Principal Scientist, Antibody-Drug Conjugate Chemistry

COMPANY DESCRIPTION:

Every Exelixis employee is united in an ambitious cause: to launch innovative medicines that give patients, and their families hope for the future. In this pursuit, we know our employees are our most valuable asset. After operating in the challenging biotech sector for 25 years, we have a proven track record of resiliency in the face of adversity. The success of our lead product has provided a solid commercial foundation allowing us to reinvigorate our research efforts and grow our team in areas such as Drug Discovery, Clinical Development and Commercial.

As we expand our global partnerships and further reinvest in R&D to help us discover the next breakthrough for difficult-to-treat cancers, we're seeking to add talented, dedicated employees to power our mission.

Cancer is our cause. Make it yours, too.

SUMMARY/JOB PURPOSE:

As a member of the biotherapeutics group, the incumbent will play a key role in supporting the group's discovery and preclinical development efforts by utilizing skills and experience in chemical synthesis and purification/characterization. The incumbent will be responsible as a vital role in this mission through discovering and advancing novel ADC linker/payload technologies for targeted cancer therapies. The ideal candidate will have excellent skills and hands-on experience in conducting multi-step syntheses for novel ADC payloads, drug linkers, and key intermediates, possessing high motivation to perform bioconjugation. Experience in bioconjugation and/or bioconjugate analyses such as HPLC or Q-TOF MS is a plus.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design, synthesis, purification, and characterization of small molecule lead compounds

• Troubleshoot and optimize multi-step synthetic routes

• Provide ADC expertise in state-of-the-art ADC technologies including linkers, payloads and bring novel ideas to POC

• Interact and collaborate with internal departments and external colleagues to discuss and resolve project needs and issues in research and early development of ADCs

• Provide support in evaluation of ADC research platforms and preclinical licensing candidates as needed

• Provide critical scientific/technical data analysis, interpretation of experiments and report writing

• Effectively communicate scientific concepts, study findings and interpretations to multi-disciplinary teams

• Interact and collaborate with internal departments to deliver quality and timely findings in support of drug candidate advancement

• Work externally facing with development partners to implement joint research projects, including presentation of findings and experimental data at scientific meetings

• Follow company intellectual property and compliance policies and practices

• Comply with company health and safety policies and general laboratory practices

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

No supervisory responsibilities

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in related scientific discipline such as synthetic chemistry, organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry or bioconjugation and a minimum of eleven years of experience in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry; or,

• Master's degree in related scientific discipline such as synthetic chemistry, organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry or bioconjugation and a minimum of nine years of experience in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry.

• PhD degree in related scientific discipline such as synthetic chemistry, organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry or bioconjugation and a minimum of five years of experience in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry.

• Equivalent combination of education and experience

Experience:

• Hands on laboratory experience in medicinal discovery including critical reagent generation, identification and optimization of small molecule, payloads, and drug-linkers.

• Hands on laboratory experience in small molecule characterization

• Seeking experience in bioconjugation.

• Experience in in a variety of analytical instruments and technologies including HPLC, LC/MS, NMR to enable structural determination and purity assessment.

• Analyze and accurately record data using Electronic Laboratory Notebooks

• Experience writing summaries, reports, presenting scientific data/results to internal and external collaborators.

Knowledge/Skills:

• The knowledge to apply advanced scientific and technical principles, theories and concepts, and contribute to the development of new principles and concepts.

• Ability to work independently, excellent time management and organization skills to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

• Solid understanding of mammalian protein/antibody expression, structure, activity, and biochemical/biophysical characterization.

• Ability to set goals with an understanding of priorities and impact to program, the department and the organization.

• Strong communication skills for interacting with external CRO scientists and representatives.

• Ability to design and execute activities/studies aimed at producing and characterizing recombinant proteins/antibodies, to interpret experimental results and to formulate conclusions and next-steps based on the data generated.

• Familiarity with general components of bioconjugation and ADC a plus.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Environment: primarily working in laboratories or in office

• Exposures encountered: Potential exposure to hazardous chemicals/materials.

#LI-HG1

If you like wild growth and working with happy, enthusiastic over-achievers, you'll enjoy your career with us!

DISCLAIMER
The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to the job.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.