Head of External Drug Discovery Operations, London
Core
Lead external drug discovery and preclinical laboratory activities, bridging wet-lab execution with enterprise data strategy for an AI-first drug design platform.
Role type
Senior leadership (Head of Operations) for externalized wet-lab research
Builds
A modern CRO infrastructure and global Contract Research Organisation (CRO) footprint
Domain
Biopharma R&D, Drug Discovery, AI-driven molecular design
Deliverable
production ML models
Required skills
CRO management, external research program leadership, medicinal chemistry, in vitro/in vivo pharmacology, ADMET workflows, data-centric operational delivery, commercial budget stewardship, team leadership
Preferred skills
AI-first mindset, agentic AI solutions, biologics workflows
Technologies
Automated workflow systems, machine-readable data transfer protocols
Responsibilities
Oversee external drug discovery operations and data quality control; Embed AI-first data architecture with external partners; Establish vendor governance and KPIs; Align internal stakeholders across sites; Evaluate novel experimental platforms; Manage external discovery budget and vendor agreements; Build and mentor a team of CRO leads and managers