Agencies: We will only work with recruitment partners on our preferred supplier list and will not engage with speculative CVs submitted.

Are you passionate about making life science life changing and delivering impact for patients? We want to hear from you.

About the role:

This is a new role within our Preclinical pillar, joining LifeArc at an exciting stage of our development.

The Preclinical pillar brings together expertise in disease biology, drug discovery, translational science, diagnostics, and external innovation, creating a more connected approach to preclinical development.

As Principal Scientist, Preclinical Project Leadership, Anti-Infectives, you will be responsible for leading and supporting preclinical projects accelerating the development of anti-infectives, in line with LifeArc’s mission.

Working with the Director, Associate Director(s) and other senior leaders, you will contribute to the development of the preclinical anti-infectives strategy, ensuring alignment with the LifeArc AMR strategy, supporting and leading the delivery of projects within the anti-infectives preclinical portfolio.

You will ensure high scientific rigour, timely milestone delivery and robust decision-making to progress assets through early development and towards IND.

This will help us progress high-potential science more effectively, accelerating the transition from discovery to development through to clinical trials, while maximising the impact of our strong scientific capabilities.

About you

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the delivery of anti-infectives projects and programmes, coordinating multidisciplinary teams to achieve key milestones on time, within budget and to the required scientific quality, while contributing to portfolio prioritisation and strategic decision-making

• Provide scientific leadership and translational expertise to advance anti-infectives assets from discovery towards IND, ensuring scientific rigour, innovation, and the application of emerging scientific and technical developments

• Support governance, due diligence and external partnership activities, building strong stakeholder relationships and representing LifeArc to advance preclinical projects, collaborations and portfolio growth opportunities

• Foster an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing culture by championing continuous learning, modelling LifeArc’s values and behaviours, and promoting excellence in delivery

Essential experience required:

• Demonstrable experience in project leadership of anti-infectives drug discovery programmes in Pharma, Biotech or another translational environment

• Strong understanding of key data needed to progress drug discovery programmes through preclinical milestones to IND

• Firm operational knowledge of later stage preclinical and clinical development pathways to expedite patient impact

• Proven record of delivery of research projects/programmes, and commitment to innovation, high-quality and rigour

• Excellent stakeholder management skills with proven ability to work with R&D leaders at different levels of seniority

Desirable:

• Experience managing and resourcing portfolios with multiple stakeholders, including external partners and as part of collaborations or consortia

• Preferably experience across multiple therapeutic modalities (e.g. biologics, small molecules etc)

Education:

• PhD in a relevant life science discipline, preferably with additional relevant post-doctoral research experience

Skills & abilities:

• Sharing knowledge of, and contributing to, current scientific literature and developments within area of expertise.

• Ability to influence stakeholders and help drive strategic initiatives.

• Deep scientific excellence, critical and analytical thinking.

• Skilled at building relationships and fostering cross-functional teamwork in a matrix environment.

• Ability to align scientific priorities with organisational goals and anticipate future needs.

• Exceptional planning skills and execution of projects with a delivery mindset and excellent attention to detail

About us:

LifeArc is a not-for-profit life science organisation, leading the way for change in rare diseases in the UK and supporting promising initiatives in global health. We seek out research in areas of unmet need that has great potential, providing support to help it become breakthroughs that change lives.

What we can offer you:

Focused on finding life changing solutions for underserved patients, our people thrive in an inclusive, and supportive environment that prioritises their health and wellbeing. Our multidisciplinary approach guarantees our people growth opportunities, while our culture of innovation and collaboration drives the impact we make delivering on our purpose of ‘putting patients at the centre of everything we do’.

LifeArc is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences. As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee an interview to candidates with a disability or long-term health condition who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Please note that in certain situations, such as high volumes of applications, it may not be practical to interview all eligible candidates. In these cases, we may need to select those who best meet the essential criteria. (At LifeArc, the Disability Confident Scheme’s ‘minimum criteria’ is referred to as ‘essential criteria’).

Salary will be determined by qualifications and experience along with other exceptional benefits. Because we understand everyone has different requirements, our flexible benefits allow you to choose those which are important to you. Our pension scheme offers employer contributions of up to 12%, private health insurance, and annual leave of 31 days PLUS bank holidays.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds, for example, are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At LifeArc we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so whatever your background or lived experience, if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. Our top priority is finding the best candidate, and you may be just right for this or other roles.

We all have potential. At LifeArc, you’ll discover what you can really do with it.