Principal Scientist, Chemical Biology – Discovery Chemistry Full-time

Principal Scientist, Chemical Biology – Discovery Chemistry

Discovery Chemistry is an integral and growing part of the Innovative Medicine Therapeutic Discovery (TD) organization, which is committed to the delivery of high-quality drug candidates in partnership with all six Therapeutic Area (TA) discovery organizations. The Discovery Product Development and Supply (DPDS) mission requires deep scientific expertise in multiple fields including chemistry, cellular and molecular pharmacology, enzymology, and screening technologies coupled with an ability to work collaboratively with internal and external organizations, including the discovery facing development teams Discovery Product Research (DPR) and Developability.

We are seeking an outstanding, highly skilled, and motivated chemist with excellent organic synthesis and chemical biology expertise to lead and manage our internal chemical biology efforts toward delivering high quality hits, leads, and candidates to Johnson & Johnson's discovery pipeline within our Disease and Pathway Area Stronghold (DAS and PAS) strategy.

The successful individual will be responsible for developing chemical probes and tool compounds to enable biological and mechanistic characterization of novel hits/hit series emerging from high-throughput screens and progressing them through stage-gates. They will be part of our Chemical Biology matrix team and will collaborate heavily with Chemoproteomics and High-Throughput Screening partners to deliver robust chemical biology data packages to discovery programs across Therapeutic Areas.

You will be responsible for:

• Driving and directing chemical biology functions for drug discovery projects, working in concert with partners in medicinal chemistry, chemoproteomics, disease area biology, and other key functions.
• Independently designing and synthesizing chemical biology tools—including photoaffinity and photocatalytic proximity labeling probes—toward various applications, as well as supervising and directing synthetic chemistry activities at contract research organizations (CROs).
• Forging a robust relationship with Discovery Technologies & Molecular Pharmacology (DTMP) Chemoproteomics team to design, propose, and implement chem bio strategies and workstreams to best align with Therapeutics Discovery overall goals.
• Generating novel, testable hypotheses to enable clear decision making.
• Presenting data and reports on project status at individual, group, and departmental meetings.
• Maintaining a significant level of productivity in the laboratory setting.
• Maintaining a healthy publication record in scientific journals and present findings at key conferences.

Qualifications / Requirements:

Education:

• A PhD in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, or Chemical Biology is required.

Experience and Skills:

Required:

• 5+ years of post-PhD experience in Chemical Biology is required.
• Experience in Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR)-driven design and synthesis of small molecules, with proven track record of delivering on high quality chemical biology probes and tool compounds with various applications is required.
• Solid understanding of chemical biology and chemoproteomics methods is required, including activity-based protein profiling (ABPP), photoaffinity labeling, affinity chromatography, and cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA).
• Demonstrated application of chemical biology toward addressing any of the following is required: target identification from phenotypic screens, target engagement in cells or lysate, covalent inhibitor selectivity profiling, binding site identification, and small -molecule mechanism of action (MOA) elucidation.
• Strong track record of scientific contributions including peer-reviewed first-author publications and presentations at major conferences is required.
• Being abreast of the latest advances in synthetic chemistry and chemical biology is required.
• Ability to succeed within a matrix environment is required.

Preferred:

• Biopharmaceutical industry experience is preferred.
• Working understanding of targeted protein degradation strategies is desirable.

Required Skills: Chemistry, Collaborating, Critical Thinking, Drug Discovery Development, Equipment Maintenance, Industry Analysis, Innovation, Interdisciplinary Work, Organizing, Pharmaceutical Trends, Pharmacology, Quantitative Research, Research Ethics, Scientific Research, Strategic Change, Technical Credibility, Use of Laboratory Equipment