VP, Medicinal Chemistry

Science    ·       San Francisco      ·    Full time

Atomwise is a technology-enabled pharmaceutical company leveraging the power of AI to revolutionize small molecule drug discovery. The Atomwise team invented the use of deep learning for structure-based drug design; this technology underpins Atomwise’s best-in-class AI discovery engine, which is differentiated by its ability to find and optimize novel chemical matter. Atomwise has extensively validated its discovery engine, delivering success in over 185 projects to-date including a wide-variety of protein types and numerous “hard-to-drug” targets. Atomwise is building a wholly owned pipeline of small-molecule drug candidates, with three programs in lead-optimization and over 30 programs in discovery. The company has raised over $174 million from leading venture capital firms to advance its mission to make better medicines, faster.  

Role Summary

Our customers are scientists; you should be, too. Results should be considered guilty until proven innocent: sanity checking, skepticism, problem-solving, analysis, and investigation are our constant companions. As our VP of Medicinal Chemistry, you should be comfortable discussing and reasoning about projects with the precision necessary to deliver what the customer needs and possess enough clear articulable pragmatism to get things done even in the face of inevitable and unavoidable ambiguity.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage team of medicinal chemists.
• Interact with customers to understand their project requirements.
• Propose drug targets and strategies to modulate the function of target proteins.
• Design small-molecule bioactive compounds, propose synthetic routes and manage external synthetic chemistry efforts.
• Manage internal chemistry databases.
• Provide progress updates to both internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to patent drafting.
• Communicate our results and capabilities through scientific publications.
• Help develop our modeling software.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in organic chemistry or medicinal chemistry.
• Solid knowledge of modern synthetic organic chemistry. 
• Minimum 15 + years of industry experience in biotech or pharmaceutical setting. 
• Proven track record in structure and property guided design including multi-parametric optimization of bioactivity and ADMET properties.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities.
• Demonstrated track record of clear communication, working with a multidisciplinary team, mentoring, and developing talent.
• Practices first principles thinking to solve problems.    

Compensation & benefits

• Competitive salary, commensurate with experience
• Stock compensation plan – you’ll be an Atomwise co-owner
• Platinum health, dental, and vision benefits
• 401k with 4% match
• Funding for professional development and conference attendance
• Flexible work schedule
• Generous parental leave
• High performance culture
• Great colleagues

Atomwise is an equal opportunity employer and strives to foster an inclusive workplace.  Our mission is to develop better medicines faster, and we know that we need a diverse team to develop medicines that serve diverse populations.  Accordingly, Atomwise does not make any employment decisions (including but not limited to, hiring, compensation, and promotions) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristics protected by applicable federal, state, and local law.

We strongly encourage people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives to apply.

Please click here to apply.