Sr./Director & Head of Computational Chemistry

Black Diamond Therapeutics is a precision oncology medicine company pioneering the discovery and development of MasterKey therapies. Black Diamond targets undrugged mutations in patients with genetically defined cancers for whom limited treatment options currently exist. Black Diamond is built upon a deep understanding of cancer genetics, protein structure and function, and medicinal chemistry. The Company’s proprietary technology platform, Mutation-Allostery-Pharmacology, or MAP, platform, is designed to allow Black Diamond to analyze population-level genetic sequencing data to identify oncogenic mutations that promote cancer across tumor types, group these mutations into families and develop a single therapy that targets a specific family of mutations, termed a MasterKey therapy.

The Discovery Team at Black Diamond Therapeutics is looking for a creative and self-motivated scientist with broad experience to apply her/his expertise and knowledge in the art of computational chemistry to drug discovery programs. Reporting to the SVP Drug Discovery, and based in our office in Cambridge, USA, the right candidate will lead the computational effort, working across all stages of discovery from early target selection through to development candidate nomination. She/he will interact and collaborate cross-functionally with scientists across the drug discovery organization and will have the opportunity to lead discovery project teams.

Responsibilities:

• Apply computational techniques to advance projects at all phases of drug discovery, from target validation and hit generation to lead optimization and candidate selection
• Build and drive computational strategies to guide the design of small molecules with improved potency, selectivity, and ADME properties
• Collaborate with discovery chemists and data scientists to maximize computational impact on structure- and property-based design of selective molecules targeting allosteric mutant proteins
• Contribute, assist and advise in the design, evaluation, and prioritization of new analogues for key medicinal chemistry projects.
• Develop testable hypotheses and deliver computational tools for predicting binding affinity, ADME, and in vivo pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics.
• Propose and develop new modeling approaches to enhance existing workflows.
• Develop and enhance the cheminformatics and database systems at Black Diamond.

Qualifications:

• A Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry or a related discipline
• You have spent several years in industry developing and applying modern computational chemistry and cheminformatics to drug design.
• You are an expert in structure-based drug design and the application of computational modeling methods and data mining software.
• Skilled in applying state-of-the-art methods and tools for virtual screening, QSAR, and pharmacophore development.
• You thrive in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment.
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills are required.
• You’re an honest communicator with the ability to present data clearly to experts and non-experts alike.
• You have demonstrated your impact by supporting publications, presentations, and/or patents.
• You have a strategic perspective and demonstrated ability to work in a rapidly changing, fast-paced environment.
• Your interpersonal and communication skills allow you to work effectively as part of cross functional teams.
• You are committed to building and maintaining an energetic, collaborative, and open culture.

Work Environment:

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform he essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; used hands to fingers, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb be stairs; talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift or move office products and supplies, up to 20 lbs.

Black Diamond Therapeutics is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes and encourages all applications. Diversity and inclusion are important core values and will encourage our creativity and growth as a company. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected will be invited for an interview.