Pleased to meet you, we are Galapagos, a dynamic fast growing Biotech company with offices in Europe in Belgium (Mechelen), France (Romainville and Paris), the Netherlands (Leiden), Basel (Switzerland), Spain (Madrid), Italy (Milan) and in the US, (Boston).

We’re in the business of changing lives. In our quest to discover and develop life-improving medicines we go where no one has ever gone before. In every challenge we face, we see new opportunities. We want to challenge the impossible. We need thought leaders and rapid thinkers, entrepreneurs in spirit and status quo-fighters. Collaborative innovators and perseverant idealists. We need the best-in-class. In other words, we need you : The ‘make-it-happeners’.

We are looking for a Head of Computational Chemistry  - Mechelen,BE

Scope

This 10-people group’s primary role is the judicious application of molecular data science, chemoinformatics, molecular modelling and statistics in a multi-disciplinary environment to support a diverse portfolio of drug discovery projects. It is also involved in the identification and development of new computational methodologies and strategies through both internal and external collaborations

Your responsibilities:

• Establish and execute the strategy of the group :
  • improve quality and speed of drug discovery process by applying cutting-edge technology
  • ensure the application of data- and knowledge-driven approaches
  • develop and expand Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence activities
  • define and manage group budget and resource needs;
• Be an ambassador beyond the own group:
  • ensure visibility for the achievements of the group
  • influence the drug discovery organization by a good communication strategy
  • be actively involved in defining a data and informatics environment for Research
• Identify new methodologies and strategies, and foster their implementation
• Identify external opportunities and manage external collaborations;
• Establish and manage close interactions with stakeholders beyond the own group, such as medicinal chemistry, crystallography, bioinformatics, ITS and drug development;
• Manage and coach group members;

Who are you?

• PhD or equivalent with a demonstrated track record in computer-aided drug discovery
• At least 10 years of experience in a pharmaceutical and/or biotech environment
• Knowledge of structure- and ligand-based drug design, chemoinformatics, machine learning and programming applied to drug discovery
• Experience in data science applied to drug discovery including application of FAIR principles, management of ontologies , semantic integration and graph-based knowledge representation
• Strong experience in managing trans-disciplinary teams in an international context
• Proven leadership
• Fluent in English, preferably also in Dutch and/or French

You will be part of a fast growing and amazing company. As a “make-it-happener” you will get all the support you need to make your job successful. At Galapagos we aim to recruit the best people, who stand out among their peers, with integrity and excellent interpersonal and organizational skills. Our employees are the strength behind Galapagos, a highly motivated team, eager to maintain Galapagos’ leading position and achieve breakthroughs in pharmaceutical research. Galapagos offers a competitive remuneration package and a dynamic work environment.

We are Galapagos: together we can make it happen...!