Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) Associate in Automated Organic Synthesis

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated chemist to join a collaborative Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) project between the University of Bath and Almac Discovery Limited, a leading early-stage drug discovery company within the Almac Group.

The project will establish an automated workflow for rapid production of novel small-molecule libraries, enabling Almac Discovery to accelerate early-stage drug discovery, reduce reliance on outsourced compound synthesis, and strengthen its capability to identify promising new medicines more quickly and cost-effectively.

Working under the supervision of Dr Alex Cresswell, Reader in Organic Chemistry and Co-Lead of the Bath Centre for Drug Discovery, and Dr Colin O'Dowd, Vice President of Medicinal Chemistry at Almac Discovery, you will play a key role in transferring innovative automated synthesis methodologies into an industrial drug discovery environment.

As the AKT Associate, you will:
- Demonstrate and optimise automated synthetic chemistry workflows.
- Design and produce representative small-molecule screening libraries.
- Evaluate workflow robustness, reproducibility and operational efficiency.
- Work closely with medicinal chemistry, biology and analytical teams.
- Develop standard operating procedures and supporting documentation.
- Support the transfer of knowledge and capability into Almac Discovery's research teams.
- Contribute to future plans for technology expansion and commercial exploitation.

The post will offer the following benefits:
- Work at the interface of academic innovation and industrial drug discovery.
- Gain experience of technology transfer within a commercially focused research environment.
- Collaborate with world-leading experts in synthetic chemistry and drug discovery.
- Build valuable industrial and translational research experience within the life sciences sector.

We welcome applications from candidates who have:
- Strong practical expertise in synthetic organic chemistry.
- Experience of reaction optimisation and analytical characterisation.
- The ability to design, execute and interpret complex experimental programmes independently.
- Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- The ability to work effectively across academic and industrial environments.

This AKT project is funded by UKRI through Innovate UK. This programme has been designed to create short-term collaborations between a university and business to deliver a rapid and targeted intervention to accelerate the development of an innovation project, with potential for significant impact on the business.

This is a fixed-term role for a period of 3 months, and the role must start no later than 13 November 2026. Interviews will be held on Friday 23 October.