Senior Scientist, Process Chemistry

Role Summary

Senior Scientist, Process Chemistry based in Cambridge, MA. Lead multi-step route evaluation and development to establish commercial drug substance manufacturing processes, coordinating internal and outsourced laboratory activities under Process Chemistry R&D leadership. Focus on synthetic organic chemistry for late-stage clinical development, applying innovative approaches to deliver safe, scalable, and economical drug-substance manufacturing processes.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the design of novel and efficient synthetic pathways for drug substances undergoing clinical development
• Conduct and oversee route scouting in laboratory to demonstrate synthetic viability
• Use a broad set of chemistry tools to develop and optimize commercial processes for selected drug substance routes (photochemistry, biocatalysis, flow chemistry, electrochemistry, on-line analysis/PAT, high-throughput experimentation, structural analysis, computational chemistry, etc.)
• Design, plan and execute experimental plans to optimize reaction, purification and isolation operations, guided by technical risk assessments, to deliver safe, efficient, robust and scalable drug substance manufacturing processes that perform reliably at intended scale in batch or continuous format
• Collaborate within project teams by working closely with analytical chemists, process engineers, pilot plant experts and project managers within the CMC Synthetics organization
• Communicate scientific results clearly and concisely via electronic laboratory notebook documentation, development reports, project discussions and presentations
• Provide concise technical presentations to communicate work to project teams, cross-functional teams and management. Document all work on projects and continuous improvements in electronic notebooks and summarize in technical reports
• Establish/expand external networks by representing and leading on academic, industrial, or government-sponsored collaborations
• Champion continuous improvements through scientific and technical innovations, workflow optimizations, and incorporation of digital tools

Qualifications

• Required: Knowledge in at least one of the following areas: advanced analytics, flow chemistry, high throughput experimentation
• Required: Experience in chemocatalysis or biocatalysis including characterization of catalytic processes and/or mechanistic analysis
• Required: Computational capabilities and basic coding skills
• Required: Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals
• Required: Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Required: Ability to operate with flexibility in a dynamic environment and with tight deadlines
• Preferred: Post-doctoral experience
• Preferred: Proficiency with Microsoft suite
• Preferred: Familiarity with digital tools (e.g. Scifinder-n, and Reaxys) and advanced data analysis software (e.g. Spotfire)
• Preferred: Design of experiment, statistical and/or thermo-kinetic modeling
• Preferred: Strategic and innovative thinker with a track record of fresh insightful thinking by developing creative approaches to processes and practices
• Preferred: French language skills

Education

• Ph.D. in organic or synthetic chemistry

Skills

• Expertise in synthetic organic chemistry and route development
• Ability to design and execute experiments across batch and continuous manufacturing
• Proficiency with a range of chemistry tools (photochemistry, biocatalysis, flow chemistry, electrochemistry, PAT, high-throughput experimentation, structural analysis, computational chemistry)
• Strong collaboration and communication skills
• Analytical thinking and problem-solving, with data-driven decision making