Associate Director/Director, Discovery Chemistry

Job Title: Associate Director/Director, Discovery Chemistry

Job Number: 32620

Location: Cambridge, MA

Job Description

We seek a motivated and independent chemist to join our chemistry department and lead our ligand discovery efforts, which will be utilized in our next-generation oligonucleotide delivery platform. Our platform can utilize chemical matter from a wide variety of categories, including small molecules, peptides, and antibodies. The successful candidate will be responsible for design and prosecution of projects which can identify chemical matter from some or all of these classes. Technical competencies can include at least one of the following: 1) discovery techniques such as DNA-encoded libraries (DEL) and phage display, 2) biophysical profiling such as Surface-Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and Biolayer Interpherometry (BLI), and 3) the design, synthesis and profiling of antibody conjugates. Reporting to the Vice President of Discovery Chemistry, and working closely with the entire discovery group, the candidate will interact with all functions in our small but growing company in order to ultimately deliver development candidates identified through our proprietary discovery platform. This is a leadership position within the chemistry department, which will continue to evolve and grow as the company does. In order to be successful in our fast-paced start-up environment, the candidate must have an evolved sense of “team-first”, a desire to deliver results when/wherever a need arises, and an ability to communicate in a clear and informative manner across the entire organization.

This position has the flexibility for hybrid working conditions with the expectation that in-person work will augment our high-functioning team’s effectiveness and camaraderie. We work in facilities that require that all individuals working on-site are vaccinated for COVID-19 and may at times require masking.

Responsibilities

• Function as a thought and technical leader for strategic and technical aspects of projects to identify new chemical matter for the platform and programs

• Manage collaborations with external partners and CROs to meet established timelines and deliverables

• Share updates and progress (written and oral) with both the scientific and non-scientific teams, and actively contribute to the refinement of our overall research strategy

• Drive the growth of the chemistry department, both in terms of capabilities and people, as we evolve from seed-stage start up

Required Skills

• Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry, protein biochemistry, chemical biology, and/or biophysics, and 10+ years industry experience is required

• Experience in one or more of the following areas:

  • Design and execution of discovery chemistry screening techniques, such as DEL and phage display, including a working understanding of the various DEL/phage display screening formats

  • Experience in follow-on assays (e.g. SPR/BLI) for characterization of chemical matter identified through earlier ligand identification activities

  • Experience in the design, synthesis, and profiling of antibody conjugates, and associated conjugation chemistry

• Experience leading outsourced chemistry activities 

• Experience in prosecution of identified chemical matter, including medicinal chemical approaches, is a plus

• Ability to drive workflow independently as well as mesh as part of a team is required

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Ability to work in a fast-paced and quickly changing environment