Director, Medicinal Chemistry
About The Position
Kardigan is a heart health company dedicated to making cardiovascular disease preventable and curable. The company aims to develop targeted treatments for cardiovascular diseases, building on the success of its co-founders who previously led the discovery and development of mavacamten. Kardigan possesses a cutting-edge discovery platform, a pipeline of late-stage candidates, and an experienced team focused on improving patient lives. The company's values—patient-driven, authentic, eager to learn, committed to winning as a team, and enabling the impossible—guide its operations and drive its mission to make a significant difference in cardiovascular health.
Requirements
- PhD in Chemistry with a focus on Organic or Medicinal Chemistry.
- 8+ years of pharma/biotech industry drug discovery experience with a strong track record of leading medicinal chemistry across hit identification, hit-to-lead, lead optimization, and development candidate nominations.
- Experience managing teams of external chemistry FTEs at CRO collaborators is strongly preferred.
- Deep expertise in synthetic and medicinal chemistry, physicochemical property-based design, structure-based design, and relevant drug discovery disciplines (e.g., biology, DMPK, and material science).
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly communicate complex scientific concepts to a broad range of collaborators, leaders, and stakeholders.
- Track record of consistent scientific achievement and successful drug discovery work (peer-reviewed publications, patent inventorship, conference presentations).
- Prior direct management experience, including hiring, mentoring, and performance management of chemists.
Nice To Haves
- Prior experience delivering a development candidate or equivalent is a plus.
- Prior experience in cardiovascular disease is a plus.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the Chemistry Lead for preclinical drug discovery programs.
- Co-lead the preclinical project team, working closely with Biology co-lead to develop and execute project plans, manage ongoing activities, and ensure project success.
- Lead new molecule design on Integrate potency, selectivity, DMPK, safety, and in vivo pharmacology data to guide new compound design and address liabilities.
- Provide oversight of CRO-executed chemical synthesis and assays, ensuring a high standard for productivity and data quality.
- Collaborate with IP Legal to deliver strong intellectual property.
- Effectively communicate complex scientific data, analyses, and strategies to project teams and in governance meetings.
- Recruit, mentor, and manage medicinal chemists as the group grows.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
