Senior Computational Chemist, Platform Development

We are Pierre Fabre Laboratories, a global leader combining pharmaceutical expertise with dermo-cosmetics to support consumers and patients at every stage of their care journey.
Our portfolio includes several medical franchises and international brands such as Eau Thermale Avène, Ducray, A-Derma, Klorane, René Furterer, and Pierre Fabre Oral Care.
By joining us, you become part of a meaningful company where the human dimension is essential. You become a participant in the "We Care Movement," a movement that values excellence and innovation within passionate teams. Together, we push the boundaries of science to unite health and beauty for the benefit of all, because Every time we care for a single person, we make the whole world better.

Present in 120 countries with a team of over 10,000 employees, we are proud to create a scientific and human impact, today and tomorrow! If caring is at the heart of your values, join Pierre Fabre Laboratories and become a key player in the “We Care Movement".

Your mission

We are seeking a Senior Computational Chemist, Platform Development, to join the Computational & Generative Chemistry team at Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, which supports small-molecule discovery across the portfolio. We combine physics-based methods with AI/ML and are building an AWS platform to make reliable, reproducible computational tools accessible to project teams.

Your role within a pioneering company in full expansion:

As Senior Computational Chemist, Platform Development, you will select, build, benchmark and deploy computational chemistry workflows. You will pilot them with discovery teams to validate scientific performance and usability, then enable computational chemists working on drug discovery projects and other portfolio team members to run them independently.

Our methods span:

·       AI-driven generative chemistry and molecular design

·       Molecular preparation, docking and AI-enabled virtual screening, including large libraries

·       Structure-based deep learning

·       Pharmacophore and shape-based modelling

·       Machine-learning prediction of molecular properties and ADME/Tox

·       Molecular dynamics and binding free-energy calculations

·       QM-based conformational analysis and scoring

What you'll do:

·       Evaluate open-source and commercial tools, and recommend build-versus-buy options with licensing and cost in mind.

·       Develop modular, reproducible workflows from molecule generation through prioritisation.

·       Deploy containerised pipelines on AWS CPU and GPU infrastructure, scaling workloads while managing cost.

·       Partner with IT and cloud engineering on infrastructure, data, security, access and software licensing.

·       Benchmark and monitor workflows for scientific performance, throughput and cost; communicate results and improve the platform over time.

·       Pilot workflows with discovery teams, incorporate their feedback and prepare validated pipelines for routine project use.

·       Create documentation and hands-on training so project teams can operate pipelines independently; provide ongoing support and mentor colleagues.

What we offer

·       A high-ownership role shaping computational capabilities for drug discovery.

·       Enable discovery projects from hit finding to lead optimisation with validated, scalable computational workflows.

·       Access to cloud computing and a choice of open-source and commercial tools.

·       Close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team across computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, biology and DMPK.

This position is compatible with teleworking up to 2 days a week according to company rules.

We offer an attractive remuneration/benefits package: Incentives, profit-sharing, Pierre Fabre shareholding with matching contribution, health and provident insurance, 16 days of holidays (RTT) in addition to 25 days of personal holidays, public transport participation...

Your skills at the service of innovative projects:

·       PhD in computational chemistry, chemoinformatics, molecular modelling or a related field, with 5+ years in drug discovery; or an MSc with 8+ years of equivalent experience.

·       Hands-on expertise in several computational chemistry methods, such as docking, virtual screening, molecular dynamics, free-energy calculations or ADME prediction.

·       Practical experience with generative chemistry or ML for molecular design or property prediction.

·       A track record of building and maintaining production workflows used by others.

·       Strong Python skills and experience with scientific tools such as RDKit, NumPy and pandas.

·       Experience running workloads on AWS or HPC, using job schedulers and containers.

·       Working knowledge of Linux, Git, testing and software engineering practices.

·       Clear communication skills and an interest in partnering with and teaching computational and medicinal chemists.

·       Fluent English.

Also useful

Experience with infrastructure-as-code, workflow managers, Kubernetes, ultra-large library screening, cloud-based commercial software, GPU computing, web dashboards. French, or willingness to learn, is a plus.

At Pierre Fabre Laboratories, we believe that our greatest asset is our people.

We are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee based on race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, physical or mental disability, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. The information collected by this application is solely to determine suitability for employment, verify identify, and maintain employment statistics on applicants. Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and certain state or local laws. Please inform the company’s personnel representative if you need assistance completing this application or to otherwise participate in the application process. Thus, we commit to considering all applications equally, without fail.