Septerna is a biotechnology company with a vision to become the industry-leading G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-focused R&D company with a portfolio of life-changing medicines. The company’s Native Complex™ Platform recapitulates GPCRs with their native structure, function, and dynamics outside of the cellular environment to enable new technologies for industrial-scale drug discovery for the entire GPCR target class for the first time. Septerna has an emerging pipeline of GPCR-targeted small molecule drug discovery programs, along with growth potential to reach many GPCRs that have been undruggable and unexploited to date. Septerna was launched by scientific founders who have made groundbreaking GPCR discoveries and by founding investor Third Rock Ventures. For more information see: www.septerna.com.

 

Join a multidisciplinary team of colleagues focused on creating revolutionary medicines to address significant needs of patients.  Bring your real self to work every day; grow and learn from a talented team of drug hunters, scientists, and business professionals; and contribute your passion, creativity, and energy to our mission.  At Septerna we embrace diversity of thought, expertise, and background; we share a fearless pursuit of ground-breaking innovations; and our employees learn from each other and succeed as a team.  

The Director of Molecular Pharmacology in Septerna’s Discovery Biology Department will leverage their deep expertise in molecular pharmacology towards contributing to and leading a world class department that is central to the advancement of our GPCR drug discovery portfolio and unique platform.  The candidate will have direct experience working collaboratively within matrixed interdisciplinary drug discovery projects as an in vitro pharmacologist and demonstrated ability to lead and mentor a group of scientists in this regard.  Effective leadership skills will be critical to build strong relationships with direct reports and internal/external collaborators, to lead major aspects of Septerna’s in vitro pharmacology efforts, and to help shape the future direction and structure of the department.

 

The successful candidate will have direct experience leading drug discovery project teams from target validation to nomination of clinical candidates.  This includes a demonstrated proficiency to define and support hit finding strategies, create Target Candidate Profiles and lead the advancement of the project through all stages of discovery.  Familiarity with diverse therapeutic areas, application of Structure-Based Drug Design and the concepts of PK/PD will be a significant benefit.  

 

This position requires a PhD in Biochemistry, Pharmacology or a related scientific discipline with at least 10+ years of experience in a biotech or pharmaceutical setting working in and leading drug discovery project teams applying molecular pharmacology concepts. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience performing plate-based in vitro pharmacological experiments on GPCRs to guide SAR and characterize mechanism of action. The candidate will also develop strategies and oversee activities to identify novel chemical starting points that leverage Septerna’s unique pharmacological insights and that capitalize on our state of the art GPCR platform.

 

·         Demonstrated success in leading a group responsible for defining, developing and overseeing execution of in vitro GPCR pharmacological assays necessary to inform Structure-Activity Relationships for small molecule compounds.

·         Experience in GPCR molecular pharmacology with expertise to pharmacologically characterize the mechanism of action of hits, leads and candidate compounds and the application of rigorous data analysis techniques for quantification as evidenced by an excellent publication/presentation record.

·         Demonstrable evidence of contribution to the advancement of numerous GPCR drug discovery projects as a project team member. Project team leadership experience a significant plus.

·         Experience managing and mentoring PhD-level direct reports.

·         Proficiency in the utilization of automation and liquid handlers and familiarity with High-Throughput Screening and hit identification techniques is strongly desired.

·         Enthusiasm and passion to discover new disease-modifying therapeutics