Lead Medicinal/Organic Chemist – Synthesis & Innovation

Capable; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

Wellness budget

Healthcare coverage

HSA & 401K

Team dinners

Visa sponsorship

Job summary

Capable is a vibrant, mission-driven startup in San Francisco with team members from MIT, Harvard Medical School, Roche, ETH, and Dana-Farber. We value speed, rigor, ownership, and clear problem-solving in an early-stage environment.

You will lead synthesis across Capable’s small-molecule, peptide, and adjacent programs, turning target structures into test-ready compounds by choosing practical routes, solving difficult reaction and purification problems, and building reliable chemistry

Qualifications

• Five or more years of hands-on industry experience in synthetic organic, medicinal, peptide, or closely related chemistry; peptide experience is helpful but not required.
• Strong synthetic judgment and the ability to turn a target structure into a confirmed, biologically testable compound.
• Experience owning route selection, synthesis, purification, characterization, quality control, documentation, and biological handoff.

Responsibilities

• Lead organic-chemistry execution from target-compound selection through route design, synthesis, purification, characterization, quality control, and biological handoff.
• Design and execute practical routes using solution-phase and solid-phase methods, functional-group transformations, coupling chemistry, protecting-group strategies, and late-stage diversification.
• Own the delivery of the right compounds with confirmed identity, purity, yield, documentation, and readiness for biological testing.
• Operate and help maintain key chemistry instrumentation, including HPLC, prep HPLC, LC-MS, microwave-assisted synthesis systems, and related platforms.
• Resolve difficult synthetic and analytical issues involving failed reactions, conversion, selectivity, side products, deprotection, solubility, purification, recovery, and instrument downtime.
• Work with biology and pharmacology teams to prioritize compounds using SAR, potency, stability, exposure, tolerability, and efficacy data while remaining anchored in practical chemistry execution.
• Improve routes, analytical methods, documentation, and laboratory workflows so high-quality material can be produced faster and more reliably.

Skills

5+ yrs exp

Organic synthesis

Route selection

Troubleshooting

Biological handoff

Instrumentation

Tools

HPLC

LC-MS

Microwave Synthesis

Job description

Capable is a vibrant, mission-driven startup in San Francisco with team members from MIT, Harvard Medical School, Roche, ETH, and Dana-Farber. We value speed, rigor, ownership, and clear problem-solving in an early-stage environment.

You will lead synthesis across Capable’s small-molecule, peptide, and adjacent programs, turning target structures into test-ready compounds by choosing practical routes, solving difficult reaction and purification problems, and building reliable chemistry