Chief Small-Molecule Discovery & AI Programs

Primateria; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Primateria is building AI-driven systems to accelerate scientific discovery in drug development. You will lead our small-molecule drug discovery efforts, defining discovery programs, selecting valuable targets, and advancing compounds through experimental validation.

You will own scientific direction, decide what to pursue, and manage relationships with biotech, pharma, and academic partners to originate programs and enable licensing opportunities.

Qualifications

• Track record advancing small-molecule programs from hit-to-lead or lead optimization.
• Expertise in medicinal chemistry or small-molecule discovery with cross-domain biology/pharmacology knowledge.
• Experience directing synthesis and assay work, interpreting conflicting results, and making program decisions.
• Strong network with discovery leaders and collaborators to turn relationships into opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery decisions for small-molecule programs and define strategic directions.
• Define program objectives, experimental plans, budgets, and milestones; oversee hit finding and lead optimization.
• Direct external chemistry and biology teams, including CROs, to synthesize compounds and generate data.
• Collaborate with AI team to guide molecular design and validate predictions experimentally.
• Build partnerships with founders and collaborators to grow the discovery team.

Skills

Small-molecule discovery

Medicinal chemistry

Biology & pharmacology

DMPK

Leadership

External collaboration

Education

PhD or equivalent experience

Job description

We are building AI systems that can carry out scientific research. You will help establish our small-molecule discovery strategy and lead our first internal and partnered programs. Your job is to identify opportunities where Primateria can make a meaningful scientific contribution, determine what evidence would justify further investment, and lead the work needed to reach that decision.

Working directly with the founders and AI researchers, you will evaluate existing compound series and opportunities to originate new programs. You will own their scientific direction: understanding what is holding a program back, deciding which compounds and experiments to pursue, and determining when to advance, change direction, or stop. You will also help shape how our AI systems support these decisions and develop relationships that lead to collaborations and discovery or licensing partnerships.

What you will do

• Evaluate discovery opportunities based on their biology, chemistry, available evidence, competitive relevance, and fit with Primateria’s capabilities.
• Identify the uncertainties limiting each program. Define the experiments, budgets, milestones, and success criteria needed to determine whether further investment is justified.
• Lead hit-to-lead and lead optimization, choosing which compounds to make and test and balancing potency, selectivity, drug properties, and synthetic feasibility.
• Direct external chemistry and biology teams, including CROs, to generate reliable data. Interpret results, investigate conflicting evidence, and revise program plans.
• Work with our AI and computational researchers to turn scientific questions into useful workflows, evaluate methods against credible baselines and experiments, and improve subsequent decisions.
• Build relationships with biotech, pharma, and academic collaborators to access programs, data, and expertise. Develop partnerships alongside the founders and help build our discovery team.

What we are looking for

You should be comfortable working from incomplete information, personally leading discovery decisions, and taking responsibility for scientific rigor and execution in a small team. You should enjoy helping establish how the company works as we develop our first programs.

Strong candidates will bring:

• A track record of personally advancing small-molecule programs through hit-to-lead or lead optimization in biotech or pharma.
• Deep expertise in medicinal chemistry or small-molecule discovery, with sound judgment across biology, pharmacology, and DMPK.
• Experience assessing uncertain programs, identifying decisive experiments, and making difficult decisions about where to invest effort or stop.
• Experience directing synthesis and assay work, managing external collaborators, and interpreting experimental results.
• The ability to work closely with computational researchers and build productive relationships with discovery leaders and potential partners.

A PhD or equivalent industry experience is preferred. Experience evaluating external programs, applying computational or AI methods to discovery, or developing licensing partnerships is valuable.

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