Senior Staff Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry

Job Description

Septerna is a biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, CA on a mission to develop life-changing medicines for patients with the vision to become the industry-leading G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-focused drug discovery company. The company's Native Complex Platform™ recapitulates GPCRs with their native structure, function, and dynamics outside of the cellular context. This approach enables novel access to modern structural and screening technologies used in industrial-scale drug discovery for the entire class of GPCRs. Septerna has an emerging pipeline of GPCR-targeted small molecule programs with potential for growth to target many GPCRs that have been undruggable and unexploited to date.

We are excited to expand our multidisciplinary team of individuals focused on creating revolutionary medicines to address the unmet needs of patients. At Septerna we strive to embrace diversity of thought, expertise, and background through collaboration. To join our ambitious team, be prepared to bring your real self to work every day; grow and learn from a talented team of drug hunters, scientists, and business professionals; and contribute your passion, creativity, and energy to accomplish our mission. We share a fearless pursuit of ground-breaking innovations and cultivate an environment where our employees succeed by learning from each other and working as a team.

We are committed to the development of meaningful therapeutics for patients with indications of high unmet need. This is a tremendous opportunity to work with talented individuals on the frontlines of therapeutic discovery and development. You will directly help move therapies through preclinical research, positioning them for success in the clinic. The successful candidate will add their passion, unique talents, and expertise to a dynamic team motivated to discover new disease-modifying therapeutics for patients in a fast-paced environment.

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THE ROLE

We are seeking a medicinal chemist with a track record of success to advance our chemistry efforts for one or more of our drug discovery programs. Reporting to the VP, Medicinal Chemistry, External Operations, this individual will be an integral member of the compound design team working cross-functionally with computational chemistry and DMPK. Responsibility for project chemistry (including managing outsourced chemistry relationships) from hit identification through the selection of drug candidates for clinical development is expected. In addition, the opportunity exists to contribute to the training and supervision of junior chemists and to develop ideas for new therapeutic programs.

QUALIFICATIONS

This position requires a Ph.D. in organic chemistry with at least 7+ years of experience in a biotechnology or pharmaceutical setting. The successful candidate will have experience leading chemistry efforts for drug discovery programs and managing external chemistry FTEs. He/she will have deep expertise in organic/medicinal chemistry and experience optimizing compounds towards drug development candidate selection. Experience with structure-based drug design is preferred.

REQUIREMENTS

Track record of involvement in identifying a development candidate with a solid understanding of hit ID, hit to lead, and lead optimization processes. Demonstrated chemistry team leadership.

Extensive experience in medicinal chemistry including design of drug-like molecules and multi-parameter optimization of physicochemical, ADME and safety properties of compounds.

Strong quantitative intuition including ability to organize and analyze SAR data sets to drive lead optimization with creativity and strong problem-solving skills.

Experience with structure-based drug design is preferred.

Contemporary expertise and understanding of all aspects of synthetic organic chemistry ranging from modern synthetic methodologies to multi-step synthetic route design, compound purification and characterization. Ability to design synthetic routes and troubleshooting synthetic issues.

Management experience of external teams of chemists at contract research organizations.

Outstanding communication skills with demonstrated ability to make effective presentations in a broad range of settings

A team player with strong collaboration, and organizational skills

The anticipated salary range for candidates who will work in South San Francisco, CA is $170,000 - $180,000. Individual pay may vary based on additional factors, including, and without limitation, job-related skills, experience, work location and relevant education or training. Septerna's compensation package also includes benefits, stock options, and annual target bonus for full-time positions.

We are an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.

Note to Employment Agencies: Please do not forward any agency resumes. The company will not be responsible for any fees related to resumes that are unsolicited.

Note to Employment Agencies: Please do not forward any agency resumes. The company will not be responsible for any fees related to resumes that are unsolicited. We are an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status. Septerna participates in the E-Verify program. California Consumer Privacy Act Privacy Notice For Job Applicants. If you are a California resident, click here for our CCPA Notice.

Full-time