Executive Director, Chemical Biology & Drug Design

Recursion; United States; Hybrid; USD 238,000 - 285,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Equity compensation

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Recursion seeks an Executive Director of Chemical Biology/Drug Design to lead chemical biology strategy and build a scalable team bridging multiomics discovery to target ID. You will shape probe design libraries and manage internal and CRO chemistry partners, advancing new modalities beyond traditional small molecules.

You will oversee cross-functional programs, mentor senior scientists, and drive strategic decisions with senior leadership, while shaping IP and business development related to

Qualifications

• PhD in chemical biology, chemistry, or related field with 10+ years of industry experience and demonstrated people leadership.
• Deep hands-on track record in chemical probe design, including degraders, molecular glues, covalent or activity-based chemistry.
• Proven ability to deconvolute phenotypic hits to mechanism via chemoproteomics or equivalent methods.
• Track record building and scaling a chemical biology function with hiring, mentoring, and developing scientists/managers.
• Experience setting multi-year technical strategy (e.g., library architecture, probe portfolio) rather than executing a single program.
• Comfortable operating with high ambiguity and translating open biological questions into executable chemistry strategy.
• Executive-level communication to present chemistry strategy to executives and cross-functional leaders.
• Prior experience managing chemists and cross-functional project teams, including CROs.

Responsibilities

• Set chemical biology strategy for Recursion and link maps of biology to targets using modern chemical biology methods.
• Build, manage, and mentor a team of multiomics chemists.
• Establish and manage internal and external chemistry teams and networks for screening, synthesis, and validation campaigns.
• Partner with biology, target ID, structural biology, and computational design to align strategy with capabilities.
• Define program strategy and go/no-go criteria with senior leadership.
• Represent the team in portfolio reviews and governance meetings; lead technical discussions with collaborators.
• Contribute to IP strategy and business development for novel chemical matter and modalities.

Skills

PhD in chemical biology

Chemical probe design

Chemoproteomics / target ID

Leadership / people management

Strategy development

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communication

CRO management

Education

PhD in chemical biology or related field

Job description

Recursion seeks an Executive Director of Chemical Biology/Drug Design to lead chemical biology strategy and build a scalable team bridging multiomics discovery to target ID. You will shape probe design libraries and manage internal and CRO chemistry partners, advancing new modalities beyond traditional small molecules.

You will oversee cross-functional programs, mentor senior scientists, and drive strategic decisions with senior leadership, while shaping IP and business development related to