Director of Discovery Chemistry

Lila Sciences•Cambridge, MA

About The Position

The Director of Discovery Chemistry will lead the design, synthesis, and optimization of small molecules across Lila’s discovery platform, with a primary focus on organic synthesis, molecular design, and scalable chemistry execution. This leader will build and scale a world-class molecular chemistry program that translates AI-generated molecular hypotheses into high-quality, synthetically tractable, and functionally validated chemical matter. Working closely with Lila’s AI, automation, computational, biology, and platform teams, this role will establish the chemistry infrastructure required to rapidly progress novel molecules from concept to validated candidates across a broad range of discovery efforts. The Director will drive synthetic strategy, route design, analog generation, molecular property optimization, and chemistry-enabled innovation, while enabling seamless integration with robotic synthesis and platform-based experimentation. This leader will play a central role in shaping Lila’s molecular discovery engine by combining deep expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, molecular design, and data-enabled experimentation to accelerate the discovery of high-value molecules for therapeutic and broader platform applications.

Requirements

PhD in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Biology, or a closely related discipline with 12–15 years of experience in small molecule discovery and molecular design.
Demonstrated experience building and leading high-performing chemistry teams, including hiring, mentoring, and developing scientists across multiple levels.
Proven track record advancing small molecule programs through molecular design, high-throughput synthesis, optimization, and candidate progression.
Deep expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, retrosynthesis, route design, and practical execution of complex multistep syntheses.
Strong experience optimizing molecular properties, including potency, selectivity, physicochemical behavior, and overall developability of small molecule series.
Demonstrated success designing and delivering compound libraries or analog series to efficiently explore chemical space and address multiparameter optimization challenges.
Experience working effectively in highly interdisciplinary environments spanning chemistry, biology, automation, and computational sciences.
Experience collaborating with biology, screening, pharmacology, or related functions to incorporate experimental data into chemistry decision-making.
Strong understanding of compound quality standards, purification and characterization workflows, and chemistry data integrity.
Track record of scientific leadership, program delivery, and advancing discovery-stage molecules in an industrial or high-performance research environment.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in AI-enabled discovery environments or integrating computational design and machine learning insights into chemistry workflows.
Experience building or scaling automated, robotics-enabled, or high-throughput chemistry platforms for molecular synthesis and optimization.
Familiarity with modern synthesis-enabling technologies.
Experience translating chemistry needs into platform requirements, including instrumentation selection, workflow design, and integration with automated systems.
Broad understanding of molecular design principles across therapeutic discovery and other small-molecule innovation areas.
Experience operating in fast-paced environments where scientific creativity, speed, and cross-functional execution are critical.
Ability to evaluate synthetic feasibility alongside innovation potential to prioritize molecules and chemical series effectively.
Strong communication and leadership skills, with the ability to align multidisciplinary teams around ambitious scientific goals.

Responsibilities

Drive discovery chemistry strategy across discovery programs, with strong emphasis on small molecule design, synthetic innovation, analog generation, and optimization of chemical matter.
Lead the design and execution of synthetic routes for novel small molecules, emphasizing speed, robustness, scalability, and compatibility with automated synthesis platforms.
Develop and implement efficient workflows for molecular design, compound prioritization, analog generation, and iterative design–make–test cycles in collaboration with AI and computational teams.
Partner closely with automation and platform teams to establish robotic and high-throughput chemistry capabilities that expand accessible chemical space and accelerate molecule generation.
Guide the selection of reagents, reaction modalities, and synthetic methodologies to enable rapid exploration of structurally diverse and functionally relevant chemical matter.
Oversee molecular optimization by integrating chemistry principles including structure–activity relationships, physicochemical properties, selectivity, developability, and synthetic tractability.
Collaborate with biology, screening, and profiling teams to interpret assay and characterization data and translate those insights into informed molecular design decisions.
Drive discovery efforts from early chemical matter generation through optimization of advanced molecules, including scaffold evolution, property tuning, and progression toward candidate-quality compounds.
Establish best practices for experimental design, chemistry data capture, compound registration, quality control, and reproducibility across molecular chemistry operations.
Contribute strategically to program direction by aligning chemistry efforts with therapeutic hypotheses, platform capabilities, and broader company priorities.