Research Leader / Senior Scientist (In vitro / Cellular Pharmacology), Cambridge, MA

The role

You will design biological screening cascades and guide the implementation of biophysical, biochemical, and cellular assays. You will work with AI/ML, medicinal chemistry, and structural biology teams to advance drug design projects from early discovery to clinical phase.

What you will do

• Design efficient and comprehensive biological screening cascades for drug design programs.
• Guide the optimization and implementation of biophysical and biochemical assays.
• Direct the development and refinement of functional and phenotypic cellular assays.
• Work with CROs to design decision-making experiments and deliver biological data.
• Evaluate, interpret, and synthesize complex binding, kinetic, and dose-response information.
• Collaborate with AI/ML and Data Science teams to translate predictions into testable hypotheses.
• Guide medicinal chemistry through SAR-driven design cycles.
• Align biophysical binding data with structural insights.
• Ensure seamless handoff of validated leads into in vivo efficacy and translational study design.
• Line manage and mentor a team of 2-3 In vitro / Cellular Pharmacologists for some roles.

Required qualifications

• Ph.D. in Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Biophysics, or a related scientific discipline.
• 8+ years / 5+ years of professional experience in a Translational Sciences role, operating within a biotech, pharma or CRO setting.
• Experience of project leadership / leading biology within small molecule drug discovery programs.
• For a people management position, experience of leading a high-performing scientific team, mentoring and empowering them.
• Extensive experience in the design and implementation of biological screening cascades applied to drug design projects from hit identification to candidate selection phases.
• Deep knowledge of experimental in vitro pharmacology techniques including biophysical, biochemical and/or cellular assays.
• Ability to provide technical guidance within matrixed organizations.
• Experience working with CROs in acquiring and interpreting high quality biological data.
• Dynamism and agility, with ability to work across several projects and therapeutic areas.
• Effective communication across a broad interdisciplinary team.

Nice to have

• Experience of leading biology within drug discovery programs from inception to clinical candidate delivery.
• Experience partnering with Data Science groups in setting up systems for ingestion of biological data.
• Track record of contributing to drug design projects which have then delivered Clinical Candidates.
• Working knowledge of designing and implementing assays and screening cascades for alternative modalities or alternative chemistries e.g. peptides or molecular glues.
• General knowledge of machine learning modelling applied to biological systems and drug discovery.

About the company

Isomorphic Labs (IsoLabs) was launched in 2021 to advance human health by building on and beyond the Nobel-winning AlphaFold system. The company uses AI models to accelerate scientific discovery and design novel molecules.