Research Scientist

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

  • Ph.D. in Medicinal/Peptide/Biochemistry or related areas with thesis and publication(s).
  • Deep understanding of medicinal chemistry and in particular peptide and conjugation chemistry principles, and their application within an integrated drug discovery environment.
  • Expertise in modern peptide chemistry especially SPPS and NCL.
  • Familiarity with modern analytical techniques such as ESI, LC/MS, MALDI/TOF MS, fluorescence microscopy, fluorometry, NMR, CD, and UV/VIS spectrophotometry.
  • Expertise with aqueous bioconjugation and non-aqueous conjugation chemistry.
  • Knowledgeable in all aspects of drug discovery from target discovery through to early clinical development.
  • Demonstrated expertise in hypothesis based medicinal and/or peptide chemistry.
  • Demonstrated ability to work in a dynamic multidisciplinary environment and matrix organization.
  • Experience in late stage optimization and preclinical evaluation of small molecule and peptide drugs, including a detailed knowledge of the roles of DMPK, drug safety, CMC, formulation etc. Able to define and influence small molecule and peptide drug pre-clinical development strategy.
  • Positive can-do attitude with excellent communication and collaboration skills and ability to work with cross-functional scientists. Ability to clearly and concisely conveys ideas and opinions.
  • Highly motivated and flexible with ability to work in fast-paced environment. Ability to provide novel creative solutions to challenging problems. Desire to learn and tackle new challenges and initiatives.
  • Professionally represents the organization in collaborations, partnership discussions, and external relationships and conferences.
  • Proven track record of scientific contributions in life science as evidenced by quality and quantity of publications/presentations/inventions and/or products and clinical candidates.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Leads chemistry and peptide chemistry and/or cross-functional teams (in house and with partners) in defining and implementing strategies for hit identification, hit-to-tool optimization, lead optimization and delivery of candidate molecules.
  • Responsible for setting strategies, priorities and managing activities to deliver on objectives and milestones.
  • Provides expert medicinal chemistry and peptide chemistry input in evaluation of external/partnership opportunities.
  • Establishes customized in vitro and in vivo compound testing flow schemes to support programs at all stages.
  • Effectively manages internal and external (CRO) chemists. Able to rapidly shift resources and re-prioritize in response to data.
  • Provides expert peptide and conjugation chemistry input in evaluation of external/partnership opportunities, including participating in diligence exercises.
  • Demonstrates inter-disciplinary knowledge of drug discovery (in vitro/in vivo pharmacology, ADME, PK/PD/E, translational research & toxicology) and is able to use this knowledge to influence project strategy.
  • Supports early stage programs through a detailed knowledge of state of the art biophysical and biochemical methods and their application to druggability assessment and small molecule hit identification and characterization.
  • Writing and submitting grant applications to secure external funding from different agencies and institutes.
  • Prepares and organizes data for presentation. Presents written and oral reports to management.
  • Publishes original research and review articles in scholarly journals.
  • Prepare Patent applications as necessary