Senior Expert in Medicinal Chemistry, Targeted Drug Delivery

Are you a medicinal chemist with experience from targeted drug delivery such as identifying receptor ligands and conjugation chemistry to enable drug conjugates to oligonucleotides or small molecules? Would you like to combine your technical expertise with your strategic leadership skills in a global company that is accelerating innovative science and turn ideas into life changing medicines? Join us to discover future treatment of Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic diseases!

Working at AstraZeneca means being entrepreneurial, thinking big and working together to make the impossible a reality. We are committed to the development of next generation innovative medicines and are currently expanding our teams focused on RNA therapeutics and Targeted Drug Delivery for the treatment of diseases across our therapy area.

As part of this expansion, we are now recruiting a scientific leader with passion, expertise and experience in Tissue Targeted Drug Delivery and New Modalities Chemistry. You will have a key role in leading the scientific strategy while working in close collaboration with colleagues from multiple disciplines with expertise in the area of drug conjugates and discovery of novel targeting ligands. The position is placed at AstraZeneca's dynamic R&D site in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM) is one of AstraZeneca´s core therapy areas. Together we push the boundaries of science for patients suffering from Heart Failure, Diabetes or Chronic Kidney Disease. The Medicinal Chemistry Department within Early CVRM is a critical player in the discovery and design of our drug molecules and in identifying and validating novel biological targets. We are agnostic to molecular modality and utilizes an array of therapeutic approaches. We drive our scientific leadership through partnerships and alliances with world specialists which will give you the opportunity to access the most advanced knowledge and tools to stay at the forefront of scientific research. You will be part of a stimulating and collaborative environment where scientific questions are addressed in an innovative and sustainable way.

What you'll do

This is a senior scientific role on Principal Scientist level where you will be an authority in the area of drug conjugates and receptor mediated up-take to specific tissues and cells to impact our future portfolio and drug discovery programs across disciplines, both internally and through collaborations. As a member of the Medicinal Chemistry New Modalities team you will lead and influence the strategy for how we integrate various modalities such as antibodies, peptides, small molecules and oligonucleotide based therapeutics. You will be leading the chemistry and have impact across multiple projects. You will be a strategic leader, seeing the opportunities to innovate at the interface and through combination of various chemical modalities. It will further require an understanding of the therapeutic needs of the CVRM therapy area across disease areas.

As Scientific Leader you will provide a clear communication, ownership of the operational aspects, provide strong influence and ensure an openness and curiosity to innovate. You are expected to build networks with key opinion leaders and academic groups and might evaluate and manage external collaborations and in-licensing opportunities.

Essential for the role

This role requires a Ph. D. degree in Synthetic Chemistry or Medicinal Chemistry, with 10+ years post-doctoral research experience in drug discovery, preferentially from an industrial setting. You are recognized internationally within the field of Targeted Drug Delivery and Drug Conjugates applied to drug discovery as evidenced by your external disclosures and publication record. With your excellent interpersonal, communication and collaboration skills you will have the ability to operate effectively in a multidisciplinary matrix research environment, providing leadership and insight in drug discovery. Prior experience and proven track record of delivery is a must. Key qualities are:

* Expert knowledge with proven track record of design and synthesis of drug conjugates
* Substantial track record of innovation and milestone delivery in drug discovery projects across both early and late discovery phase.
* Strong knowledge in biological processes and experience of when to use various chemical modalities in drug discovery
* Sound knowledge of related pharmaceutical industry disciplines
* Strong influencing skills in order to build capabilities and implement improvements based on new data and learnings in our targeted drug delivery capabilities across disciplines
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including ability to present to senior leaders. Excellent English.

So, what's next?

Are you already imagining yourself joining our team? Good, because we can't wait to hear from you!

Welcome with your application no later than October 25, 2020

Where can I find out more?

Our Gothenburg site: link

Life in Gothenburg: link

Culture and atmosphere of the Gothenburg site: link

Meet Hasse, Chemist at AstraZeneca Gothenburg: link