Director, Computational Chemistry

SUMMARY: We are seeking a highly experienced drug hunter to lead & strengthen our Computational Chemistry capabilities to deliver transformative therapies in oncology. The ideal candidate will have extensive expertise in state-of-the art ligand-based and structure-based drug design methods and will have contributed to the advancement of small molecule projects through all stages of drug discovery. Of particular importance is the ability to build strong collaborations with medicinal chemists and structural biologists to help shape the company's drug discovery strategies and "predict first" approach. Experience and strategic vision in machine learning/AI methods to accelerate drug discovery is highly desired. This position will complement our investments in structure-based drug design (e.g., in-house Krios G4, cryo-EM) and will interact closely with interdisciplinary project teams spanning Medicinal Chemistry, Structural Biology, Bioinformatics, Drug Discovery Sciences, and IT.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead and provide strategic vision for industry-leading computational capabilities in the discovery research organization

• Integrate advanced computational chemistry and structure-based drug design methods across our drug discovery platforms and programs

• Foster an environment of innovation and entrepreneurship to enhance, integrate and apply computational tools and workflows to accelerate hit identification and hit-to-lead optimization

• Apply state-of-the-art structure-based drug design and virtual screening technologies to drive hit identification, lead optimization and candidate selection in close partnership with medicinal chemists and structural biologists

• Expertise with ligand-based methods, QSAR, QSPR, conformational analysis, physical chemical property modeling, molecular dynamics, free energy perturbation, molecular and quantum mechanics, interaction fingerprints, multiparameter optimization

• Deep understanding of medicinal chemistry, in vitro and in vivo ADME, and ability to couple computational-driven approaches to impact lead optimization

• Apply advances in machine learning/AI to rationalize SAR and recommend new molecules to test actionable hypotheses; build/enhance predictive ML/AI-based models to improve potency, selectivity & ADME properties

• Current understanding of computational & informatics infrastructure to define the vision, strategy and resourcing to build and implement enabling computational and ML/AI-based tools

• Provide day-to-day scientific and organizational leadership, serve as a mentor and role model with the goal of helping to build and develop a high-performing computational drug discovery science team

• Conduct scientific presentations to senior management, project teams, and internal/external collaborators

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Help to lead and manage CRO computational chemists

• Help to train and mentor chemistry and structural biology colleagues

• Hire and manage a small team of computational chemists

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

• Ph.D. in computational chemistry, biophysics, physical organic chemistry, physics-based modeling, statistical modeling, ML/AI, mathematical modeling, or a related field with a clear track record of applying computational technologies and structure-based drug design to advance the discovery of small molecule therapeutics, and a minimum of 8 years of post-PhD experience; or,

• Equivalent combination of education and experience.

ADDITIONAL SKILLS & ABILITIES:

• Demonstrated independent thought and creativity in science, and successful track-record in drug discovery as evidenced by patents, publications and invited presentations

• Strong experience in cheminformatics and knowledge of computing infrastructure is a plus

• Experience with multiple drug target classes, orthosteric and allosteric binders, fragment-based screening and optimization, covalent binders, protein degraders and/or molecular glues is strongly preferred

• Background in library design, diversity analysis, and approaches to improve virtual screening, fragment, DEL and cell-based HTS is strongly preferred

• Working experience with software from companies such as Chemical Computing Group, Schrodinger, OpenEye, Dotmatics, Gaussian, Molsof, Chemaxon, Knime, RDKit and ICM Molsoft

• Technical and scientific leader who stays on the cutting edge to identify and integrate emerging science to advance platforms and the portfolio

• Strong written, oral and presentation communication skills

• Keen desire to grow and develop the careers of colleagues and team members

JOB COMPLEXITY:

• Works on extremely complex problems where analysis of situations or data requires an evaluation of intangible variables

• Exercises independent judgment in developing methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results

• Uses professional concepts to contribute to the development of company concepts and principles to achieve objectives in creative and effective ways

#LI-HG1

If you like wild growth and working with happy, enthusiastic over-achievers, you'll enjoy your career with us!

DISCLAIMER
The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to the job.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.