Senior Director/VP, Head of Medicinal Chemistry

What if you could join a rapidly growing company and play a critical role in bringing new medicines to patients through looking at and treating disease in a revolutionary way.

What this position is all about:

Cellarity is seeking a highly motivated and innovative Senior Director/VP with expertise in the field of medicinal chemistry to play a vital role in the company’s efforts to validate novel discovery approaches based on cell behavior.

The candidate will be reporting to the Head of Chemistry and would be expected to utilize Cellarity’s AI-augmented novel drug discovery paradigm, to lead, motivate and develop a team of medicinal chemists (internal and external) through early hit discovery, lead optimization, drug candidate identification and IND enabling assessment. The successful candidate will have deep experience in small molecule drug discovery and will drive the application of cutting-edge molecular, computational, and AI-augmented design approaches to discover quality drug candidates that can become transformative medicines for serious diseases.

They will be comfortable working in and contributing to a very dynamic and cross-functional team environment. The ideal candidate must be independent, results oriented, with excellent communication skills and be willing to work in a highly dynamic and fast-paced entrepreneurial environment.

What you would be responsible for:

• Provide creative and innovative leadership within Medicinal Chemistry enabling the organization to convert strong biological hypotheses into transformative medicines.
• Ensure effective interaction & communication between medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, machine learning, computational biology, and drug discovery teams.
• Lead the department to ensure that it operates at the highest levels of scientific excellence.
• Manage project resourcing for the Medicinal Chemistry group.
• Lead and/or contribute to cross-functional goals within Cellarity.
• Work closely with Head of Chemistry and CROs to ensure that the medicinal chemistry group employs the highest standards and most advanced methodologies in drug discovery.
• Develop and manage Cellarity’s small molecule IP portfolio. Work closely with attorneys to plan, create, and execute an aggressive IP strategy to protect and expand Cellarity’s intellectual property.

What experiences will you need:   

• PhD in Organic/Medicinal Chemistry with 15+ years of industry experience in medicinal chemistry leadership roles with a demonstrated track record of success in drug discovery
• Experience in leading projects and driving programs from initiation through lead optimization phase to clinical lead selection.
• Demonstrated synthetic and medicinal chemistry skills through high quality publications/patents.
• Demonstrated ability for people leadership and talent development.
• Strengths in the following areas: creativity, problem-solving, and managing relationships within a matrix project team environment (internal/external partners)
• Demonstrated ability to successfully work in cross-functional teams with an emphasis on teamwork, collaboration, and communication.
• Self-driven and demonstrated ability in working with a diverse team in a fast-paced entrepreneurial setting
• Experience with utilizing computational chemistry tools and structure-based drug design principles for lead identification and optimization.
• Drug discovery experience in multiple therapeutic areas and target classes

 What sets you apart:

• A high degree of self-motivation, organization, communication, and presentation skills; high competence in solving complex problems, as well as the ability to navigate a fast-paced cross-functional and collaborative work environment.

• A desire to be part of a highly innovative company aimed at transforming the lives of people with serious diseases.

What it’s like to work at Cellarity

At Cellarity, we

• Push Boundaries: We create a legacy with breakthrough science in service of patients.
• Inject Energy: We build strengths from different perspectives and tell it like it is.
• Own it: We transcend our job descriptions and relentlessly follow through on our commitments.
• Go all out: We work quickly and with conviction.

Company Summary: Cellarity’s mission is to fundamentally redesign the way drugs are created for the sake of bringing new hope to patients.  By shifting the focus from a single target to the underlying cellular dysfunction, we unravel the c