Mid/Senior Computational Drug Discovery Scientist
Computational Drug Discovery Scientists use modelling and simulation to accelerate early-stage drug discovery. They design and optimize small molecules through computer-aided drug design (CADD) and structure-based modelling.
Core duties:
Running molecular docking, dynamics, and pharmacophore modelling – Using software like Schrodinger, MOE, or OpenEye.
Collaborating with medicinal chemistry and biology teams – Informing compound selection and SAR analysis.
Designing virtual screening workflows – Prioritising libraries and filtering based on predicted properties (e.g., ADMET).
Building QSAR and ML models – To predict compound activity and guide lead optimization.
Contributing to publications and intellectual property – Supporting innovation across internal pipelines or collaborations.
Candidates typically have a PhD in computational chemistry, structural biology, or cheminformatics, with strong coding and visualization skills.
Basel is a city on the Rhine River in northwest Switzerland close to the borders with France and Germany. The official language of Basel is German although, with 35% of the inhabitants being foreign nationals, English is also widely spoken. The University of Basel, founded in 1460, is Switzerland's oldest university and it houses some of Erasmus’s works. Erasmus’s tomb is to be found in the city’s 12th century Romanesque-Gothic cathedral. There are almost 40 museums in Basel as well as many beautiful medieval buildings around the Marktplatz.
Basel is home to large pharmaceutical and chemical industries with companies such as Novartis, Syngenta, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Hoffmann-La Roche, and Actelion being headquartered in the city. Like other Swiss cities, Basel is also a centre for banking and both the Bank for International Settlements and UBS are located in the city. The Basel Area is one of the most sought-after life sciences locations in the world, and is clearly Europe’s top life sciences hub. Roche and Novartis, two out of three global pharma market leaders have their global headquarters here.
Basel can also rightly claim the longest history in life sciences. From the beginnings with its industrial silk ribbon dye mills in the mid-century 1800s up to the biotech revolution, the region’s life sciences ecosystem has repeatedly evolved and reinvented itself in the course of the industry’s larger developments. This success story is still going strong and will continue.
The Basel Area is home to over 700 life sciences companies that are making a substantial contribution to a dynamic business environment. The life sciences industry is the growth engine of the Basel Area – homegrown and here to stay. The Basel Area is also a hotspot for promising startups, such as docdok.health AG, Versameb AG, Polyneuron Pharmaceuticals AG, T3 Pharmaceuticals AG and Cellestia Biotech AG.
The Basel Area is also a world champion in gross value. The $66 billion USD exports of pharma products per year are impressive.
Famous people from Basel include: Roger Federer, champion tennis player and Ursula Andress, actress.
Switzerland is a great place to further your career in life sciences. If you are a looking for pharmaceutical jobs in Basel, scientific careers in Basel or want to discuss cell therapy, gene therapy, ATMP, medical device, technology, biotech or pharmaceutical job opportunities in Basel, give our Next Phase team a call. The Swiss area is continuing to expand as a centre for jobs in science, process development, technology, software development, project management, informatics, quality, reg affairs and supply chain.
At Next Phase we help people find new jobs in life sciences across the UK, Europe and USA. This page lists some of the job opportunities in Switzerland, and if you give us a call we can also talk to you about other scientific jobs, pharmaceutical career opportunities and the latest updates in cell and gene therapy and ATMP development in the Basel area.
