Raven StealthCo- Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry

Raven (RA Ventures)•Boston, MA

17h•$210,000 - $235,000•Onsite

About The Position

The company is in the discovery stage and will invest heavily in its emerging platform for oligonucleotide delivery. Our disease focus offers strong translatability from animal models to humans, which provides a potentially rapid and efficient path to the clinic. Given the company’s recent funding and commitment to building a first-in-class platform with clear therapeutic targets and indications, we are recruiting a Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry. This individual will be responsible for implementing chemical technologies to develop oligonucleotides and conjugates for our targeted delivery platform. The Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry will report directly to the VP of Delivery and will interface frequently with company leadership and cross-functional teams to advance oligonucleotide therapeutic programs. This individual will contribute to strategy and execution of discovering novel delivery systems and will manage chemistry resources to prepare oligonucleotide conjugates. This individual will be expected to interact frequently with external CROs as well as recruit, mentor, and manage a skilled scientific team under their leadership.

Requirements

PhD. in chemistry or related discipline with 8+ years of experience working with oligonucleotide therapeutics (siRNA, ASOs, etc.) in the biopharmaceutical industry; or BS/MS with 12+ years
Ideal candidate will have experience developing peptide-, protein-, or antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates while effectively operating in cross-functional, collaborative environments
Adept in state-of-the-art conjugation (cysteine-maleimide, click chemistry, site-specific, etc.), purification (HPLC, SEC, IEX, etc.), and analytical (HPLC, LCMS, etc.) methods to prepare oligonucleotide conjugates
While demonstrating creativity to contribute to the discovery of novel delivery systems, this individual must also be process- and detail-oriented to ensure production of high-quality oligonucleotide conjugates
Experience managing both internal personnel and external CROs to advance oligonucleotide therapeutics
Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally to plan and coordinate in vitro and in vivo studies to evaluate oligonucleotide and/or antibody/peptide-conjugate modalities
Imperative that this individual be an effective communicator and proven team-builder, mentor, motivator, and manager
Highly collaborative, intellectually curious, driven, trustworthy, humble, and who brings an adaptable and flexible working style.
Highly organized, thoughtful, and bring sound judgement and decision-making abilities.
Highly nuanced in terms of their interpersonal style and able to lead and work effectively within a highly collaborative, entrepreneurial, and fast-paced start-up environment.

Nice To Haves

From an educational perspective, we are seeking an individual with a Ph.D. and/or BS/MS in a relevant discipline such as chemistry or protein engineering. It is understood that education, while an important index of achievement, orientation, and intellectual capacity, will not constitute the primary variable in this decision process. Personal characteristics, leadership abilities, technical fluency, creativity, work ethic, behavioral flexibility, and demonstrated accomplishments will serve as key components in the evaluation of candidates.

Responsibilities

Oversee chemistry aspects of the development of oligonucleotide conjugates for biological evaluation in our targeted delivery platform
Manage external chemical synthesis activities which may include oligonucleotide synthesis; small-molecule, lipid, and peptide ligand synthesis; linker synthesis; and oligonucleotide-conjugate synthesis
Build internal lab capabilities and lead a team of conjugation and analytical scientists to prepare, purify, and analytically characterize oligonucleotide conjugates, particularly antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates
Work cross-functionally with protein engineers and biologists to ensure timely and adequate preparation of oligonucleotide conjugates for biological evaluation as well as to contribute to the design of in vitro and in vivo studies
Contribute to intellectual property around the design of oligonucleotides and oligonucleotide conjugates for the company
Work closely with company leadership, contributing to scientific strategy and assisting in preparing materials (data reviews, presentation decks) for internal and external constituents; participate in external discussions, as directed
Stay current with emerging oligonucleotide and delivery fields for translation into platform-relevant hypotheses