Principal Research Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry

Position Summary

• Discovery medicinal chemist to deliver drug discovery pipeline goals as part of dynamic, cross-functional teams. Onsite in South San Francisco headquarters five days per week.

• Apply modern synthetic techniques to prepare complex chemical targets and deliver high-quality molecules at productive rates.
• Design high-confidence reaction sequences that avoid known liabilities and reduce difficult purifications.
• Rapidly gather reaction information and troubleshoot problematic transformations.
• Plan ahead and multitask in and out of the lab to maintain high productivity.
• Deliver molecules at scales from 10 mg to >25 g.
• Support external synthetic chemistry resources to maintain high productivity.
• Use SAR data to propose targets addressing critical issues within a chemical series.
• Champion design and synthesis into new directions as needed.
• Clearly communicate results and strategy to influence others.
• Use structure-based design and modern computational tools to improve affinity/selectivity.

• Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry; 3–8 years of pharmaceutical industry medicinal chemistry experience.
• Strong expertise in synthetic organic chemistry (asymmetric reactions, modern cross-coupling), purification/spectroscopic characterization.
• Proven lab productivity while maintaining safety standards.
• Ability to develop practical, scalable chemistry.
• Strong troubleshooting and creative solution skills; good scientific recordkeeping.
• Ability to prioritize and focus target design efforts on critical lead issues.
• Ability to multi-task in fast-paced environments; positive attitude and strong work ethic.
• Excellent oral and written communication; experience in diverse multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong medicinal chemistry knowledge (structure-based design, SAR, multi-parameter optimization, physicochemical/ADME/pharmacology) and ability to use computational tools; desire to learn and mentor.

• Competitive total rewards including medical/dental/vision, 401(k), ESPP, and wellness programs.