Chair in Drug Discovery

About the role

The Departments of Life Sciences and Chemistry are seeking an exceptional research leader to join us as Chair in Drug Discovery, a strategic joint appointment across the two departments that will help shape the future of therapeutic innovation at Bath and play a central role in the new Centre for Drug Discovery (CDD).

CDD is a major cross-faculty initiative bringing together chemists, biologists, data scientists and engineers to accelerate drug discovery through innovation in synthesis, screening, computation and translation. The Centre will focus on emerging modalities and enabling technologies from cyclic small molecules, peptides, antibodies and macrocycles exploring new 3D chemical space to AI-guided synthesis, flow automation and direct-to-biology screening. By integrating Bath’s strengths in synthetic chemistry, chemical and structural biology and advanced delivery science, the CDD will offer a distinctive environment for developing next-generation molecular tools and therapeutic leads.

About you

• Demonstrate inclusive leadership and a commitment to fostering a diverse research environment
• Have a strong track record of internationally recognised research in drug discovery
• Are passionate about collaboration across disciplines and sectors
• Can mentor and support researchers at all career stages including Bath Prize Fellows
• Engage with industry and innovation networks to translate discoveries into real-world impact.
• Can teach aspects of drug discovery in both lectures and laboratory classes and contribute to our PGT course on Drug Discovery (joint between the departments of Chemistry and Life Sciences), maintaining the University’s high standards in teaching and learning, and its inclusive and supportive learning environment.

While we encourage applications from a range of backgrounds, we particularly welcome candidates whose research aligns with one or more of the following areas: 

• Medicinal chemistry for emerging modalities such as peptides, molecular glues, PROTACs, ADCs or covalent inhibitors
• Innovative screening approaches, e.g. DNA-encoded libraries, affinity-selection mass spectrometry, chemoproteomics or AI/ML-driven virtual screening.
• Computational drug discovery including molecular design, macrocycle conformations, docking, or predictive models for permeability and pharmacokinetics. 

Informal enquiries & application

For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Amanda Mackenzie, Head of Life Sciences (prsam@bath.ac.uk) or Professor Matthew Jones, Head of Chemistry (mj205@bath.ac.uk). Please ensure applications are submitted via the University’s online system. Alongside the online form, upload a full CV.

This is a full time role (36.5 hours per week). Interviews for this position will take place on 22 and 23 June 2026 (a 2 day process).

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