Associate Director/ Director, Medicinal Chemistry

Job: Associate Director/Director, Medicinal Chemistry

Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

Position type: Full Time

Reports to: Vice President, Chemistry

Position Summary: 

Latigo is searching for an Associate Director/Director to join our medicinal chemistry department.  We are seeking a highly motivated chemist with prior experience working in integrated/multidisciplinary drug discovery teams. The successful candidate will have broad medicinal chemistry experience from hit ID to development compound selection and track record of innovation and creative problem solving. The individual should be an expert in organic chemistry and possess broad knowledge of medicinal chemistry principles. The candidate should have deep understanding of the relationship of molecular properties and DMPK properties that lead to the discovery of high-quality molecules. The individual will be expected to participate in the writing and execution of patent applications, and interface with or lead internal cross-functional teams and external collaborators and CROs.

Primary responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Plan and effectively lead day-to-day project-based medicinal chemistry efforts initially from the bench


• Lead/co-lead drug discovery projects


• Effectively utilize medicinal chemistry acumen and data analysis software for hypothesis generation


• Actively direct and partner with CROs


• Actively collaborate with Latigo’s medicinal chemists, computational chemists, and cross-functional scientists


• Propose and develop strategies to enhance our drug design capabilities, identify quality chemical leads for new projects, and develop high quality candidates for clinical development


• Develop and maintain relevant SOPs and other policies, procedures, and systems relevant to the department


• Contribute to the building of chemistry infrastructure and company culture

Basic qualifications:

• Ph. D. in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry with >8 years (Assoc Dir) to 12 years (Director) of industrial drug discovery experience

Preferred experience and skills:

• Prior impactful experience in the discovery of ion channel modulators


• Demonstrated achievements in synthesis and design of biologically active small molecules as evidenced by publications and patents


• Extensive knowledge of modern synthetic organic chemistry


• Solid understanding of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics and ADME/toxicity concepts


• Experience spanning hit-to-lead thru lead optimization and candidate selection


• Demonstrated experience with a broad range of modern structure-based drug design and computer assisted drug design techniques


• Excellent interpersonal team management together with oral and written communication skills


• A passionate interest in hypothesis driven drug discovery, strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work in an interdisciplinary scientific team environment