Sr Advisor / Scientific Director - Chemistry – Fragment Hit Elaboration
Eli Lilly and Company
Full-time
Remote friendly (San Francisco, CA)
United States
Clinical Research and Development
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Role Summary
Sr Advisor / Scientific Director - Chemistry – Fragment Hit Elaboration. Hands-on, lab-based role focused on developing internal capabilities in fragment-based ligand design (FBLD) within the Novel Platforms Fragment-based Discovery team. Lead early-stage medicinal chemistry from fragment hits to pre-lead candidates and collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to enable innovative therapeutic discovery.
Responsibilities
- Lead strategy and execution for early-stage medicinal chemistry from fragment hit identification to pre-lead candidate nomination.
- Triage and extract key pharmacophoric and structural insights from early biophysics and fragment screening data.
- Coordinate with internal and external chemistry resources to prioritize and ensure timely delivery of the chemical matter.
- Partner with chemistry, biophysics, structural biology and AI/ML teams to coordinate progression of fragment hits to portfolio candidates across several protein targets.
Qualifications
- BS, MS, or PhD in chemistry with a focus on synthetic organic chemistry.
- Experience in small molecule drug discovery in a biotechnology or pharmaceutical setting; BS with 10+ years, MS with 8+ years, or PhD with 5+ years of experience.
- Demonstrated success in FBLD taking low affinity fragment hits to pre-lead candidate molecules (nM) and ideally beyond (IND, market).
- Proficiency with molecular modeling, MD, FEP, AI-assisted design, and cheminformatics.
- Ability to independently design experiments, troubleshoot challenges, and collaborate effectively in a fast-paced environment.
Skills
- Strong expertise in fragment-based design and medicinal chemistry workflows.
- Collaborative cross-functional communication and documentation.
- Operational excellence with emphasis on data quality and reproducibility.
- Adaptability in a fast-paced research environment.
- Experience in lead compound optimization for potency, selectivity, ADME and PK (preferred).
Education
- Not specified beyond degree requirements in qualifications.
Additional Requirements
- Physical demands are those of a laboratory environment; travel required.