Principal Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry

San Diego, CA
Chemistry /
Full-time /
On-site
The successful candidate will lead lab chemistry efforts in the department enabling projects across the portfolio. They will also utilize the Genesis Therapeutics platform and assist medicinal chemistry efforts in drug discovery programs from Hit ID through candidate nomination. They will collaborate on multidisciplinary drug discovery projects, direct CRO chemists, and be responsible for synthetic chemistry strategy. The candidate will be expected to be a synthetic chemistry leader to drive programs.

Job Responsibilities:

    • Formulate and implement synthetic chemistry strategies across a portfolio to drive drug discovery programs from Hit ID through candidate nomination.
    • Identify opportunities to improve lab functions through technology, synthetic chemistry, or external resources.
    • Utilize the Genesis platform to execute drug discovery programs.
    • Use SBDD principles, optimize physiochemical properties, interpret in vitro and in vivo ADME/PK/Toxicology data, and understand in vitro and in vivo biology data to drive programs.
    • Work with other drug discovery disciplines (biology, DMPK, software engineers, computational chemists) to drive hypothesis driven decisions, improve the platform and contribute to the scientific excellence of the company.
    • Communicate and engage regularly with project team members.
    • Interact and direct a team of CRO chemists anywhere in size from 5-20.
    • Mentor internal chemists as well as other scientific disciplines on synthetic chemistry strategy.

Education and Experience Requirements:

    • PhD in synthetic organic chemistry or medicinal chemistry with at least 6 years of industrial drug discovery experience OR
    • MS in synthetic organic chemistry with at least 10 years of industrial drug discovery experience

Skills and Knowledge required:

    • Expert synthetic chemistry knowledge applied to drug discovery.
    • Track record of excellent experimental and creative problem-solving skills.
    • Ability to manage external CRO chemistry resources effectively.
    • Knowledge of SBDD and medicinal chemistry principles.
    • Strong communication skills, both in informal team settings as well as professional presentations.
    • Motivated team player with strong critical thinking skills, a high degree of independence, and ability to adapt to project changes.

What we Offer:

    • Competitive Pay
    • Stock Option Eligibility
    • 401(k) Plan
    • Open PTO Policy
    • Paid Company Holidays
    • Free lunch and snacks at our offices
    • Health Care Plan, including Medical, Dental, and Vision, fully covered for the employees 
Genesis Therapeutics is unifying AI and biotech to discover novel and breakthrough treatments for patients with severe and devastating conditions. Genesis was founded on groundbreaking molecular ML research and since has established itself as the industry leader in AI for small molecule drug discovery. Our team of accomplished biotech leaders and expert drug hunters joins forces with deep learning researchers and software engineers who are pioneering predictive and generative AI technologies for molecules.

Our team has created the industry's most advanced molecular AI platform called GEMS (Genesis Exploration of Molecular Space), to accelerate and optimize small molecule drug discovery and to enable the discovery of novel first-in-class and best-in-class small molecule drugs for challenging and/or undruggable targets. 

The company has leveraged GEMS to build an internal pipeline with multiple programs against high-value targets, including data-poor and canonically undruggable targets where GEMS is uniquely advantaged. In addition, Genesis has two AI platform collaborations across a range of therapeutic areas: Eli Lilly (signed in 2022, with a $20M upfront payment and a $670M total deal size), and Genentech (signed in 2020).
We raised a $200M series B in August 2023, and have raised over $280M in funding from top technology and biotech investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Rock Springs Capital, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Radical Ventures, NVentures (NVIDIA's VC arm), BlackRock, and Menlo Ventures. 

Genesis is headquartered in Burlingame, CA, with a fully integrated laboratory in San Diego. We are proud to be an inclusive workplace and an Equal Opportunity Employer.



Finding the best talent is our top priority at Genesis Therapeutics. If you are interested in potential partnership on recruitment, please reach out to recruiting@genesistherapeutics.ai.