About Relation Relation is a sector defining TechBio company developing transformational medicines, with technology at our core. Our ambition is to understand human biology in unprecedented ways, discovering therapies to treat some of life’s most devastating diseases. We leverage single-cell multi-omics from patient tissue, functional assays, and machine learning to drive disease understanding, from cause to cure.

We are scaling rapidly and building a team of exceptional individuals to push the boundaries of drug discovery. You will work in highly interdisciplinary teams where biology, computation, and engineering come together to solve complex problems that have not been solved before. Our state-of-the-art wet and dry labs in the heart of London are designed to accelerate this integration and translate insight into impact.

We are committed to building diverse and inclusive teams. Relation is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability, or age.

By joining Relation, you will help define how medicines are discovered and deliver meaningful impact for patients.

The opportunity Relation is offering an outstanding opportunity for an experienced Associate Director/Director of Medicinal Chemistry to help drive our growing small molecule portfolio. We are looking for a drug discovery scientist with hands-on experience shaping medicinal chemistry strategy and advancing programmes into clinical development.

In this role, you will translate cutting-edge biological insights into high-quality clinical candidates, working at the intersection of science and technology within a rapidly growing TechBio company. You will serve as a senior scientific leader across the organisation – influencing project and portfolio decisions, guiding discovery strategy, and partnering closely with colleagues across Discovery and beyond to build world-class drug discovery capabilities.

Day to day, you will

• Lead medicinal chemistry strategy across discovery programmes, applying deep expertise in small molecule drug discovery to drive scientific and portfolio impact

Professionally, you will have

• A PhD in medicinal chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, or a related scientific discipline or equivalent experience in industrial drug discovery
• Significant experience leading medicinal chemistry programmes within biotech, pharmaceutical or CRO environments

Bonus experience:

• Working with modalities such as peptides, ADCs, oligonucleotides or targeted delivery approaches

Personally, you

• Are comfortable working in a matrixed environment, balancing multiple stakeholders and contributing effectively across teams.
• Take ownership of your work, proactively seek opportunities to contribute, and enable others to do their best work.
• Communicate openly and directly, give and receive feedback constructively, and handle challenging conversations with respect.
• Actively seek out diverse perspectives, build strong working relationships, and contribute to shared goals across teams.
• Embrace challenges with openness and resilience, set high standards for yourself, and strive to deliver meaningful outcomes.

Working Style & Culture at Relation At Relation, we operate in a matrixed, interdisciplinary environment , where impact is driven through collaboration across scientific, technical, and operational domains. We collaborate, and you will partner with colleagues across multiple teams and projects, contributing your expertise while aligning to shared company priorities. We work together and win together! The patient is waiting! Recruitment Agencies Please note that Relation does not accept unsolicited resumes from agencies. Resumes should not be forwarded to our job aliases or employees. Relation will not be liable for any fees associated with unsolicited CVs.

Relation is a committed equal opportunities employer.