Senior Principal Scientist (all genders) - External API Development for New Chemical Entities

In this role you shape the chemical foundation of Bayer’s NCE pipeline by designing and enabling scalable API routes with external CDMOs. You’ll lead Drug Substance strategies in global CMC, drive partner collaborations, and ensure timely, high-quality API delivery. You transform SAR insights into robust manufacturing processes and contribute to regulatory filings. This is a chance to impact preclinical to clinical supply and help advance innovative therapies at scale.

• competitive salary 109.800–138.500 EUR/year
• variable compensation and equity-based plan
• company daycare centers and childcare support
• time off for caregiving
• learning and development opportunities
• inclusive work environment

• Lead design, assessment, and optimization of synthetic routes for new APIs in preclinical and clinical phases with emphasis on speed, quality, cost, and sustainability
• Represent Drug Substance in global CMC development teams and align internal strategy with external CDMO activities
• Guide route design and methodology choices at external CDMOs, translating SAR into scalable, clinical-ready routes
• Oversee external API campaigns for toxicology studies and clinical trials, including planning and budget oversight
• Steer process transfers between external partners and internal development or external manufacturing with proper documentation
• Co-author/review Drug Substance sections of IND/IMPD and briefing documents; support health authority responses
• Provide CMC DS assessments for in-licensing opportunities
• Troubleshoot across internal and external manufacturing networks and drive knowledge sharing across the chemistry community

• Ph.D. in Chemistry or related science with extensive pharma industry experience
• Strong synthetic chemistry background with broad knowledge of reagents, methodologies, and reaction mechanisms; solid analytical skills
• Experience with CMC development of peptides is a plus
• Experience managing external partners (CROs/CDMOs) or external manufacturing networks
• Proven ability to represent chemistry and Drug Substance in interdisciplinary project teams
• Strategic thinker capable of proposing multiple solutions to complex chemistry problems
• Strong communication and project management skills; cross-cultural collaboration
• Fluency in English; German language knowledge is an asset and willingness to learn German

• strong communication
• project management
• 跨-functional collaboration
• synthetic chemistry
• process development
• SAR-driven chemistry