Director, Medicinal Chemistry

Position Title: Director, Medicinal Chemistry

Department: Medicinal Chemistry

Reports To: Senior Director, Discovery Sciences

Location: South San Francisco, CA – On-site 4 days per week (Mon to Thurs)

Job Overview

The Director, Medicinal Chemistry will provide experienced chemistry leadership to small molecule drug discovery programs in Kardigan’s preclinical portfolio. This role involves providing leadership to cross-functional project teams and effectively collaborating to advance preclinical programs from initiation to delivery of a development candidate.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as the Chemistry Lead for preclinical drug discovery programs.
• Co-lead the preclinical project team, working closely with Biology co-lead to develop and execute project plans, manage ongoing activities, and ensure project success.
• Lead new molecule design on Integrate potency, selectivity, DMPK, safety, and in vivo pharmacology data to guide new compound design and address liabilities.
• Provide oversight of CRO-executed chemical synthesis and assays, ensuring a high standard for productivity and data quality.
• Collaborate with IP Legal to deliver strong intellectual property.
• Effectively communicate complex scientific data, analyses, and strategies to project teams and in governance meetings.
• Recruit, mentor, and manage medicinal chemists as the group grows.

Qualifications and Preferred Skills

• PhD in Chemistry with a focus on Organic or Medicinal Chemistry.
• 8+ years of pharma/biotech industry drug discovery experience with a strong track record of leading medicinal chemistry across hit identification, hit-to-lead, lead optimization, and development candidate nominations. Prior experience delivering a development candidate or equivalent is a plus.
• Experience managing teams of external chemistry FTEs at CRO collaborators is strongly preferred.
• Deep expertise in synthetic and medicinal chemistry, physicochemical property-based design, structure-based design, and relevant drug discovery disciplines (e.g., biology, DMPK, and material science). Prior experience in cardiovascular disease is a plus.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly communicate complex scientific concepts to a broad range of collaborators, leaders, and stakeholders.
• Track record of consistent scientific achievement and successful drug discovery work (peer-reviewed publications, patent inventorship, conference presentations).
• Prior direct management experience, including hiring, mentoring, and performance management of chemists.