Head of Chemistry (Boston Seaport)
Psivant Therapeutics, a recently funded Series A startup designing small molecule inhibitors for inflammation and immunology diseases, is seeking a Head of Medicinal Chemistry to join our integrated drug discovery team in Boston Seaport. This role offers an exciting opportunity to work in a Patient-Inspired, Synergistic, Inclusive environment leveraging our QUAISAR computational platform.
The Head of Medicinal Chemistry will devise and implement medicinal chemistry strategies to advance our chemical matter through all stages of drug discovery, from Hit ID to DC nomination. You will work collaboratively with our cross-functional team, including a deeply integrated computational platform that boosts our chemistry, biology, and structural biology/biophysics efforts. The Head of Medicinal Chemistry should have extensive experience in small molecule drug discovery and a demonstrated track record of bringing small molecules from discovery to the clinic, building teams, and overseeing external networks. The ideal candidate will be familiar with the application of cutting-edge molecular design tools, advanced synthesis routes, modern chemical biology techniques, and efficient purification approaches to discover high-quality drug candidates that can become transformative medicines for serious diseases.
About Psivant TherapeuticsPsivant Therapeutics is accelerating drug discovery and creating better therapeutics through a computation-first molecular design paradigm that leverages best-in-class methods and technologies arising from decades of research and innovation. We have assembled a diverse team with extensive experience across research disciplines ranging from physics and computer science to chemistry, biology, biochemistry, and structural biology. This continuum of complementary skills is essential for driving our scientific vision and bringing meaningful therapeutics to patients in need. We are patient-inspired, perseverant, synergistic, supportive, intrepid, and inclusive. If you are inspired to bring better medicines to patients within a collaborative organization that combines advanced computation with drug discovery, then Psivant could be the right place for you.
Here at Psivant – we are a lean, high performing team. We want individuals who are both smart and collaborative – who want to get things done. We push boundaries for growth in our science and our team. We look for people who thrive in a high-paced, nimble, early-stage biotech environment and help us bring transformative medicines to patients.
Read More about Us

• Team: https://psivant.com/company/team/
• Our Story: https://psivant.com/company/our-story/
• Vision and Values: https://psivant.com/company/vision-and-values/

Job Responsibilities

• Provide creative and innovative leadership of medicinal chemistry at the Boston site to convert strong biological hypotheses into transformative medicines
• Plan, prioritize and implement synthetic and medicinal chemistry strategies to achieve project goals
• Build and manage spending budgets and project resourcing for the Medicinal Chemistry group
• Manage outsourced external chemistry resources at partner CROs and provide recommendations on emerging external opportunities
• Collaborate with functional leads – e.g., computational chemistry, biology, biochemistry, DMPK – to design appropriate process and drive program strategy
• Apply advanced medicinal chemistry principles to design high quality compounds, considering multiple parameters in parallel – e.g., potency, selectivity, SBDD, ADME/PK, physicochemical properties
• Provide clear communication of the medicinal chemistry strategy to cross-functional colleagues, scientific leadership and external collaborators, and present updates to key stakeholders – e.g., Leadership Team, Board of Directors
• Contribute to the expansion of Psivant’s platform capabilities in small molecule drug discovery
• Foster a cutting-edge approach within the chemistry functions at Psivant and manage a team of direct reports
• Lead the preparation of patent applications and scientific publications as appropriate

Key Qualifications

• PhD degree in organic chemistry, in addition to 10 years of medicinal chemistry experience in a corporate pharmaceutical / biotechnology / academic drug discovery setting
• Established leadership in drug discovery with proven track record of solving complex, multiparametric medicinal chemistry challenges
• Demonstrated success in optimizing small molecule drug candidates for advancement to candidate nomination
• Ability to collaborate across disciplines and integrate cross-functional data to drive medicinal chemistry strategies
• Strong leadership in motivating internal and external chemistry teams while creating an inclusive environment that encourages ideas, discussion, and debate
• Confident communicator who can clearly present to all levels both within the organization and externally
• Proven ability to manage timelines and resources to reach decisions / milestones
• An extensive track record of presentations, publications, and patents

What sets you apart

• A high degree of self-motivation, organization, communication, and presentation skills; high competence in solving complex problems, as well as the ability to navigate a fast-paced cross-functional and collaborative work environment
• A desire to be part of a highly innovative company aimed at transforming the lives of people with serious diseases