Senior Medicinal Chemist

Strativ Group; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Strativ Group in San Francisco is seeking a Senior Medicinal Chemist to combine deep chemistry expertise with strategic business development for our AI-driven drug discovery platform.

You will lead full-cycle business development, engage scientific stakeholders, and design tailored solutions for biopharma partners while driving platform adoption and account growth.

Qualifications

• PhD or MS in chemistry or related field.
• 5+ years in life sciences as a scientist or in business development or both.
• Strong understanding of small-molecule drug discovery processes.
• Excellent communication skills for diverse audiences.
• Startup environment adaptability and ownership mindset.

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle business development: build pipeline through networking, outbound outreach, and industry events; drive deals from first contact to close.
• Act as the scientific voice in the sales process, engaging chemists and executives as a credible technical peer.
• Partner with internal experts to design tailored solutions addressing customer drug discovery challenges.
• Manage and grow key accounts, driving renewals and expansion.
• Help build sales playbooks, tools, and collateral; represent the company at conferences and customer meetings.

Skills

Medicinal chemistry

Computational chemistry

Business development

Sales

Communication

Education

PhD in chemistry

MS in chemistry

Job description

Venture Backed AI Drug Discovery Research Start-up

The Company

We're an AI-driven drug discovery company helping biopharma partners find better medicines faster. Our platform combines state-of-the-art machine learning with an AI-enabled synthesis and testing approach, replacing slow, resource-intensive design-make-test-analyze (DMTA) cycles with a faster, more efficient alternative. Our predictive models have placed first in the world's largest AI drug discovery benchmarking competition two years running, outperforming major pharma and tech players. Backed by leading technology and biotech investors, we've partnered with dozens of biopharma companies to accelerate their highest-priority drug programs, and demand for our platform is growing rapidly.

The Role

We're looking for a Senior Medicinal Chemist to bring deep scientific expertise to our customer-facing work. Beyond your chemistry background, you'll take on a strategic business development role, bringing deep scientific understanding alongside driving platform adoption, shaping tailored solutions for partners for our virtual lab software and AI-enabled discovery services. This is a unique opportunity to combine hands-on medicinal chemistry credibility with commercial ownership and increased earning opportunity.

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle business development: build pipeline through networking, outbound outreach, and industry events, and drive deals from first contact to close
• Act as the scientific voice in the sales process, engaging medicinal and computational chemists through to C-suite stakeholders as a credible technical peer
• Partner with internal experts to design tailored solutions that address customer drug discovery challenges and reinforce scientific credibility
• Manage and grow key accounts, driving renewals and expansion
• Help build and refine sales playbooks, tools, and collateral
• Represent the company at conferences, events, and customer meetings

Requirements

• PhD or MS in chemistry or a related field, with industry experience in medicinal or computational chemistry
• 5+ years of experience in a life sciences setting as a scientist, or in business development or both
• Strong understanding of small-molecule drug discovery processes and the challenges involved
• Excellent communication skills, able to translate complex scientific concepts for varied audiences
• Self-motivated and adaptable, comfortable navigating ambiguity in a startup environment
• Sharp critical thinking, comfortable asking hard questions and pushing back constructively
• High-integrity, customer-first operator with a strong sense of ownership