Associate Director/Director, Medicinal Chemistry

Location: Thousand Oaks, California, United States (Hybrid)

Company

hirify.global develops therapeutic candidates through multidisciplinary drug discovery programs.

What you will do

• Plan and lead day-to-day project-based medicinal chemistry efforts, initially working from the bench.
• Lead or co-lead drug discovery projects from hit identification through lead optimization and development candidate selection.
• Use medicinal chemistry expertise and data analysis software to generate hypotheses and improve drug design strategies.
• Direct and partner with CROs while collaborating with medicinal chemists, computational chemists, and cross-functional scientists.
• Develop high-quality chemical leads and clinical candidates, and contribute to patent application writing and execution.
• Maintain departmental SOPs, policies, procedures, and systems while helping build chemistry infrastructure and company culture.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry or Medicinal Chemistry.
• More than 8 years of industrial drug discovery experience for the Associate Director level, or 12 years for the Director level.
• Broad medicinal chemistry experience spanning hit identification through development compound selection.
• Expertise in organic chemistry and broad knowledge of medicinal chemistry principles.
• Deep understanding of the relationship between molecular properties and DMPK properties that supports discovery of high-quality molecules.
• Experience with synthesis and design of biologically active small molecules, evidenced by publications and patents.
• Extensive knowledge of modern synthetic organic chemistry and a solid understanding of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, and ADME/toxicity concepts.
• Experience with modern structure-based drug design and computer-assisted drug design techniques.
• Strong problem-solving, interpersonal team management, oral and written communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration skills.

Nice to have

• Prior impactful experience discovering ion channel modulators.
• Passionate interest in hypothesis-driven drug discovery.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work arrangement in Thousand Oaks, California.
• Collaboration across medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, and cross-functional scientific teams.
• Interaction with external collaborators and contract research organizations.