Pillar Therapeutics- Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry

Pillar is in the discovery stage and will invest heavily in its emerging platform for oligonucleotide delivery. Our disease focus offers strong translatability from animal models to humans, which provides a potentially rapid and efficient path to the clinic. Given our recent funding and commitment to building a first-in-class platform with clear therapeutic targets and indications, we are recruiting a Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry. This individual will be responsible for implementing chemical technologies to develop oligonucleotides and conjugates for our targeted delivery platform.

The Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry will report directly to the VP of Delivery and will interface frequently with company leadership and cross-functional teams to advance oligonucleotide therapeutic programs. This individual will contribute to strategy and execution of discovering novel delivery systems and will manage chemistry resources to prepare oligonucleotide conjugates. This individual will be expected to interact frequently with external CROs as well as recruit, mentor, and manage a skilled scientific team under their leadership.

Specific responsibilities:

• Oversee chemistry aspects of the development of oligonucleotide conjugates for biological evaluation in our targeted delivery platform
• Manage external chemical synthesis activities which may include oligonucleotide synthesis; small-molecule, lipid, and peptide ligand synthesis; linker synthesis; and oligonucleotide-conjugate synthesis
• Build internal lab capabilities and lead a team of conjugation and analytical scientists to prepare, purify, and analytically characterize oligonucleotide conjugates, particularly antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates
• Work cross-functionally with protein engineers and biologists to ensure timely and adequate preparation of oligonucleotide conjugates for biological evaluation as well as to contribute to the design of in vitro and in vivo studies
• Contribute to intellectual property around the design of oligonucleotides and oligonucleotide conjugates for the company
• Work closely with company leadership, contributing to scientific strategy and assisting in preparing materials (data reviews, presentation decks) for internal and external constituents; participate in external discussions, as directed
• Stay current with emerging oligonucleotide and delivery fields for translation into platform-relevant hypotheses

The Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry should be a doer with a “roll up their sleeves” mentality while having the ability to manage people and interpret complex scientific data efficiently and effectively. This person should have proven experience in oligonucleotide conjugate delivery platforms and other nucleic acid-based delivery methods with a significant background in chemistry and/or protein engineering. This person must demonstrate exceptional creativity and problem-solving skills, and take novel ideas from concept to rigorous, demonstrable results.

Key qualifications:

• PhD. in chemistry or related discipline with 8+ years of experience working with oligonucleotide therapeutics (siRNA, ASOs, etc.) in the biopharmaceutical industry; or BS/MS with 12+ years
• Ideal candidate will have experience developing peptide-, protein-, or antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates while effectively operating in cross-functional, collaborative environments
• Adept in state-of-the-art conjugation (cysteine-maleimide, click chemistry, site-specific, etc.), purification (HPLC, SEC, IEX, etc.), and analytical (HPLC, LCMS, etc.) methods to prepare oligonucleotide conjugates
• While demonstrating creativity to contribute to the discovery of novel delivery systems, this individual must also be process- and detail-oriented to ensure production of high-quality oligonucleotide conjugates
• Experience managing both internal personnel and external CROs to advance oligonucleotide therapeutics
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally to plan and coordinate in vitro and in vivo studies to evaluate oligonucleotide and/or antibody/peptide-conjugate modalities
• Imperative that this individual be an effective communicator and proven team-builder, mentor, motivator, and manager

At a personal level, we are seeking an individual who is highly collaborative, intellectually curious, driven, trustworthy, humble, and who brings an adaptable and flexible working style. The Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry must be highly organized, thoughtful, and bring sound judgement and decision-making abilities. The company is creating a culture of highly engaged colleagues who put the team and the science above the self and operate with a sense of urgency. As such, the Director, Oligonucleotide and Conjugation Chemistry should be highly nuanced in terms of their interpersonal style and able to lead and work effectively within a highly collaborative, entrepreneurial, and fast-paced start-up environment.

From an educational perspective, we are seeking an individual with a Ph.D. and/or BS/MS in a relevant discipline such as chemistry or protein engineering. It is understood that education, while an important index of achievement, orientation, and intellectual capacity, will not constitute the primary variable in this decision process. Personal characteristics, leadership abilities, technical fluency, creativity, work ethic, behavioral flexibility, and demonstrated accomplishments will serve as key components in the evaluation of candidates. This person will be based on-site at the company’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA.