Director, Small Molecule Biochemistry - Lexington, United States - Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk

Verified Company

Lexington, United States

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Mark Lane

beBee recruiter

Description

About the Department

Our Boston Research & Development hub, anchored in the greater Boston area, brings together the best minds in life science innovation.

The teams located in facilities in Lexington, Watertown and Cambridge reflect the full R&D continuum, from early research through late-stage clinical development.

Here, we are building for the future, creating a distinct R&D community based on collaboration, partnerships, and cutting-edge research across multiple modalities and therapeutic areas.

We recognize that improving human health starts here and that patients rely on us.

Our greater Boston R&D hub merges biotech speed and agility with large pharmaceutical company quality, resources,and stability, uniting the best of both worlds to develop new medicines for patients.

The Position

The Director of Small Molecule Biochemistry and Biophysics will be responsible for assisting in the development and expansion of the small molecule research unit at Novo Nordisk.

He/She will have a mandate to contribute to building the team and improve operational efficiencies as well as implementing best practices.

He/She will be responsible, together with the LoB, for driving strategic decisions throughout the various stages of the small molecule drug discovery process from target identification all the way to IND filing.

He/she will also be supporting external collaborations as well as leading the screening activities for small molecule internal drug discovery projects leveraging a highly outsourced CRO model.

Responsibilities include:

contribution to recruiting and growing the team, guiding and mentoring junior staff; setting up the screening and Hit identification strategies for new programs; leading the assay development /validation processes, identifying drugs mechanism of action, collaboratively interacting cross TAs within NN; leading and managing a number of contract research organizations (CRO) across the globe; supporting the preparation of patents, reports, scientific publication and serving as functional expert in supporting IND filings.

Relationships
Reports to Vice President (VP) of Small Molecule Research (SMR; GRT).

Will interact and closely collaborate with other Small Molecule Unit Scientists (medicinal chemists), Data Science & Innovation (DSI) computational chemists, Global Drug Discovery (GDD) biology, Global Drug Discovery and Safety (GDDS); Global Research Technologies (GRT).

Will lead and interact daily with biochemistry and biophysics CROs and Comp Chemistry CROs globally.

Will guide and interact with key partners through research collaborations (industrial and/or academic).

Essential Functions

Managing, coaching, and mentoring scientists across the discovery functions and LoBs in order to develop their skills and build small molecule organizational capabilities
Enhance operational efficiency and implementing best practices within LoB
Critically evaluates project data while rigorously driving datadriven Go/Nogo decisions, including the identification of resource constraints and bottlenecks
Make recommendations to senior leadership for budget oversight
Communicate project plans/priorities to management.
Lead functional groups for the development, validation, and implementation of biochemical & biophysical assays for small molecule screens and small molecule MoA.
Recruit, manage global CROs and external partners on a daytoday basis to achieve project goals.
Develop and direct collaborations with external CROs performing assay development and transfer, library screening, and hit validation across projects
Has accountability for CROs timelines and data quality.
Effectively communicates and collaborates across global sites. Represents the organization through external communication of impactful scientific research in the form of presentation at external conferences and publication in scientific journals and patents. Proposes and oversees external collaborations.
Leader in the field of small molecule biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology and high throughput screening.

Key contributor to strategic decisions and the execution of drug discovery efforts.

Physical Requirements
Up to 5% international travel may be required.

Qualifications

D. in biochemistry and/or enzymology required

15+ years of industrial biochemistry and enzymology experience
5+ years of direct management experience preferred
5+ years of leading biochemistry & biophysics in a hybrid model (managing CRO networks)
Experience managing, coaching, and mentoring scientists across the discovery functions and LoBs in order to develop their skills and build organizational capabilities
Experience enhancing operational efficiency and implementing best practices within LoB
Experience developing and executing strategies to address key aspects of small molecule mechanism of action
Expert in enzymology, enzyme kinetics and current assay formats for multiple enzyme c