Vice President, Protease Cleavable Linkers

Ridge Bio; San Carlos (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Ridge Biotechnologies in the Bay Area seeks an experienced leader in protease-cleavable linker design to guide our linker biology program, substrate design, and assay strategy across in vitro and in vivo models.

You will mentor scientific teams, collaborate with ADC and bioconjugation groups, shape the company’s technical roadmap, and advance conditional activation therapeutics through innovative, high-impact research.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical biology, protein engineering, or related field; deep protease biology experience.
• Experience designing protease-cleavable substrates or linkers advancing to development candidate.
• Track record of invention: patents, publications, or contributions to molecules in clinical development.
• Experience building and managing strategic partnerships and drug development activities.
• Experience presenting scientific strategy to investors, partners, and external audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead protease-cleavable linker design function from biology to assay strategy and preclinical model design.
• Directly manage and mentor scientific teams.
• Design in vivo and in vitro models to validate conditionally activated molecules for partners.
• Collaborate with ADC and bioconjugation teams to integrate linker, conjugation, and biology insights.
• Present externally to partners and investors.
• Ideate, lead, and file IP on new protease substrates and linker technologies.
• Define the company’s technical development roadmap with the founding team.

Skills

Protease substrate design

Tumor-microenvironment biology

Linker chemistry

High-throughput experimentation

Team leadership

Strategic partnerships

Assay development

Preclinical model design

Machine learning collaboration

Computational data processing

Education

Ph.D. in chemistry/biochemistry/chemical biology/protein engineering

Job description

Ridge Biotechnologies enables the development and construction of the next generation of precision medicines through enzyme and targeted therapeutic design. Using our powerful experimental and computational platform built on large datasets generated by cell-free synthesis, biorthogonal chemistries, and ever-improving machine learning models, Ridge is pioneering the design of new medicines and scalable production methods that enable our partners to bring life-saving therapies to patients in need. In recent months, we’ve secured multiple partnerships and launched our first product lines: NativeLink enzymes that provide precise and stable bioconjugation without modification of protein sequence, glycan, or disulfide bonds; ProTrigger protease-cleavable linkers that enable selective drug release in the tumor microenvironment; and novel enzyme-based Catalytic Medicines.

Ridge Bio’s founders are industry veterans who have previously built successful biotechnology companies and academic leaders from top institutions including Stanford and Caltech with world-leading expertise in cell-free systems, therapeutic development, and protein engineering. We are backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, a quiet powerhouse that has been building successful companies since 1962 by focusing on bringing together great people to solve hard technological problems in big markets. Our company culture is dedicated to intellectual integrity, service ownership, and creative impact.

Role Description:

We are looking for an experienced leader in linker technology with deep expertise in protease substrate design, cleavable linker chemistry, and tumor-microenvironment biology to join our team. Your work will be highly interdisciplinary, combining your expertise with that of scientists across enzyme design, high-throughput experimentation, machine learning, and bioconjugation chemistry.

In this role, you’ll lead our protease-cleavable linker development efforts and make fundamental contributions to the company’s scientific strategy. You’ll serve as our in-house expert on cleavable linker technology and protease biology and bringing expertise in assay platform development, preclinical model design, and tumor microenvironment-selective linker design. An appetite for taking on new challenges and techniques, working flexibly across disciplines, and delivering molecules with improved therapeutic indices for our partner programs through a pragmatic approach to therapeutic development. As we grow, you’ll continue to shape the company’s linker design and protease biology strategy, scope and execute new projects, and mentor and train scientists throughout the company.

Required Qualifications:

• Completed a Ph.D. in chemistry, biochemistry, chemical biology, protein engineering, or a related discipline, with deep expertise in protease substrate design and tumor-microenvironment biology with many years of industry experience.
• Direct, hands-on industry experience designing protease-cleavable substrates or linkers that advanced into a development candidate.
• A demonstrated track record of invention including patents, first-author publications, or named contributions to a molecule that reached clinical development.
• Experience building and managing strategic partnerships as well as various aspects of drug development.
• Experience driving and presenting scientific strategy to investors, partners, and external audiences.
• Experience designing high-throughput and multiplexed experiments that identify specific protease substrates.
• Experience hiring, mentoring, and training researchers to form highly effective technical teams.
• Experience using computational techniques to process and interpret large datasets for protease-cleavable linker design. Experience deeply collaborating with bioinformatics and machine learning teams preferred.
• Ability to work full-time hours at our Bay Area location and occasional flexibility to travel and complete time-sensitive projects.

How You’ll Contribute:

• Own the protease-cleavable linker design function at Ridge, from protease biology and substrate design through assay strategy and preclinical model design.
• Directly manage and mentor scientific teams.
• Design in vivo and in vitro models to validate conditionally activated molecules and demonstrate proof of concept to partners.
• Partner closely with our ADC and bioconjugation teams to connect linker, conjugation, and protease biology insights.
• Present externally to partners and investors.
• Ideate, lead, and file intellectual property on new protease substrates and linker technologies.
• Work with our founding team to define the company’s technical development roadmap.

We offer a strong benefits package, competitive compensation, and an opportunity to work collaboratively with a top-notch team with diverse skillsets to solve challenging problems with wide impact in therapeutics. If you’re a master at your craft of conditionally activated drug development and are looking to apply your skills to solve important problems as part of a fast-paced, team-based, and entrepreneurial environment, then this job is for you!