Scientist, Organic Chemistry (Night Shift)

Capable; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous equity options

Wellness budget

Healthcare coverage 100%

HSA/FSA/401K access

Daily team dinners

Visa sponsorship where appropriate

Job summary

Capable is seeking a night-shift organic chemist in San Francisco to run overnight synthesis workflows, perform solution- and solid-phase chemistry, and hand off results to the day team. You will execute reactions, maintain thorough records, and communicate clearly about outcomes every morning.

Ideal candidates bring hands-on synthetic chemistry experience, independent work habits, and a safety-conscious, rigorous approach to problem solving.

Qualifications

• Hands-on synthetic chemistry experience and strong experimental discipline.
• Ability to work the designated night-shift schedule reliably and independently.
• Interest in owning overnight chemistry from execution through handoff.
• Creative, fast, rigorous approach with safety focus.
• Good judgment when reactions fail or equipment downtime occurs.
• Strong record-keeping and clear handoffs between night and day teams.

Responsibilities

• Execute overnight synthesis workflows including route planning, setup, workup, purification, and characterization.
• Run and troubleshoot organic reactions, including transformations and protecting-group strategies.
• Use solution-phase and solid-phase methods for cleavage, deprotection, purification, and QC.
• Resolve overnight issues such as low conversion, poor selectivity, and instrument downtime.
• Purify and characterize compounds using HPLC, LC-MS, and NMR; maintain QC records.
• Prepare compounds for in vitro and in vivo testing; provide clear morning handoffs.

Skills

Night-shift availability

Hands-on synthetic chemistry

Overnight chemistry ownership

Problem solving

Judgment under failure

Record keeping / handoffs

Tools

HPLC

Prep HPLC

LC-MS

NMR

Flash chromatography

SFC

Job description

We are a vibrant and intensely mission-driven team in San Francisco, comprising members from MIT, Harvard Medical School, Roche, ETH, and Dana-Farber.

We value speed and rigor, coupled with excitement, drive, and a strong work ethic. In an early-stage environment, we value people who can bring clarity to open-ended problems, take ownership of the next steps, and follow through with energy.

Capable Labs is a place for ambitious, high-integrity people who want to become dramatically better. You will be surrounded by people who care intensely about the work, get close feedback from the people making scientific and company-defining decisions, and have room to own increasingly important problems.

We believe excellent work should be met with meaningful reward, ownership, and trust. Responsibility is earned through contribution, not title alone: anyone who demonstrates the judgment, rigor, and follow-through to move important work forward can earn meaningful scope.

About The Role

You will run organic-chemistry workflows on a dedicated night-shift schedule so compounds are ready for characterization, biological testing, or handoff the next day. You will execute solution- and solid-phase chemistry, solve experimental problems independently, maintain complete records, and give the day team a clear account of every result and open issue.

Responsibilities

• Execute overnight synthesis workflows, including route planning, reaction setup, workup, purification, characterization, and sample preparation.
• Run and troubleshoot organic reactions involving functional-group transformations, coupling chemistry, protecting-group strategies, late-stage diversification, and parallel synthesis.
• Use solution-phase and solid-phase methods where appropriate, including cleavage, deprotection, crude analysis, purification, and final quality control.
• Resolve overnight issues involving low conversion, poor selectivity, side products, decomposition, solubility, purification, recovery, and instrument downtime.
• Purify and characterize compounds using analytical HPLC, prep HPLC, LC-MS, NMR, flash chromatography, SFC, and related methods as appropriate.
• Prepare compounds for in vitro and in vivo testing and maintain accurate experimental and batch-level quality-control records.
• Provide clear morning handoffs covering completed work, results, failures, sample locations, risks, and follow-up actions.

Ideal Qualifications

• Able and willing to work the designated night-shift schedule reliably and operate independently when needed.
• Hands-on synthetic chemistry experience and strong experimental discipline.
• Interest in owning overnight chemistry from reaction execution through purification, characterization, documentation, and sample handoff.
• A creative, fast, rigorous, and safety-conscious approach to laboratory problem-solving.
• Sound judgment when a reaction fails, an instrument is down, data look unusual, or the usual day-team contact is unavailable.
• The ability to maintain excellent records and create clean, useful handoffs across night and day teams.

Pay & Benefits

• In addition to the posted salary range, we offer generous equity options.
• Compensation will depend on the skills, experience, and scope of impact you bring. If your background, experience, or compensation needs fall outside this range, we are still open to a conversation based on the scope and impact you could bring.
• $500+ monthly wellness budget for training, supplements, coaching, recovery, or other tools that help you perform at your best.
• Healthcare: We offer a broad range of medical, dental, and vision coverage options, with Capable covering 100% of the base policy.
• You will also have access to HSA, FSA, and 401K plans.
• Healthy dinners with the team are provided daily.
• We support visa sponsorship where appropriate, including O-1, H-1B, J-1, TN, and other employment-based pathways. Our team is already international, with members from Canada, Pakistan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, China, India, and the United States.

Application Process

Our process is fast, transparent, and personal. We care about getting to know the person behind the application.

• Initial application
• First phone screen
• Second phone screen
• In-person work trial in San Francisco: designed to give both sides a realistic sense of working together. Get to know the founding team!

Apply Today

Curious but not sure? Apply anyway. It takes 5 minutes, and you do not need to be actively job searching to start a conversation.

Some of the best people do not map perfectly to a job description. If this sounds like a place where you could do important work, we would like to hear from you.

And if someone exceptional comes to mind, send them our way here. We read every referral carefully, and if your referral joins Capable, we’ll send you a thank-you bonus.

Equal Opportunity

Capable is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Capable is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Compensation Range: $90K - $180K