(Senior / Principal) Scientist, Therapeutic Discovery

Capable Labs; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

Wellness budget

Healthcare coverage

Visa sponsorship

Daily team dinners

HSA/401K access

Job summary

Capable Labs in San Francisco leads groundbreaking therapeutic programs from concept to early validation. You will identify bold opportunities, define targets and modalities, and manage budgets, timelines, and kill criteria while staying close to experiments and data.

You will own program progress, build collaborations, and execute with a high-agency, rigorous approach to deliver transformative health outcomes.

Qualifications

• Originating and advancing scientific or therapeutic programs with concrete outcomes.
• Ideally contributed to a drug candidate advancing into clinical trials or market.
• Strong scientific judgment and ability to turn promising mechanisms into executable programs.
• Breadth to evaluate targets, modalities, assays, biomarkers, model systems, translational paths, and risks.
• High-agency, precise, skeptical, execution-oriented working style.
• Ability to lead interdisciplinary work and stay close to experiments and data.

Responsibilities

• Originate and lead therapeutic programs from concept through early validation.
• Critically evaluate literature, mechanisms, phenotypes, targets, and ideas.
• Define targets, modalities, assays, biomarkers, budgets, timelines, kill criteria.
• Select the right modality for each program (RNA, small molecules, peptides, biologics-adjacent).
• Execute with the scientific team through design, sourcing, assay development, in vitro and in vivo testing.
• Build capabilities by identifying collaborators, advisors, partners, and models.
• Own program progress and resource decisions while engaging with data and tradeoffs.

Skills

Scientific judgment

Program ownership

Cross-functional collaboration

Molecular biology

Therapeutics development

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 originate and lead new therapeutic programs from scientific concept through early validation. You will identify ambitious opportunities, turn them into testable programs with clear targets, modalities, assays, biomarkers, budgets, timelines, and kill criteria, and stay close to the experiments and data. This role combines broad scientific judgment, program ownership, and hands-on execution. For strong programs, Capable can commit up to $1M to initial validation experiments and substantially more when the data support continued investment.

Responsibilities

• Originate and lead therapeutic programs from concept through early validation in areas such as contraception, menstrual suppression, stress resilience, cognition, exercise mimetics, recovery, sleep, and other opportunities where biology could meaningfully expand human health or capability.

• Critically evaluate literature, mechanisms, phenotypes, targets, and therapeutic ideas to identify programs worth pursuing.

• Define each program’s target, mechanism, modality, assay strategy, biomarkers, model systems, translational path, budget, timeline, decision points, and kill criteria.

• Select the right modality for each program, which may include RNA, small molecules, peptides, polymers, biologics-adjacent approaches, or other fast-iteration platforms.

• Execute alongside the scientific team through literature review, experimental design, molecule design or sourcing, assay development, in vitro and in vivo testing, data review, and next-round decisions.

• Build the capabilities around promising programs by identifying collaborators and advisors, selecting partners and models, procuring instruments, and helping assemble teams.

• Own program progress and resource decisions while remaining directly engaged with primary data, failures, and scientific tradeoffs.

Ideal Qualifications

• A record of originating and advancing scientific or therapeutic programs, with concrete outcomes such as meaningful data, program decisions, publications, patents, products, funding, or clinical progress.

• Ideally, you have created or helped create a drug candidate that advanced into clinical trials or reached the market.

• Strong scientific judgment and the ability to turn a promising mechanism or biological opportunity into an executable, falsifiable program.

• The breadth to evaluate targets, modalities, assays, biomarkers, model systems, translational paths, and program risks without losing scientific depth.

• A high-agency, precise, skeptical, and execution-oriented working style that balances speed with rigor.

• The ability to lead interdisciplinary work, bring in missing expertise, and remain close to experiments and data.

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!

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.