Director, Medicinal Chemistry

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve.

This is hard, urgent, selfless work-but it's work worth doing. If you're driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us.

** Overview*
* Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, is a clinical-stage company developing orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonists as a new class of medicines for the treatment of narcolepsy and potentially other sleep-wake disorders. Centessa's lead investigational candidate - cleminorexton (formerly ORX
750) - is being developed for narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2, and idiopathic hypersomnia. Centessa's OX2R agonist portfolio includes additional clinical and preclinical-stage assets with potential utility across a broader range of neurological, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric conditions. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Centessa was recognized as a  
** Great Place to Work** ® in 2026.

We are seeking a Director, Medicinal Chemistry who will lead the medicinal chemistry component of a multi-disciplinary team within a CNS GPCR drug discovery program. This is a hands-on leadership role responsible for guiding a virtual, geographically distributed organization - including internal chemistry staff (some based at remote sites), a CRO-based synthetic chemistry team, consultants, and partners - through the identification and progression of small-molecule and other modality candidates from hit-to-lead through IND-ready status.

Success in this role requires strong scientific leadership, sound judgment, and the ability to build effective working relationships across a geographically dispersed team.

** Responsibilities*
* + Lead and manage internal chemistry resources - including staff based at remote sites - alongside dedicated synthetic chemistry teams within CROs, setting priorities, resolving synthetic challenges, and directing the groups toward IND-ready candidate molecules.

+ Serve as the chemistry leader within the broader multi-disciplinary project team, building strong working relationships and effective communication with colleagues, partners, consultants, and CROs to jointly identify the best path forward.

+ Use all available resources to creatively design new molecules which address the target product profile, establish new intellectual property, and progress the project toward time-based goals

+ Make substantial contributions to the development of a chemistry strategy that secures a robust intellectual property position for the company in each area of work

+ Analyse SAR within weekly pharmacology & ADME data to identify opportunities for improved molecules, and translate these into tractable designs for molecules with drug-like properties

+ Maintain awareness of competitor activities and current medicinal chemistry developments, and use this effectively to advance internal programs

+ Communicate regularly with synthetic team, maintain awareness of all ongoing chemistry and look for opportunities to maximise throughput of test compounds

+ Effectively utilise in-house structure-based drug design knowledge

+ Use compound property computational predictive tools to refine designs

+ Present data and clearly articulate ideas for next steps at both chemistry-focused and cross-functional TCs, and at ad hoc F2F meetings

+ Use evidence from SAR and literature precedent to defend proposed designs, and also be receptive to alternative suggestions

+ Express ideas clearly and professionally in written and verbal interactions within the context of project teams and senior management

** Basic Qualifications*
* + BS/MS Chemistry.  PhD Strongly preferred.

+ 10+ years designing small molecules as a medicinal chemistry team leader within a biotech and/or pharmaceutical company

+ Expert, enthusiastic command of synthetic chemistry and medicinal chemistry principles, combined with solid working knowledge of pharmacology, ADME, pharmaceutical sciences, IP protection, and candidate selection criteria

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Experience of working on CNS targets, and across all stages of…