Director,Chemistry

About the role

We are building out our chemistry function in Boston and hiring a Senior Chemist to drive the chemistry on our pipeline programs. You will own compound design and synthesis for a discovery program from hit identification through lead optimization, working shoulder to shoulder with our Boston biology team. You will also work directly with our ML scientists, pressure-testing what Neo-1 generates against what is actually synthesizable and actually worth making.

Responsibilities

• Own compound design and SAR strategy for a pipeline program, from hit identification through lead optimization
• Use structure to drive the chemistry: co-crystal structures, homology and docking models, and physics-based methods where they earn their keep
• Work at the chemistry/biology interface, interpreting pharmacology data directly and shaping what gets tested next
• Design synthetic routes and direct external synthesis, staying close to the chemistry and solving synthetic challenges
• Drive DMTA cycles alongside biology and DMPK, prioritizing compounds on potency, selectivity, and developability
• Solve real problems: potency, selectivity, permeability, metabolic stability, solubility, and property space beyond Rule of 5
• Pressure-test Neo-1's output for synthetic tractability and chemical relevance, and feed results back so the models improve
• Manage CRO chemistry end to end: scoping, route review, quality, timelines, cost
• Build data packages that support internal go/no-go calls and pharma partner deliverables

Requirements

• PhD in organic chemistry
• Roughly 8-12 years of post-PhD experience in medicinal chemistry or chemical biology, with extensive synthetic chemistry experience
• Demonstrated structure-based drug design capability: you have used structures and models to make chemistry decisions that improved potency or selectivity
• Practical computational chemistry skills built through discovery work rather than from a purely computational background
• Biology fluency: you can read a pharmacology package, reason about late-stage pharmacology and translational implications, and hold your own with biologists
• Program experience on enzyme and/or receptor targets (GPCRs, nuclear receptors)
• Strong synthetic chemistry fundamentals and sound judgment on route design
• Experience directing CRO chemistry and holding external partners to high standards
• Comfortable in a small, fast, resource-constrained team where you own the chemistry end to end