Computational Chemist - Director / Associate Director

Company: Klein Hersh International
Location: San Diego
Posted on: April 1, 2025

Job Description:

Our client is a small molecule drug discovery company, employing tools from chemical and computational biology, in conjunction with precision genome editing methods to identify functional/ligandable sites on high value oncology protein targets for therapeutic intervention.
Our client is seeking a motivated, creative and experienced computational chemist to spearhead the analysis of the newly discovered functional sites in proteins and contribute to the discovery and development of small molecules targeting various classes of targets.
Reporting to the Vice President of Chemistry, the successful candidate will make a significant impact in the company by working with stakeholders across the organization and develop first-in-class medicines.
Key Responsibilities

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• Setting computational chemistry strategies to investigate newly discovered functional sites by developing a strong understanding of target biology and applying various tools of protein modeling
  
• Drive the design of proprietary chemical libraries to improve screening outcomes
  
• Employ structure/ligand virtual screening and AI methodologies to accelerate hit identification and hit-to-lead progression
  
• Experience in machine learning is desired
  
• Apply deep understanding of predictive methods (e.g. physical properties, PK, synthetic feasibility) to help with medicinal chemistry efforts and support SAR
  
• Engage with our client's biologists to ensure biological insights are incorporated into screening campaigns and SAR activities
  
• Help to develop an analytically-informed culture in collaboration with the Data Sciences team and company at large by providing technical expertise and constructive feedback to other computational stakeholders
  
• Collaborate with all functions and become an active participant of drug discovery from site identification to candidate nomination
  
• Stay up to date on scientific literature on targets/disease of interest and at the cutting edge of the development of new computational methodologies
  
• Foster our client's culture of teamwork and scientific excellence
  
  Key Requirements
  
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  • PhD degree in computational biology or chemistry with 5+ years of relevant experience within the biotech industry and a proven record of success in the development of therapeutic molecules
    
  • Competency with scientific scripting/programming is essential, as is competence with the Schr--dinger suite of software, including use of FEP methodologies
    
  • Demonstrated understanding of all aspects of modern drug discovery including medicinal chemistry, DMPK principles, multi-parameter optimization
    
  • In-depth knowledge of quantum mechanics, QM/MM and modeling protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions
    
  • Deep expertise in chemoinformatics, including design and enumeration of chemical libraries for synthesis and screening
    
  • Experience with pipelining software such as KNIME or Pipeline Pilot is highly desirable
    
  • Excellent organizational and communication skills. Can work effectively to manage multiple parallel projects
    
  • Critical evaluation and interpretation of scientific data
    
  • Strong commitment to business ethics and an active contributor to a supportive work culture
    
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Keywords: Klein Hersh International, San Diego , Computational Chemist - Director / Associate Director, Executive , San Diego, California