Executive Director, Chemical Biology​/Drug Design Remote

Remote Opportunity - United States;
Salt Lake City, Utah

Recursion is seeking an Executive
Director of Chemical Biology/ Drug Design to develop and lead chemical biology efforts that bridge multiomic discovery with target , including chemical probe design, as we expand our platform into new modalities beyond traditional small molecules (e.g. targeted protein degradation, molecular glues, and other emerging modalities). This is a senior scientific leadership role responsible for setting chemical biology strategy, managing a team of designers, and driving programs that bridge multiomic discovery to target  designing our chemical probe library to facilitate target discovery.

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You will lead multidisciplinary project teams: partnering closely internally with biology, multiomics platform (high content imaging, RNA etc), computational biologists and data scientists to translate novel target and ligand insights into potent, selective, and developable chemical matter. You'll bring hands‑on chemical biology expertise together with the strategic judgment to prioritize programs, manage internal and external (CRO) teams, and build the new capabilities needed to establish new modalities within the portfolio.

Recursion's AI/ML-driven Design Platform is a core tool your team will draw on, and you'll play an active role in shaping how computational and generative design approaches are integrated into chemical biology decision‑making. This role blends deep technical credibility with people and program leadership.

You will lead within the Drug Design team as part of the Discovery function in building Recursion's next generation of therapeutic modalities, working alongside computational drug design, medicinal chemistry, biology, data science and platform technology groups that integrate proprietary AI-driven technology with advanced molecular design. The team tackles structurally enabled and non‑structurally enabled targets across a diverse range of therapeutic areas, with a growing focus on proximity (e.g. protein degradation, molecular glues), and PPI blockers (e.g. macrocycles).

As a leader, you will help define how chemical biology strategy and capability is built out and scaled to impact our portfolio.

• Set chemical biology strategy for Recursion based on our multiomics platform, with a focus on linking our proprietary maps of biology to targets using modern chemical biology methods and work with teams to establish the right drug modalities (e.g. degraders, molecular glues) alongside traditional small molecule work
• Build, manage, and mentor a team of multiomics chemists, fostering a coaching‑driven environment for growth
• Establish and manage internal and external (CRO) chemistry teams and networks to execute screening, synthesis, and validation campaigns
• Partner closely with biology, target , structural biology, and computational drug design to align chemical biology strategy with target validation and platform capabilities
• Define and align program strategy and go/no‑go criteria with senior leadership, factoring in competitive landscape and portfolio priorities
• Represent the team in portfolio reviews and governance meetings, and lead technical discussions on molecular design with external collaborators and partners
• Contribute to IP strategy and business development activities related to novel chemical matter and new modalities

• PhD in chemical biology, chemistry, or related field, with 10+ years of relevant industry experience and demonstrated people leadership
• Deep, hands‑on track record in chemical probe design — selective inhibitors, proximity…