Associate Director, Medicinal Chemistry Project & External Operations Manager

Cytokinetics is a specialty cardiovascular biopharmaceutical company, building on its over 25 years of pioneering scientific innovations in muscle biology, and advancing a pipeline of potential new medicines for patients suffering from diseases of cardiac muscle dysfunction. We view our employees as the unequivocal ingredients to success. Every employee is an integral member of the Cytokinetics team, contributing to our shared goal of improving lives.

While expectations of our employees are high, there is an equal commitment to ensuring that contributions are recognized and rewarded. We seek exceptional individuals to join us in our mission to develop the next generation of novel small molecule drugs specifically engineered to increase muscle function and contractility. Cytokinetics is seeking an accomplished medicinal chemist to serve as a Associate Director, Medicinal Chemistry Project and External Operations Manager, combining hands-on scientific leadership of discovery projects with ownership of the strategy, productivity, and quality of our external chemistry partnerships.

As a leader in muscle biology and the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases, Cytokinetics relies on strong scientific leadership and high-performing CRO relationships to advance our discovery pipeline. Reporting into the Head of Medicinal Chemistry, this individual will lead one or more medicinal chemistry programs while managing the external partners that help execute them, bringing deep medicinal chemistry expertise, strategic project leadership, a thorough understanding of the CRO landscape, and a proven ability to align internal teams and external partners around clear, measurable goals.

• Lead Discovery Projects:
  Lead chemistry strategy for one or more cardiovascular and/or neuromuscular discovery programs, translating target profiles into actionable design–make–test–analyze plans that meet program milestones. Own program chemistry timelines, deliverables, and go/no-go decisions, integrating input from biology, DMPK, computational chemistry, and other functions while anticipating risks and developing contingency plans. Represent chemistry programs in cross-functional project teams, presenting progress, risks, and strategic recommendations to leadership and governance committees.
• Set CRO Strategy & Relationship Management:
  Own the strategic direction for medicinal chemistry CRO engagement, ensuring partnerships deliver against scientific, timeline, and budget objectives. Set clear expectations and performance goals with CRO partners and hold them accountable to agreed metrics. Serve as the primary point of contact and escalation for chemistry CRO matters across programs, building collaborative relationships that foster long-term productivity.
• Drive Productivity & Alignment:
  Establish KPIs and governance structures to monitor and continuously improve CRO productivity and quality. Align internal cross-functional teams (chemistry, biology, DMPK, computational) with external partners on expectations, hand-offs, and communication. Identify and resolve bottlenecks and communication gaps, implementing best practices and feedback loops that maximize output and minimize rework.
• Provide Scientific and Technical Leadership:
  Provide scientific leadership to both internal teams and CRO chemistry teams supporting our cardiovascular and muscle biology discovery programs. Guide synthetic routes, compound design, and SAR strategy in partnership with external chemists, optimizing toward potency, selectivity, and ADME/PK properties. Mentor and develop junior scientists, contributing to the scientific direction and growth of the medicinal chemistry group. Ensure chemistry deliverables meet quality, purity, and timeline standards.
• Evaluate and Onboard Vendors:
  Assess prospective vendors across scientific capability, capacity, quality systems, IP protection, communication, and cost. Design and run simultaneous pilot studies to objectively compare vendors against defined criteria, and make data-driven recommendations on selection, expansion, or offboarding. Lead…