Principal Scientist, Preclinical Project Leadership, Rare Neurological Diseases

Job Title:
Principal Scientist, Preclinical Project Leadership, Rare Neurological Diseases

Location:

London, with travel to Stevenage
Job Type: Permanent with hybrid working (3 days in the office required)

Closing date: 19 October 2026

Are you passionate about making life science life changing and delivering impact for patients? We want to hear from you.

This is a new role within our Preclinical pillar, joining Life Arc at an exciting stage of our development.

The Preclinical pillar brings together expertise in disease biology, drug discovery, translational science, diagnostics, and external innovation, creating a more connected approach to preclinical development.

As Principal Scientist, Preclinical Project Leadership, Rare Neurological Diseases, you will be responsible for leading and supporting preclinical projects accelerating the development of therapeutics for rare neurological diseases, in line with Life Arc’s mission.

Working with the Director, Associate Director(s) and other senior leaders, you will contribute to the development of the rare neurological disease strategy, and will support the delivery of projects in the rare neurological disease portfolio.

You will ensure high scientific rigour, timely milestone delivery and robust decision-making to progress assets through early development and towards IND.

This will help us progress high-potential science more effectively, accelerating the transition from discovery to development through to clinical trials, while maximising the impact of our strong scientific capabilities.

• Lead the delivery of the Rare Neurological Disease projects and programmes, coordinating multidisciplinary teams to achieve key milestones on time, within budget and to the required scientific quality, while contributing to portfolio prioritisation and strategic decision-making
• Provide scientific leadership and translational expertise to advance Rare Neurological Disease assets from discovery towards IND, ensuring scientific rigour, innovation, and the application of emerging scientific and technical developments
• Support governance, due diligence and external partnership activities, building strong stakeholder relationships and representing Life Arc to advance preclinical projects, collaborations and portfolio growth opportunities
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing culture by championing continuous learning, modelling Life Arc’s values and behaviours, and promoting excellence in delivery

• Demonstrable experience in project leadership of Rare Neurological Disease drug discovery programmes in Pharma, Biotech or another translational environment
• Strong understanding of key data needed to progress drug discovery programmes through preclinical milestones to IND
• Firm operational knowledge of later stage preclinical and clinical development pathways to expedite patient impact
• Proven record of delivery of research projects/programmes, and commitment to innovation, high-quality and rigour
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with proven ability to work with R&D leaders at different levels of seniority

• Experience managing and resourcing portfolios with multiple stakeholders, including external partners and as part of collaborations or consortia
• Preferably experience across multiple therapeutic modalities (e.g. biologics, small molecules etc)

• Sharing knowledge of, and contributing to, current scientific literature and developments within area of expertise.
• Ability to influence stakeholders and help drive strategic initiatives.
• Deep scientific excellence, critical and analytical thinking.
• Skilled at building relationships and fostering cross-functional teamwork in a matrix environment.
• Ability to align scientific priorities with organisational goals and anticipate future needs.
• Exceptional planning skills and execution of projects with a delivery mindset and excellent attention to detail

Life Arc is a not-for-profit life science organisation, leading the way for change in rare diseases in the UK and supporting promising initiatives in global health. We seek out research in areas of unmet need that has great potential, providing support to help it become breakthroughs that change lives.

Focused on finding life changing solutions for underserved patients, our people thrive in an inclusive, and supportive environment that prioritises their health and wellbeing. Our multidisciplinary approach guarantees our people…