Scientist, Chemistry

Merck • South San Francisco, CA

5d • $108,000 - $170,100 • Onsite

About The Position

Our company's Research Laboratories at South San Francisco is a multidisciplinary discovery site that offers state-of-the-art resources to explore promising science, combining our company’s world-class R&D expertise in small molecules and biologics. Located in the heart of the Bay Area’s biomedical community, research conducted in our laboratories spans exploratory biology through early clinical development and is an integral part of our company’s global drug and vaccine discovery network.
At our company, we are inspired by the belief that a research-driven enterprise dedicated to scientific excellence can create medicines and vaccines that save and improve lives. Every employee builds on our proud legacy of scientific breakthroughs. Our ability to impact patients worldwide depends on the integrity, creativity, humility, and scientific acumen of our teams. We are creating a varied organization inspired by invention and grounded in a culture of respect and collaboration. At our company’s Research Laboratories South San Francisco, you will have the opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills through collaboration with talented and dedicated colleagues while advancing your career.
Our company is seeking highly motivated and exceptional chemists to join the Discovery Chemistry Department at our South San Francisco, CA site. The successful candidate will contribute to multidisciplinary, highly collaborative discovery teams focused on inventing novel medicines through innovative synthetic chemistry, ADC bioconjugation, analytical characterization, and data-driven design. Candidates should bring strong interpersonal, collaboration, and communication skills, along with a proven record of solving complex scientific problems. The successful candidate will be expected to rapidly build expertise in our company's-specific workflows while independently contributing to reaction setup, route design, conjugation optimization, and molecule characterization.

Requirements

• Hands-on experience with conjugation, purification, and characterization of ADCs, including experience with analytical techniques and instruments such as HIC, RP chromatography, SEC, SDS-PAGE, UV-Vis, and related methods
• Relevant experience applying organic synthesis to the design, preparation, and optimization of small molecules, linker-payloads, or related intermediates
• Experience independently designing, executing, and optimizing synthetic routes using modern synthetic techniques
• Knowledge of and experience interpreting biological activity data, including structure-activity relationships

Nice To Haves

• Analytical Characterization
• Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC)
• Chromatography
• Collaborative Communications
• Detail-Oriented
• Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS)
• Purification Methods

Responsibilities

• Perform bioconjugations of linker-payload combinations to antibodies, with emphasis on optimizing in-house methods, including site-specific conjugations for preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies
• Develop and optimize novel antibody-drug conjugation strategies, including site-specific approaches
• Design, execute, and optimize synthetic routes to access assigned target molecules using modern synthetic chemistry techniques
• Select and apply appropriate purification techniques for small molecules, including flash chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and recrystallization, as well as biologics purification methods such as SEC, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and ion exchange chromatography
• Acquire, analyze, and interpret analytical data, including LC/MS, NMR, and related characterization methods
• Use available datasets and in silico tools to generate novel, testable hypotheses and design target molecules that enable clear decision-making
• Participate in the triage and selection of molecules for additional studies, including DMPK, in vivo experiments, and counter-screening

Benefits

• medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family)
• retirement benefits, including 401(k)
• paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree