Staff Scientist II - Medicinal Chemistry

Protagonist Therapeutics•Newark, NJ

22h•Onsite

About The Position

The discovery chemistry team at Protagonist Therapeutics is seeking a highly motivated Staff Scientist II for a full-time small molecule medicinal chemist position. It is a full-time, hands-on bench scientist position, but the individual will have the opportunity to co-lead discovery projects under supervision. The individual will be responsible for design and synthesis of new molecules, solving challenging problems with critical thinking within our multi-disciplinary drug discovery team. The individual will have the opportunity to manage external chemistry resources and provide technical support to ensure high productivity. The individual will have a good track record and be enthusiastic about drug discovery. The individual independently supports multiple research programs and possesses excellent verbal and written communication skills. This individual will report to the Senior Director of Chemistry.

Requirements

PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry/Medicinal Chemistry with 2-5 years of industrial experience in medicinal chemistry
Proficiency in the following aspects: small molecule target design, organic synthesis and purification, scale up, problem solving, troubleshooting
Understanding of the biology related to various drug discovery projects
Proficiency with software such as Microsoft Office, ChemDraw and SciFinder and ability to use computational chemistry software to design molecules
Excellent time management skills, organizational skills, high efficiency in the lab, ability to adjust work priorities per project needs, and detailed record keeping of experiments using electronic lab notebooks in a timely manner
Ability to develop new skillsets and knowledge is highly desirable
Working independently with limited guidance and multi-tasking are crucial for success
Ability to collaborate within the team and cross-function in a dynamic and fast-paced environment
Strong verbal and written communication skills

Nice To Haves

Experience with electronic notebook, Spotfire and other data management and uploading software is a plus

Responsibilities

Propose and synthesize new molecular targets based on structure-activity relationships for compound optimization to advance leads
Design synthetic routes based on up-to-date literature and hands-on past experience, scale up experience is required
Solve challenging synthetic problems using various techniques
Lead and/or assist in writing and revising technical documents including synthetic, analytical protocols and data reports
Analyze, interpret, summarize, communicate results and data to the team through presentations or other formats in a timely manner
Provide synthetic chemistry expertise and support cross-functional activities as needed
Be up to date with scientific literature
Work with external CROs to manage FTEs and outsourcing activities
Organize the lab, maintain instruments, reagents, supplies in daily operations and follow EH&S rules and regulations