Director, Medicinal Chemistry

Our Culture: Why work with us?

At Foghorn Therapeutics, we believe in “People First, Mission Always.”

We put “People First” because we know our people are the key to everything we will accomplish. We value the diversity of background, ideas, perspectives and experiences that our team members bring to Foghorn Therapeutics – demonstrated by our community speaking more than 22 languages and representing over 24 nationalities. We value our teammates as people, not just as employees – validated by our actions that let our people know that we care about them, their families, and their lives.

We say “Mission Always” because we know a relentless commitment to our mission will make a difference in the lives of others. We believe our success will come from evaluating the data to follow the science. We work hard to develop a new class of therapies that could improve the lives of over 2.5 million people with cancer.

Our culture is focused on succeeding through the evaluation of data, not people. And in that, relationships can flourish and develop.

Our Science:

The groundbreaking science behind our therapies continues to yield vital insights into diseases that have confounded physicians and researchers. Our core scientific approach is centered on the chromatin regulatory system, which opens and closes the right sections of DNA at the right time. Breakdowns in the chromatin regulatory system lead to a wide range of diseases, including cancer, impacting millions of people.

Our proprietary Gene Traffic Control® platform is a powerful tool for understanding and modulating the chromatin regulatory system. We are pursuing multiple treatments for breakdowns in this system. We are the only company with the ability to study and target the chromatin regulatory system at scale, in context, and in an integrated way.

The Role:

The Director, Medicinal Chemistry will devise and implement medicinal chemistry strategies to advance chemical matter through all stages of drug discovery, from hit ID to DC nomination. They will work collaboratively with internal cross-functional team members and external CROs to achieve project goals and ultimately deliver novel therapies to patients.

In This Role, You’ll Get To:

• Plan, prioritize and implement synthetic and medicinal chemistry strategies to achieve project goals
• Manage outsourced external chemistry resources at partner CROs and provide recommendations on emerging external opportunities
• Collaborate with functional leads – e.g., computational chemistry, biology, crystallography, DMPK, pharmacology – to design appropriate flowcharts and drive program strategy
• Apply advanced medicinal chemistry principles to design high quality compounds, considering multiple parameters in parallel – e.g., potency, selectivity, SBDD, ADME/PK, physicochemical properties
• Provide clear communication of the medicinal chemistry strategy to cross-functional colleagues, scientific leadership and external collaborators, and present updates to key stakeholders – e.g., Leadership Team, Board of Directors
• Contribute to the expansion of Foghorn’s platform capabilities in small molecule inhibitors and degraders
• Foster a cutting-edge approach within the chemistry function as a member of Chemistry Leadership Team and in managing direct reports
• Lead the preparation of patent applications and scientific publications as appropriate

Requirements

About you:

• Master’s or PhD degree in organic chemistry, in addition to 10+ years of medicinal chemistry experience (14+ years for master’s) in a pharmaceutical / biotechnology setting
• Established leadership in drug discovery with proven track record of solving complex, multiparametric medicinal chemistry challenges

• Demonstrated success in optimizing monovalent and heterobifunctional degraders for advancement to candidate nomination
• Ability to collaborate across disciplines and integrate cross-functional data to drive medicinal chemistry strategies
• Strong functional leadership in motivating internal and external chemistry teams while creating an inclusive environment that encourages ideas, discussion, and debate
• Confident communicator who can clearly present to all levels within the organization and externally
• Proven ability to manage timelines and resources to reach decisions / milestones

Benefits

Foghorn Therapeutics is pleased to provide you and your family with a comprehensive suite of benefits, including:

• Highly competitive and inclusive medical, dental and vision coverage options
• BCBS PPO and PPO HSA plans
• BCBS Dental Plan
• EyeMed Vision Plan