Team Lead, OpenADMET

Octant Bio•Emeryville, CA

37d•$195,000 - $230,000•Onsite

About The Position

Octant is seeking a team lead to head its OpenADMET team. OpenADMET is a multi-institution open science consortium focused on solving ADMET prediction and making ADMET a design challenge. Octant leads assay development and data generation for the consortium. The team lead will guide strategy and execution for Octant's involvement, collaborating with partners, funders, and the community. Internally, this role will integrate OpenADMET assays, data, and workflows into the Octant Navigator platform for drug discovery programs. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of ADME from a molecular perspective, be comfortable with both strategic and execution tasks, and have a proven history of leading complex, cross-functional projects. A team-first mindset, excellent communication skills, and the ability to thrive in a dynamic environment are essential.

Requirements

A PhD in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience
8-10+ years of experience in small molecule drug discovery, including leading large, cross-functional projects and teams. Industry experience strongly preferred.
Experience spanning ADME/DMPK and medicinal chemistry, with the medchem intuition to reason about ADME through structure–property relationships
A track record of building platforms or other enabling technology, such as new assays, high-throughput workflows, or data and automation infrastructure
Computational fluency: comfortable working with data and AI tools and building workflows
The ability to move between strategy and execution, and to communicate clearly with funders, collaborators, and internal teams
Excitement about open science
Flexibility to rapidly changing priorities and project needs, with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. Comfortable with ambiguity and able to pivot strategies as needed to meet project goals.
Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities, with a proactive approach to anticipating potential issues and addressing them before they become critical.
A drive to build a successful company in your role as a team lead and beyond.

Responsibilities

Lead the strategy and execution of Octant’s contributions to OpenADMET, coordinating closely with partners at UCSF and OMSF
Build long-term relationships with funders, provide regular progress updates, and scope out the next stages of funding
Grow community across the OpenADMET ecosystem, including blind challenge participants and others working on ADMET prediction
Decide which ADMET assays Octant builds and onboards, and ensure they run robustly and reproducibly at high throughput
Connect our in-house high-throughput synthesis capabilities with ADMET assays in a closed design-make-test loop, including technology development in microscale synthesis and quantification
Lead and grow a team, working hand-in-hand with machine learning scientists, software engineers, biologists, chemists, and automation engineers