Director/Senior Director, Medicinal Chemistry

Iambic Therapeutics, Inc•San Diego, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

We seek an accomplished and creative medicinal chemistry leader with a proven track record of success in advancing drug discovery programs, setting scientific strategy, and leading cross-functional teams to deliver impact. Candidates should be motivated to work in an intensely collaborative, multidisciplinary, team-based setting. The role will entail leading drug discovery projects, coordinating a medicinal chemistry team with internal and external experimental capabilities, as well as proactively interfacing with diverse teams working on automated experimentation, ML-driven molecular generation, property predictions, and bioassay data generation. This position will be on-site at our San Diego Headquarters.

Requirements

Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with 15+ years of Pharma/bio-tech drug discovery experience (portfolio of programs from hit/lead to development candidate) or MS/BS with 20+ years of experience
Expertise in modern synthetic organic chemistry, evidenced by high-quality publications and patents.
Proven cross-functional leadership: integrating biology, DMPK/ADME, CADD, and CMC to build and execute strategic project plans.
Practical experience and working knowledge of target protein degradation and associated modalities (molecular glues, PROTACS)
Track record of program leadership advancing compounds through preclinical development (candidate nomination, IND-enabling interfaces, CRO oversight).
Experience working with computational chemists as part of project team in design of drug targets is required
Strong interpersonal, communication, time management, and leadership skills
Experience mentoring or leading junior chemists
Creative problem solving and management of relationships with several stakeholders within and beyond the company

Responsibilities

Lead a group of project scientists and drive molecular discovery efforts to deliver development and clinical candidates
Devise strategies to execute hit ID, identify lead molecules and optimize them for potency, selectivity, and ADME properties using multivariant SAR analysis and hypothesis driven design principles.
Act as a liaison between Iambic, CROs, and other external collaborators, including partnered research projects
Influence the prospective use of computational methods and leverage automated synthesis and high-throughput experimentation capabilities
Work closely with AI/ML teams to develop and implement relevant predictive models to aid in the design of new molecules
Contribute to platform development by collaborating with AI/ML and chemistry automation teams to enhance processes and accelerate the design–make–test (DMT) cycle.
Communicate project updates clearly and effectively to the broader team and key stakeholders
Work as a senior member of the Chemistry research group and foster a culture of scientific excellence, innovation, and teamwork