Director- Data, Analytics & AI, Cheminformatics

Job Title: Director- Data, Analytics & AI, Cheminformatics

GCL- F

Introduction to role

AstraZeneca has invested heavily in our Augmented Drug Design-Make-Test and Analyse platforms as we seek to deliver better, differentiated candidate drugs into trials faster, for greater patient benefit. We have made great strides in creating an ecosystem enabling operational and experimental data capture, and in developing AI/ML analytics, AI, and ML services for both traditional small molecules and complex modalities that will pave the way for this transformation. The next stage of this journey involves building a unified scientific data and AI platform with state-of-the-art algorithms and technology that will enable our scientists to design new and safer drugs faster. We are looking for a Lead Cheminformatics Engineer who can excel in both cheminformatics and software development to join our team to help build and modernize our integrated software platform supporting key drug discovery science. In Early Science, we have highly skilled scientists generating ideas and performing experiments supporting complex drug discovery projects. Our environment is driven by scientific and technical innovation with a high degree of diversity in workflows, data, vendor solutions, and in-house builds. Working alongside Computational and Medicinal Chemists, Software and Data Engineers, Architects, and Analysts, you will lead in designing and implementing scientific solutions end-to-end. You will use your scientific knowledge and technical acuity to troubleshoot and provide innovative solutions to ensure smooth experiences for our scientists as well as for the software development team. Your work will have a direct impact on the science we do, and you have an opportunity to enable our scientists to undertake science that is not possible today.

Accountabilities

You will join a global team of cheminformaticians, scientific software engineers, and devops engineers in our Augmented-DMTA platform and perform the following:
• Be one of the subject matter experts for the team with knowledge of cheminformatics and computational chemistry tools used in drug discovery
• Work with cutting edge technology stack in a cloud environment solving scientific challenges for drug discovery
• Be responsible for designing and implementing scientific software and data solutions to make our science easier to do, easier to learn from, and offer faster delivery and higher quality across all therapeutic areas
• Design and build novel products and features to address long-standing problems in drug discovery with a focus on producing amazing user experiences that are more than the sum of their parts
• Collaborate with product, design, data science, software engineering, and scientists to build cutting-edge experiences and services
• Propose and implement changes to our drug discovery data models, core architecture, and codebase
• Develop all levels of the technical stack even if you’re more experienced in some layers with a strong focus on scalable backend services
• Support less experienced software engineers by knowledge sharing, mentoring, and feedback
• Proactively review and improve the scalability, reliability, performance, and availability of drug discovery services
• Advocate for rigorous engineering practices and discipline: code reviews, automated testing, logging, monitoring, alerting, etc.
• Be passionate for staying on top of tech trends, experiment with and learn new technologies, participate in internal & external technology communities, and mentor other members of the engineering community
• Propose solutions for engineering problems deploying critical thinking and analysis skills

Essential Skills/Experience

• Expertise in Cheminformatics, ML, or a related field and experience working with one of the cheminformatics toolkits
• Expertise in one or more languages like Python, Java, Node.js with the willingness and ability to quickly adapt to a new language
• Some experience with end-to-end web development with at least one of the web frameworks, FastAPI, Flask, Spring, Django, etc.
• Experience working with relational and/or NoSQL databases and knowledge of query optimization techniques
• Proficiency in Linux environments
• Demonstrable abilities with the coding best practices including testing, code review, and version control
• Excellent teamworking, verbal, and written communication skills

Desirable Skills/Experience

• CI/CD experience with some automation tooling like Jenkins, TravisCI, Github actions, etc.
• Demonstrable high proficiency in data structures and design patterns
• Experience in chemistry data standardization, transformation and harmonization combining multiple data sources
• Experience in cloud services and tools
• Experience data and/or compute pipelining tools either generic or cheminformatics-specific ones
• Basic understanding of Machine Learning concepts and MLOps
• Experience with Docker and Kubernetes
• Experience with GitOps

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

At AstraZeneca, our work has a direct impact on patients by transforming our ability to develop life-changing medicines. We empower the business to perform at its peak by combining cutting-edge science with leading digital technology platforms and data. Join us at a crucial stage of our journey in becoming a digital and data-led enterprise. Here you can innovate, take ownership, explore new solutions with leading-edge technology, and tackle challenges that might never have been addressed before. Our dynamic environment offers countless opportunities to learn and grow while making meaningful contributions.

Ready to make an impact? Apply now!

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.