Senior Scientist/Principal Scientist, Computational Chemistry

Frontier Medicines is seeking a highly motivated individual to fill the position of Senior Scientist / Principal Scientist, Computational Chemistry at the Boston site. The successful candidate will play a leading role in developing medicinal chemistry optimization strategies for our most important drug discovery campaigns. He/she will be reviewing experimental results and develop SAR hypotheses for activity, selectivity and properties, and make suggestions to improve the profiles of our leading small molecule drug candidates. As a covalent drug discovery focused company, there is the opportunity for method development for this evolving field besides using the full arsenal of existing ligand- and structure based methods and insights from unbiased machine learning type algorithms. In addition, the candidate will have the opportunity to provide project leadership by driving strategies and experimental designs outside the area of core expertise, manage external resources in structural biology, CADD and informatics, and mentor junior scientists.

This role is key to Frontier Medicines’ success and an opportunity to join and work in a highly collaborative and energetic team in a startup environment with short communication lines across functions and departments, and routine interactions with senior leaders. The position will report to the Head of CADD and an onsite role located in our Boston office.

Requirements

What will you be doing?

• Design, execute, and analyze computational chemistry experiments utilizing ligand-based and structure-based drug design strategies, and ADMET predictions.
• Play a leading role in design efforts with expert knowledge of project SAR, off-target selectivity and, physiochemical and ADMET properties.
• Contribute to project teams across all stages of a program, including: target selection, target validation, lead generation and lead optimization to enable delivery of novel drug candidates into clinical development.
• Be curious, innovation driven, and willing to test out hypotheses and embark on novel method development.
• Identify gaps in current in current methodologies, be able to implement new technologies in the field of computer aided drug design (CADD), and lead the internalization of promising approaches.
• Effectively communicate with colleagues and stakeholders; create and present research updates and provide strategic input to team/company meetings.

Traits we believe make a strong candidate:

• Ph.D. in a computational chemistry or related discipline with multiple years of relevant experience in a biotech or pharma setting.
• Expert level experience with a wide range of leading computional tools and approaches including ligand and structure-based techniques, ab initio methods, MD, FEP, QSAR and QSPR predictions/model development with application across all stages of a project from hit ID through to candidate nomination.
• Expert knowledge with scripting languages (e.g. Python) is required.
• The candidate should be driven, independent, experienced working in a cross-disciplinary team and thrive in a dynamic start-up environment.
• Demonstrated track record of accomplishments, publications and conference presentations in computational chemistry and drug discovery.
• Excellent writing and verbal skills are required.
• Legally authorized to work in the US.

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Training & Development
• Free Food & Snacks
• Wellness Resources
• Stock Option Plan

At Frontier we strive to build a diverse and equitable workplace. The salary range for this role is inclusive of both Sr. and Principal levels and is $150,000 - $220,000. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including candidates' qualifications, skills, competencies and experience. Frontier offers a competitive total rewards package which includes healthcare coverage, 401k and a broad range of other benefits.

This compensation and benefits information is based on Frontier’s knowledge as of the date of publication, and may be modified in the future.