Job Description

Senior Director, Drug Discovery (Long Covid)

Location: Munich, Germany (Onsite)

Type: Full-Time

Experience: 10+ Years (early-stage biotech/pharma drug discovery)

The Mission

At Deep Piction, we use our proprietary Precision Platform for cell-level imaging of disease mechanisms and drug distribution to address one of the most complex medical challenges of our time: Long Covid. We are driven to identify high-potential drug candidates and pair them with targeted delivery mechanisms and actionable biomarkers.

We are seeking a senior drug discovery leader who has already made their mark in this field. We aren’t looking for a generalist; we want a scientist with a proven track record of developing novel, data-driven therapeutic concepts based on recent data and their own research. We also expect you to establish the mindset, infrastructure, and processes necessary for a fast, high-quality drug discovery engine at Deep Piction. In your application, please briefly describe one/two program you led from target/idea to lead or preclinical candidate (disease area, modality, stage reached).

Key Responsibilities: The Architect of Discovery

This is a hands-on leadership role. As the primary architect of our discovery engine, you will focus on the biological “why” and the technical “how” before a molecule ever reaches a clinical trial.

• Translate Research into Therapy: Leverage Deep Piction’s understanding and know-how of Long Covid disease mechanisms to pivot from high-impact research to a viable, differentiated, patentable therapeutic approach.
• Delivery & Precision: Together with our experts, lead the integration of innovative delivery systems to ensure candidates reach the right targets, and build the biomarker strategy that proves it.
• Scientific Leadership: Act as the internal and external authority on our discovery pipeline, guiding the team through hit identification, lead optimization, and mechanistic proof-of-concept.
• Build the Engine: Define stage gates, decision criteria, experimental standards, and reporting that keep velocity high without compromising rigor.
• Cross-functional ownership: Partner tightly with biology, chemistry, AI/data science, and platform teams to turn hypotheses into clear go/no-go decisions.

What You Bring

• You have 10+ years of experience in early-stage biotech or pharma. You thrive in the space between a “target” and a “candidate.”
• You are a senior expert who isn’t afraid to be hands-on. You can participate in a meeting with investors in the morning and troubleshoot a discovery assay in the afternoon.
• You enjoy working with and motivating international and interdisciplinary talent, moving seamlessly between the languages of biology, chemistry, and data science.
• You have clear communication and stakeholder management skills across science, engineering, and leadership.
• You can create process without killing speed, and you can lead without hiding behind process.
• Experience with modern modalities, especially peptides, RNA (incl. mRNA), targeted delivery, and AI-enabled design, is a major plus.
• Nice to have: You are a Long Covid specialist with a proven track record of successful research and high-impact publications specifically on Long Covid. Your work has already contributed to a novel understanding of the disease.

Why Join Us?

• You will work alongside a diverse, international team of top-tier scientists and innovators who are as passionate about the science as you are.
• Deep Piction’s proprietary Precision Platform enables us to uncover hidden disease mechanisms and pinpoint exact drug targets. The platform also enables faster, evidence-based drug discovery and the optimization of drug performance by tracking therapeutic carriers in detail.
• High Impact: direct influence on the company’s core valuation and the scientific trajectory of an entire field. Join us to enable life-changing treatments for Long Covid patients.
• There is no corporate bloat or late-stage clinical bureaucracy. We are 100% focused on discovery excellence.

Our Culture & Fundamentals

• Team spirit: We win as one team. We help each other, share credit, and stay kind and direct even under pressure.
• Innovation first (AI + new tech): We push the frontier using AI and emerging technologies, and we expect everyone to be curious, experimental, and hands-on with new tools.
• Growth mindset: We continuously learn, give and receive feedback, and level up together. Mistakes are accepted if they lead to faster learning and better execution.
• Clarity + speed: Clear goals, clear ownership, fast decisions. We build lightweight process that increases velocity instead of slowing it down.

Requirements added by the job poster

• Working in an onsite setting

• Doctor of Philosophy

• 10+ years of Biotechnology Research experience