VP Head of Therapeutics Design

Job Title: VP head of Therapeutics Design

Job Type: Permanent

Location: Abingdon - UK, Alderley Park- UK or Verona, Italy

Our Company

Evotec is a leader in the discovery and development of novel small molecule drugs with operational sites in Europe and the US. The Company has built substantial drug discovery expertise and an industrialised platform that can drive new innovative small molecule compounds into the clinic. In addition, Evotec has built a deep internal knowledge base in the treatment of diseases related to neuroscience, pain, oncology, inflammation and metabolic diseases. Leveraging these skills and expertise the Company intends to develop best-in-class differentiated therapeutics and deliver superior science-driven discovery alliances with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies

Purpose of the role

• The Vice President, Head of Therapeutics Design is the single accountable owner of Evotec’s in silico therapeutics design capability, bringing computational chemistry, generative and modality design (small molecule, peptide, protein engineering, targeted degraders and molecular glues) and predictive ADMET/Safety together under one mandate. 

• The role exists at the point where chemistry meets biology at scale. Evotec pairs deep computational chemistry with proprietary patient-derived multi-omics and real experimental safety and toxicology data, a combination that software-only and biology-only competitors cannot replicate. The role holder makes chemistry decisions demonstrably better by grounding them in that data, rather than competing in commoditising standalone generative design. 

• This is a newly created unit within the In Silico & AI group, and the role carries an explicit build mandate: set the technical vision, shape and grow the team, and industrialise the capability. It comes with executive sponsorshipa consolidated AI and engineering capability to draw on, and a direct reporting line to the EVP, Head of Global In Silico & AI. 

Core accountabilities

• Set and own the technical vision for therapeutics design across small molecule, peptide, protein engineering and targeted degradation, and translate it into an operating model, a methods roadmap and clear delivery standards for the unit 

• Own ADMET/Safety as a strategic pillar in its own right: predictive safety and toxicology grounded in real experimental outcomes data, resourced and governed as a capability rather than as a sub-task of design 

• Ensure design decisions are informed by patient-derived multi-omics and disease context in close partnership with Computational Biology, so that chemistry starts from validated target biology, and act as decision authority for interface and prioritisation questions across the science units 

• Deliver the unit’s contribution to the named joint flagship programmes orchestrated by Strategy & Portfolio, working to shared roadmaps with accountable delivery, schedule and quality 

• Industrialise the capability by moving from project-by-project effort to repeatable, validated and benchmarked methods that scale across partner programmes, with clear measures of predictive performance and impact on cycle time 

• Build, develop and retain the team: hire and elevate senior scientific talent across sites, set technical and career development paths, and create the conditions for scientists to do their best work 

• Enable commercial value by supporting strategic partnership deals, model-training partnerships and asset licensing, and by evidencing in-silico attributed value together with Strategy & Portfolio and Commercial 

• Act as a senior scientific and external voice for Evotec therapeutics design through partner and KOL engagement, publications and conferences, building recognition as a partner of choice in AI-powered drug discovery 

Capability, Knowledge and Experience:

• Deep expertise in computational and/or medicinal chemistry, with hands-on command of structure-based and ligand-based design: docking, pharmacophore and QSAR modelling, molecular dynamics, and free energy methods such as FEP 

• Working command of generative and predictive molecular design: generative models for molecule and sequence design, together with active learning and Bayesian optimisation applied to design-make-test-analyse cycles 

• Depth in at least one modality beyond small molecule (peptide, protein engineering, or targeted degraders), and the credibility to set technical direction across the others 

• Strong command of predictive ADMET, safety and toxicology modelling, including model validation, applicability domain, and the translation of predictions into project decisions 

• Familiarity with protein structure prediction and modelling and its limitations (for example AlphaFold-class methods), and with protein-protein interface or ternary complex modelling for degraders and molecular glues 

• Practical understanding of modern machine learning in drug discovery: molecular and protein representation learning, uncertainty quantification, and the discipline of prospective benchmarking 

• Comfort in the software and data environment of computational chemistry: cheminformatics toolkits (for example RDKit), scientific Python, cloud and high-performance compute, and reproducible workflows 

• Ability to work from biology rather than within a chemistry silo, using target biology, multi-omics and translational data to frame design questions 

• Track record of building and leading distributed scientific teams through change, including hiring, elevating and retaining senior scientific talent across multiple sites 

• Excellent executive-level communication and influencing skills, credible with partners, KOLs, and executive and governance forums 

• Commercial acumen, with the ability to translate scientific capability into monetisable offerings and partner value 

• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and pace, standing up a new unit while sustaining delivery to live partner programmes 

Education and Qualifications:

• PhD in computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, cheminformatics, structural biology or a related discipline (M.Sc considered with equivalent depth of experience) 

• Experience in biotech, pharma, CRO or related environments, with significant time in drug discovery design roles 

• Proven track record of progressing molecules through discovery, with demonstrable contribution to development candidates or clinical assets 

• Significant experience at senior leadership level, with accountability for a capability, its budget and a multi-site team 

• Established external scientific profile through publications, patents and/or conference presence 

• Fluent business English 

FR : Dans le cadre de sa politique Diversité, Evotec étudie, à compétences égales, toutes les candidatures dont celles des personnes en situation de handicap.

EN: In the frame of our Diversity policy, Evotec considers, with equal competences, all applications including people with disabilities.

IT: In compliance with fundamental ethical and professional principles and with Legislative Decree 198/2006, Evotec is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering a safe, diverse, and inclusive workplace built on mutual respect. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and employees based on their skills, experience, and professional qualifications. In line with our ethical and professional principles, all employment-related decisions, including recruitment and selection processes, are made fairly and without any form of discrimination. All qualified candidates will be considered for employment regardless of race, color, sex, age, disability, genetic information, gender expression, gender identity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.