Portfolio Leader- Coronavirus Drug Discovery Portfolio

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Portfolio Leader- Coronavirus Drug Discovery Portfolio

The Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) is passionate about tackling unmet medical need for globally important neglected and emerging infectious diseases (including TB, malaria, Chagas disease, coronaviruses), that kill millions of people across the world every year and damage the economies of many low- and middle-income countries.

The DDU a fully integrated “Biotech style” drug discovery organisation with cutting edge facilities (http://www.drugdiscovery.dundee.ac.uk). We work to BioPharma philosophy and standards, incorporating dynamic, goal driven project management based on Target Product Profiles and Compound Selection Criteria. Our team of 110 scientists, has extensive experience within the BioPharma industry, giving us expertise in all aspects of drug discovery. Our rare skill set within an university setting enables us to work with world class Life Sciences research partners and major BioPharma and technology companies from across the world, to improve how high quality drug discovery is carried out for these diseases, to deliver and develop much needed safe and affordable drugs.

We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and expert medicinal chemist to join our team to lead our coronavirus drug discovery programme. Our goal is to deliver novel broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus drugs to help tackle the ongoing and future global threat of coronavirus infections.

As Portfolio Leader, you will use your scientific and organisational "know-how" to deliver candidates for pre-clinical development by leading the programme’s science and setting strategy. You will lead and drive interactions between the programme’s medicinal chemists, biologists, computational chemist and DMPK experts within the DDU team, and our broad range of collaborations (industry and academia) to progress our portfolio of structure-based, computational chemistry driven hit and lead optimisation projects against key coronavirus drug targets

Prior experience of anti-viral drug discovery is not essential; however, you will need to develop an understanding of the biology of coronavirus and resulting diseases; the current treatments, and the drug discovery landscape around the disease.

The position, offers you an opportunity to grow your expertise and track record through having a key role in delivering drug candidates that seek to stop future global emergences, working with multiple partners to identify drug discovery best practice and new approaches, developing your collaboration building and management skills, widening your global scientific presence and contacts, and contributing more broadly to the DDU through wider leadership activities, helping to drive innovation and best practice within the drug discovery approaches of a world-leading university-based drug discovery group.

The role also includes:

• Driving team performance against its goals, deliverables and timelines.
• Overseeing access to in vitro assays; secondary/ functional studies; in vitro toxicological screening; chemistry outsourcing and animal models of disease required to support progression of a portfolio of small molecule drug discovery projects.
• Direct line management including setting goals and deliverables; carrying out appraisals; ensuring appropriate training.
• Reporting on progress both internally, and to collaborators and funding agencies.
• With the DDU’s Finance Officer, monitor spending and assign resources as required by the project.
• Attend quarterly review meetings from other teams within the DDU and contribute ideas and suggestions where appropriate.
• Significant international travel could be required to fulfil this position, when travel restrictions are lifted.

Required attributes include:

• Candidates must be professionally qualified with a PhD in a chemical science related discipline with demonstratable expertise in medicinal and synthetic chemistry design.
• Understanding and appreciation of the drug discovery process, including the interactions between biology, drug metabolism & pharmacokinetics, computational & medicinal and chemistry structural biology.
• Substantial experience of leading successful medicinal chemistry projects in the BioPharma industry or a professional drug discovery environment.
• Evidence of key role taking a project(s) through preclinical candidate selection to clinical candidate selection.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.
• Experience of leadership of multi-disciplinary teams.
• Experience of successful working with collaborators and/or in consortiums.
• Excellent time management, organisational and communication skills.
• A demonstrable ability to work flexibly and to meet project milestones.

The post is available for an immediate start and the appointment will be on an open-ended contract. Salary will be dependent upon experience, but will be between £52,560, and £59,135 (Grade 9).

The Drug Discovery Unit operates on an external funding basis. The Principal Investigators within this unit are highly successful in securing external funding for their multi-disciplinary and highly collaborative research and activities.

For further information about this position please contact Professor Paul Wyatt at p.g.wyatt@dundee.ac.uk.

We are one of the UK’s leading universities – internationally recognised for our expertise across a range of disciplines and research breakthroughs in multiple areas, including science, medicine and engineering, amongst many others. Conveniently located on the banks of River Tay, our main city-centre campus is at the heart of Dundee - an up-and-coming, friendly, compact and affordable city with a rich heritage in design and technology. Find out why Dundee has twice been named ‘the best place to work in Europe’ in a poll of scientists conducted by The Scientist magazine. http://www.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk/

Dundee, set on the east coast of Scotland, lies in an area of outstanding natural beauty, including large sandy beaches and challenging hills. Dundee is also a vibrant cultural centre. Home to the new V&A Dundee, which opened in September 2018 and has received over 1 million visitors; the Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre; Dundee Contemporary Arts; MacManus Gallery and many individual artists.

To find out more about the DDU and Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research and why Dundee is such a great place to work and live please visit wcair.dundee.ac.uk.

The diversity of our staff and students helps to make the University of Dundee a UK university of choice for undergraduate, postgraduate and distance learning. Family friendly policies, staff networks for BME, Disabled and LGBT+ staff, membership of Athena SWAN, the ECU Race Equality Charter and Stonewall as well a full range of disability services, create an enjoyable and inclusive place to work.