Director, Oligonucleotide Synthesis

Job Title: Director, Oligonucleotide Synthesis

Job Number: 30216

Location: Waltham, MA

Job Description

The Director of Oligonucleotide Synthesis will report to the Head of Platform Development and is responsible for leading oligo design, manufacturing and purification.  S/he will manage internal and external oligo synthesis, analytics, and characterization of ASO and siRNA chemistries. The candidate will be a subject matter expert in the understanding of testing, scale-up and cGMP manufacturing of nucleic acid drugs with a comprehensive understanding of oligo delivery and formulations.  S/he will collaborate closely with additional chemistry, biology, and research teams, supporting all stages of preclinical therapeutic development.  The candidate will use creative and proactive problem-solving strategies to progress oligo design and development in support of their therapeutic pipeline.  S/he will act as an effective technical expert and work in a collaborative, constructive and mission-oriented focus for improving the lives of patients.

Responsibilities

• Lead oligo design, manufacturing and purification
• Manage internal and external oligo synthesis, analytics, and characterization of ASO and siRNA chemistries
• Collaborate with additional chemistry, biology, and research teams, supporting all stages of preclinical therapeutic development
• Scale-up manufacturing
• Select and manage CROs
• Act as an effective technical expert for oligo design and development

Required Skills

• PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related discipline; with 8-10 years of relevant experience in drug discovery and development.
• Strong practical knowledge of design, synthesis, and purification of nucleic acids.
• Experience in scale-up manufacturing.
• Excellent project, time management, and problem-solving skills.
• Proven leadership and interpersonal skills, including ability to work across functional lines.
• Ability to select and manage third-party vendors and collaborators, communicate technical information and work with all levels and functions within the Company.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including making effective and compelling presentations in both large and small groups and communicating complex scientific and nonscientific issues to program teams.
• Ability to critically evaluate, summarize, interpret data.
• Understand published scientific literature outside of his/her immediate area of expertise and appropriately apply this understanding to company aspects
• Prepare manuscripts and other documents for publication and/or regulatory submission