Director, Organic Chemistry

Discover International is partnering with a growing pharmaceutical company to recruit a highly skilled Organic Chemist.

This is a hands-on position for a rigorous synthetic chemist who can take ownership of challenging chemistry, design practical synthetic routes and independently troubleshoot reactions through to a successful outcome. The successful candidate will contribute directly to novel drug candidates within the company’s internal pipeline.

• Design and execute complex, multistep small-molecule syntheses
• Develop and synthesize metal chelators, fluorophores, linkers and related conjugates
• Troubleshoot difficult reactions independently using a first-principles scientific approach
• Optimize reaction conditions, purification methods, yields and reproducibility
• Characterize compounds using techniques including NMR, LC-MS and HPLC
• Maintain accurate experimental records and communicate results clearly
• Support process development, scale-up and technology transfer activities
• Collaborate across discovery, development and manufacturing
• Remain actively involved at the laboratory bench

• PhD in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry or a closely related discipline preferred
• Strong hands-on experience in synthetic organic chemistry
• Demonstrated experience designing or synthesizing metal chelators
• Demonstrated experience in fluorophore or fluorescent-probe chemistry, ideally including bioconjugation
• Proven ability to solve difficult synthetic and purification problems independently
• Experience with complex multistep synthesis and route development
• Strong analytical, organizational and scientific communication skills