Senior Director, Drug Discovery (Long Covid)
Type: Full-Time
The Mission
At Deep Piction, we use our proprietary Precision Platform for cell-level imaging of disease mechanisms and drug distribution to address one of the most complex medical challenges of our time: Long Covid. We are driven to identify high-potential drug candidates and pair them with targeted delivery mechanisms and actionable biomarkers.
We are seeking a senior drug discovery leader who has already made their mark in this field. We aren’t looking for a generalist; we want a scientist with a proven track record of developing novel, data-driven therapeutic concepts based on recent data and their own research. We also expect you to establish the mindset, infrastructure, and processes necessary for a fast, high-quality drug discovery engine at Deep Piction. In your application, please briefly describe one/two program you led from target/idea to lead or preclinical candidate (disease area, modality, stage reached).
Key Responsibilities
This is a hands‑on leadership role. As the primary architect of our discovery engine, you will focus on the biological “why” and the technical “how” before a molecule ever reaches a clinical trial.
* Translate Research into Therapy: Leverage Deep Piction’s understanding and know‑how of Long Covid disease mechanisms to pivot from high‑impact research to a viable, differentiated, patentable therapeutic approach.
* Delivery & Precision: Together with our experts, lead the integration of innovative delivery systems to ensure candidates reach the right targets, and build the biomarker strategy that proves it.
* Scientific Leadership: Act as the internal and external authority on our discovery pipeline, guiding the team through hit identification, lead optimisation, and mechanistic proof‑of‑concept.
* Build the Engine: Define stage gates, decision criteria, experimental standards, and reporting that keep velocity high without compromising rigor.
* Cross‑functional ownership: Partner tightly with biology, chemistry, AI/data science, and platform teams to turn hypotheses into clear go/no‑go decisions.
What You Bring
* You have 10+ years of experience in early‑stage biotech or pharma. You thrive in the space between a “target” and a “candidate”.
* You are a senior expert who isn’t afraid to be hands‑on. You can participate in a meeting with investors in the morning and troubleshoot a discovery assay in the afternoon.
* You enjoy working with and motivating international and interdisciplinary talent, moving seamlessly between the languages of biology, chemistry, and data science.
* You have clear communication and stakeholder management skills across science, engineering, and leadership.
* You can create process without killing speed, and you can lead without hiding behind process.
* Experience with modern modalities, especially peptides, RNA (incl. mRNA), targeted delivery, and AI‑enabled design, is a major plus.
* Nice to have: You are a Long Covid specialist with a proven track record of successful research and high‑impact publications specifically on Long Covid. Your work has already contributed to a novel understanding of the disease.
Why Join Us?
* You will work alongside a diverse, international team of top‑tier scientists and innovators who are as passionate about the science as you are.
* Deep Piction’s proprietary Precision Platform enables us to uncover hidden disease mechanisms and pinpoint exact drug targets. The platform also enables faster, evidence‑based drug discovery and the optimisation of drug performance by tracking therapeutic carriers in detail.
* High Impact: direct influence on the company’s core valuation and the scientific trajectory of an entire field. Join us to enable life‑changing treatments for Long Covid patients.
* There is no corporate bloat or late‑stage clinical bureaucracy. We are 100% focused on discovery excellence.
* Team spirit: We win as one team. We help each other, share credit, and stay kind and direct even under pressure.
* Innovation first (AI + new tech): We push the frontier using AI and emerging technologies, and we expect everyone to be curious, experimental, and hands‑on with new tools.
* Growth mindset: We continuously learn, give and receive feedback, and level up together. Mistakes are accepted if they lead to faster learning and better execution.
* Clarity + speed: Clear goals, clear ownership, fast decisions. We build lightweight process that increases velocity instead of slowing it down.
Seniority level
Director
Employment type
Full-time
Job function
Research, Analyst, and Information Technology
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