Senior Scientist I/II, Medicinal Chemistry
Cambridge, MA · Full-Time
Reports To: Director of Medicinal Chemistry
Company Overview
METiS Therapeutics Inc is a biotechnology company with a unique technology platform that has the potential to drive best-in class drug assets in a wide range of therapeutic areas. Through the integration of machine learning, quantum simulation, and high-throughput experimentation, we enable scientists to rapidly, comprehensively, and intelligently develop novel drug candidates. METiS is founded by an enthusiastic team of MIT researchers and serial entrepreneurs. Our cross-disciplinary expertise and deep industry experiences allow METiS to harness AI to boldly deliver revolutionary therapies for patients with serious diseases.
As a founding member of our medicinal chemistry department, this individual will contribute significantly to our internal chemistry capabilities and provide guidance for our outsourced chemistry team. We are looking for an exceptional medicinal chemist with robust, practical knowledge of small molecule drug discovery and organic synthesis. They will be central to driving hypothesis- and data- driven drug discovery by leveraging a state-of-the-art AI platform for drug discovery. This role will be initially virtual but will transition to a lab-centric role by the end of the year.
Responsibilities
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Conceive and execute upon synthetic medicinal chemistry projects that achieve program goals with minimal supervisory support.
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Work collaboratively between groups – namely biology, pharmacology, and AI teams
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Manage CRO personnel (some overseas) including weekly progress tracking and reprioritization as necessary
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Maintain a high level of productivity in the lab (once available) by making key synthetic contributions to projects
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Proactively seek out and adapt new information in literature and patent landscape to incorporate into project strategies
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Prepare routine internal presentations to guide research strategy
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Contribute to due diligence activities of potential in-licensing projects
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Maintain accurate records of projects through diligent use of ELN. Support patent filing.
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Assist with hiring campaign and team/lab build-out
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Maintain strict lab safety practices, contribute to general lab operations
Minimum Qualifications
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Ph.D. in organic or medicinal chemistry preferred, Bachelors or Masters degree with commensurate experience also considered.
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Minimum 5-7 years’ experience in industrial small molecule drug discovery, with a strong track record of directly contributing to small molecule drug discovery programs
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Have a strong intuition about quantitative structure-activity relationships as they pertain to ADME/DMPK parameters in drug design, and optimizing compounds towards candidate selection
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Up-to-date expertise in all aspects of synthetic and medicinal chemistry
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Track record of high productivity in the lab by making key contributions to small molecule drug discovery - without compromising safety or maintenance of a clean, organized lab workspace
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Exceptional communication skills, including use of teleconferencing tools
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Proficiency with cloud-based apps such as Microsoft OneDrive, Box, etc.
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Works well within a small team environment and has excellent interpersonal skills, and shows flexibility towards diverse opinions and input
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Must be willing to relocate full time to Greater Boston Area within 6 months of start date
Preferred Qualifications
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Working knowledge of Structure-Based Drug Design concepts, and experience with CADD toolkits (e.g. MOE, MolSoft, OpenEye, Schrödinger)
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Familiarity with cheminformatics concepts such as similarity and clustering, and proficiency with scripting languages such as Python, R, or Knime
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Experience with ELN and informatics platforms such as CDD or Dotmatics
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Familiarity with cloud-based Linux environments and ability to work from the command line
RECRUITING & STAFFING AGENCIES: METiS Therapeutics does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to METiS or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by METiS recruiting team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of METiS, and METiS will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.