Associate Director, Medicinal Chemistry

MapLight Therapeutics, Inc.

Searching for a highly motivated Medicinal Chemist at Associate Director level for drug discovery. Leading preclinical medicinal chemistry programs to develop effective therapies for CNS disorders.

Posted 6/4/2026full-timeRemote • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $180,000 - $205,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Co-lead, or lead, preclinical medicinal chemistry programs from hit to candidate nomination.
Design and execute successful medicinal chemistry strategies to meet project and corporate goals.
Conduct multi-parameter optimization to deliver orally bioavailable, brain-penetrant candidates without secondary pharmacology, ADME, or safety concerns of initial hits.
Apply structure-based drug design principles utilizing in-house resources and external computational partners.
Manage chemistry and tiered screening cascade at external contract research organizations (CROs). This includes maintaining a good relationship, overseeing synthesis or experimental plans, project tracking, evaluation of results, and assisting in troubleshooting. May require assessment of analytical data including NMR, LCMS, HPLC, UV-VIS, and DSC.
Apply previous experience with successful hit finding strategies to find novel chemical equity, including scaffold-hopping approaches.
Coordinate with in-house drug discovery team to ensure compounds are distributed in support of other disciplines.
Provide regular project updates to Leadership and Project Teams that include relevant updates. May include in-depth SAR, ADME, and PK analyses.
Co-lead, or lead, patent strategy to protect existing or novel chemical matter with Maplight legal partners, when appropriate.
You can participate and work effectively with multiple cross-functional teams.
You have strong interpersonal skills and understand relationships are key to being successful.
You are a leader. Teams love working with you, and you are someone who takes pride in mentoring and supporting the careers of others.
You’re a team player who is willing to roll-up your sleeves and get the job done.

Requirements

What you’ll need

PhD in Chemistry or Medicinal Chemistry with 10+ years’, or BS/MS 15+ years’, pharmaceutical experience successfully (co)leading preclinical drug discovery programs.
Contemporary knowledge of Medicinal Chemistry concepts with strong working knowledge of computational chemistry, biology, pharmacology, drug metabolism, and pharmacokinetics.
Prior experience in CNS drug discovery is essential, including a successful track record of delivering brain-penetrant candidate compounds for brain disorders.
Track record of successfully managing projects remotely through multiple and CRO partners.
Clear record of accomplishments as exemplified through patents and/or publications.

Benefits

Comp & perks

annual bonus opportunity
medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D
short term and long term disability
401(K) plan with match
stock options
flexible non-accrual paid time off
parental leave

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

medicinal chemistrymulti-parameter optimizationstructure-based drug designhit finding strategiesscaffold-hoppinganalytical data assessmentNMRLCMSHPLCUV-VIS

Soft Skills

leadershipinterpersonal skillsmentoringteam playerproject managementcommunicationcollaborationtroubleshootingrelationship managementcross-functional teamwork

Certifications

PhD in ChemistryPhD in Medicinal ChemistryBS in ChemistryMS in Chemistry