Job Description

Title : Principal Scientist/Associate Director, Peptide Chemistry

Reports to: VP, Drug Discovery

Candidate

You are passionate about the company’s mission and a self-starter with an inextinguishable fire to compete and succeed. You thrive in an environment that requires crisp judgment, pragmatic decision-making, rapid course-corrections, and comfort with market ambiguity. You discharge your duties within a culture of mutual team respect, high performance, humility, and humor.

Candidate Responsibilities:

· Perform molecular docking simulations for protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions to identify peptide-based drug candidates

· Design, oversee synthesize and characterize D-peptides to drive SAR in supporting of drug discovery pipeline

· Lead chemically modified analogs, linker chemistry, bioconjugation, purification, analytical and biophysical assessments.

· Serves as an in-house D-peptide chemistry expert from discovery to CMC activities

· Manage CRO operations to ensure D-peptide moieties meet project needs

· Present data at scientific conferences and publish data in scientific journals aligned to company objectives

· Serve as an example of teamwork and collaboration with adherence the company Team Operating Agreement

Candidate Skills and Experience

· MS or PhD in Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Chemical Biology or related field with 6-15 years of experience in the biotech/biopharmaceutical industry

· Deep experience in peptide (linear, cyclic, bicyclic etc.) chemistry and understanding multi-step organic synthesis is required. Hands-on experience with manual and automated systems for solid-phase synthesis of peptides is desired

· Strong experience of peptide structure and associated biophysical techniques to assess peptide structure, stability, formulation and behavior in solution

· Expertise in bioconjugation, half-life extension (PK), labeling chemistry, metabolic stability for peptides, especially those containing non-canonical amino acid

· Good track record of leading the design & optimization of therapeutic peptides from hit validation to clinical candidate nomination is required

· Experience in the discovery & development of peptide drug conjugation (PDC) or/and peptide radioligands is highly desirable

· Experience and productivity in a multi-disciplinary team involving working with peptide CRO, external partners and collaborators

· Strong record of innovation and productivity as a researcher, as exemplified by publications, grants, and/or patents

· Proficiency with Python and shell scripting in developing protein design

· Knowledge of contemporary computational protein design methods (AlphaFold2, RoseTTAFold)

· Experience with molecular docking software (e.g. RosetttaDock, AutoDock, HADDOCK) to guide structure-based peptide drug discovery

· Excellent oral and written communication skills

· Entrepreneurial spirit, self-starter with proper balance of scientific creativity and disciplined execution

Location: This position is based in San Diego

Compensation : Competitive base salary, stock options, and a benefits package including flexible PTO and first-class medical coverage.

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