(Senior / Principal) Scientist, Peptide Chemistry

The role

You will lead peptide design and synthesis from sequence selection through production, purification, quality control, and biological handoff. You will own difficult chemistry and analytical problems and scale reliable workflows.

What you will do

• Lead and scale end-to-end peptide workflows, including sequence design, resin loading, coupling and deprotection, cleavage, purification, characterization, and final quality control.
• Run, optimize, and maintain microwave-assisted solid-phase peptide synthesis systems.
• Resolve difficult synthetic and analytical issues.
• Own compound identity, purity, yield, analytical records, and readiness for biological testing.
• Interpret SAR, in vitro, and in vivo readouts to design or prioritize next-round compounds.
• Improve synthesis, purification, and handoff workflows.
• Set a high technical bar, communicate risks clearly, and guide other scientists while remaining directly involved in experimental work.

Required qualifications

• Five or more years of hands-on industry experience in peptide, medicinal, organic, or closely related chemistry.
• Strong experimental judgment and deep troubleshooting ability across synthesis, purification, characterization, and laboratory instrumentation.
• Experience owning chemistry end to end, from compound or sequence design through material ready for biological testing.
• The ability to work close to biological readouts and translate potency, efficacy, stability, exposure, or tolerability data into the next chemistry decision.
• A creative, fast, and rigorous approach to technical problem-solving and workflow improvement.
• The ability to provide technical direction and raise the quality of the team’s work without becoming removed from the bench.

Benefits

• $500+ monthly wellness budget for training, supplements, coaching, recovery, or other tools
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage options, with Capable covering 100% of the base policy
• Access to HSA, FSA, and 401K plans
• Healthy vegetarian dinners with the team are provided daily

Before you apply

• In-person on site work trial in San Francisco

About the company

Capable Labs is a mission-driven team in San Francisco comprising members from MIT, Harvard Medical School, Roche, ETH, and Dana-Farber.