitless Potential. One team. Cancer Research Horizons.
Group Leader – Medicinal Chemistry
£67,000 - £76,000 plus benefits
Department: Therapeutic Innovation, R&I
Reports to: Vice President of Medicinal Chemistry and DMPK
Location: Scotland Research Institute, Glasgow (Hybrid – minimum 3 days per week on-site)
Contract type: Permanent
hours: Full time, 35 hours per week
Closing date: Sunday 10th May 2026
Interview process: 2 stage interview process, initial screening call via teams followed by an on-site competency-based interview with task.
Interview Date: Approximately w/c 18th May for first stages.
At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.
We currently have an exciting opportunity within our Drug Discovery team for an experienced individual to help lead and drive our Medicinal Chemistry strategy. We are seeking an accomplished scientific and people leader who can articulate a vision for our mission and set direction and inspire commitment for preclinical Discovery.
Reporting directly to the Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry & DMPK, you will set the vision and lead a team, seeking to accelerate novel therapies into clinical development. You will also play a Leadership role in the wider Chemistry department, contributing to the Strategic direction of Chemistry within Cancer Research Horizons.
As a Group Leader in Medicinal Chemistry, you will lead and inspire a high-performing team to provide excellence in synthetic and medicinal chemistry across our small molecule oncology portfolio. The Chemistry Group at the CRUK Scotland Institute has a strong emphasis on early-stage hit identification. Working closely with our co‑located Target Validation Group, the successful candidate will further strengthen this capability while bringing significant late‑stage lead optimisation experience, supporting the progression of our drug discovery programmes towards candidate nomination.
You will be an experienced and passionate leader, able to represent the department across a broad range of therapeutic projects and cross-site initiatives, and externally. You will contribute to, and lead, specific aspects of scientific and technical innovation (including in novel modalities aligned to our strategic direction), incorporating external collaboration and partnership along with internal science builds.
What will you be doing?
Provide Scientific and people leadership to our Chemistry team, to drive innovation and portfolio success.
Work at the intersection between medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, mechanistic pharmacology, structural biology & DMPK, to define and prosecute hit finding strategies that deliver novel chemical equity across a range of challenging target classes.
Contribute to the definition and leadership of departmental strategies
Communicate effectively, to influence multiple stakeholders and collaborate across projects and sites.
Ensure equality and diversity is celebrated and considered as part of all decisions taken.
Manage internal expertise, capacity and resources to drive governance and decision-making regarding scientific portfolio support and technology development.
What are we looking for?
PhD or equivalent in Chemistry with significant experience and expertise in medicinal chemistry in a drug discovery environment.
Proven track record of innovative medicinal chemistry design strategies, and synthetic and medicinal chemistry problem solving within drug discovery projects, especially in the early-stage Hit Identification to Lead Optimisation phase.
Proven track record of portfolio delivery across a range of challenging target classes.
Future-orientated and strategic thinking style.
Excellent team-working skills combined with cross-functional knowledge.
Experience in working in multiple small molecule modalities
Significant experience in recruiting, inspiring and developing a diverse world-class group, and optimising team performance in a highly matrixed discovery project environment.
Strong external reputation in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, evidenced through wide personal network, external presentation and publication in high-impact journals.
Significant experience of establishing and leading external academic and industrial collaborations, and technology change projects, to advance organisational capability.
Track record of delivering results across a diverse project portfolio by driving strategic, scientific, financial and people performance.
Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.
Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination
Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism
Human: Act to have a positive impact on people
Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively
We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.
If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience, we’d still love to hear from you.
What will I gain?
We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.
You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.
How do I apply?
We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively.
For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.
For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.
We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.