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Small Molecule Drug Discovery Scientist

patsnap · Shanghai

External listingfull-timeabout 1 month ago

About The Role

## Role Overview

We are seeking a **Small Molecule Drug Discovery Scientist** to serve as the core bridge between our company and the life sciences sector.

In this role, you will leverage your expertise in small molecule drug discovery to deeply understand customers' R&D workflows, identify scientific challenges and business opportunities, and translate them into innovative AI-powered product solutions. Rather than conducting laboratory research, you will play a key role in shaping product strategy, defining product capabilities, and driving AI innovation for pharmaceutical R&D.

### What You’ll Do

### 1. Industry Insights & Customer Requirement Translation

  • Engage closely with pharmaceutical companies (particularly those focused on small molecule drug discovery and medicinal chemistry) and research institutions to develop a deep understanding of their drug discovery workflows, scientific challenges, and R&D decision-making processes.
  • Identify key business pain points and emerging opportunities across the drug discovery lifecycle, from target discovery through preclinical development.
  • Translate customer needs into clear product requirements and functional specifications that can be effectively executed by Engineering, AI, and Data teams.

### 2. Product Solution Design

  • Leverage the company's AI capabilities, proprietary data assets, and technology platforms to design innovative product solutions that address customers' drug discovery challenges.
  • Work closely with Engineering, AI, and Data teams to define product requirements, solution workflows, and feature roadmaps, ensuring both scientific value and commercial impact.
  • Drive continuous product improvement by incorporating customer feedback and evolving industry needs.

### 3. Business Collaboration

  • Act as the scientific product expert to support Business Development (BD) and Sales teams during strategic customer engagements.
  • Participate in customer workshops, scientific discussions, product demonstrations, and key account collaborations, helping customers understand how AI technologies can improve drug discovery efficiency.

### 4. Trend Research & Knowledge Development

  • Continuously monitor advances in small molecule drug discovery, AI for drug discovery, and pharmaceutical R&D.
  • Evaluate emerging technologies, scientific trends, and industry developments to identify future product opportunities.

### What We’re Looking For
# Qualifications
## Educational Background

  • Master's degree or above in Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Computational Chemistry, Bioinformatics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or related disciplines.

## Industry Experience

  • 5+ years of experience in the life sciences industry with direct involvement in small molecule drug discovery or pharmaceutical R&D.
  • Deep understanding of the end-to-end drug discovery workflow and familiarity with R&D decision-making processes within pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
  • Hands-on experience in one or more stages of drug discovery, such as Hit Discovery, Hit-to-Lead (H2L), SAR analysis, Lead Optimization, or Preclinical Candidate Selection, is highly desirable.

## AI & Data Acumen

  • Strong understanding of AI applications in drug discovery and the ability to evaluate their scientific and practical value.
  • Strong data awareness with the ability to translate scientific workflows into scalable AI-powered product capabilities.

## Product Mindset & Core Competencies

  • Strong product thinking with the ability to identify customer pain points and translate them into product opportunities.
  • Excellent logical thinking, analytical skills, and abstraction ability.
  • Outstanding communication and influencing skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across scientific, engineering, AI, and commercial teams.
  • Passionate about applying AI technologies to accelerate pharmaceutical R&D.

## Language

  • Ability to communicate effectively in English as a working language, both in written and verbal forms.

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