Senior Medicinal Chemistry Project Lead & External Partnerships

Cytokinetics, Inc.; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 205,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401k with match

Learning stipend

Wellness stipend

Paid time off

Job summary

Cytokinetics, Inc. in South San Francisco, CA, is seeking an accomplished medicinal chemist to serve as Associate Director, Medicinal Chemistry Project and External Operations Manager.

Lead discovery programs and manage CRO relationships to accelerate the pipeline for cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases. You will guide design, synthesis, and SAR, set CRO strategy, and drive productivity with internal teams.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry with 10+ years of pharmaceutical/biotech drug discovery experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary drug discovery projects with milestones from hit-to-lead to candidate nomination.
• Hands-on medicinal chemistry expertise including design, synthesis, and SAR-driven lead optimization.
• Strong scientific judgment and strategic thinking with CRO landscape knowledge.
• Experience managing CRO chemistry teams and external partnerships in drug discovery.
• Leadership across cross-functional teams and mentoring junior scientists.
• Experience evaluating vendors and running pilots to compare CROs.

Responsibilities

• Lead chemistry strategy for cardiovascular and/or neuromuscular discovery programs, owning timelines and milestones.
• Set CRO engagement strategy, establish expectations, and manage performance against metrics.
• Drive productivity by aligning internal teams with external partners and optimizing hand-offs.
• Provide scientific leadership to internal and CRO chemistry teams, guiding routes, design, and ADME/PK considerations.
• Evaluate vendors, run pilot studies, and onboard CROs with clear scoping and contracts.

Education

PhD in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry

Job description

Cytokinetics, Inc. in South San Francisco, CA, is seeking an accomplished medicinal chemist to serve as Associate Director, Medicinal Chemistry Project and External Operations Manager.

Lead discovery programs and manage CRO relationships to accelerate the pipeline for cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases. You will guide design, synthesis, and SAR, set CRO strategy, and drive productivity with internal teams.