Frontier Medicines, located in South San Francisco, CA, is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is pioneering breakthrough technologies to drug the “undruggable” proteome. Targeting a majority of the human proteome with small molecule drugs has been historically unsuccessful, which is one of the most critical challenges in addressing human disease. Frontier’s platform, based on proprietary chemoproteomic technologies, novel protein degradation approaches, and sophisticated machine learning algorithms, makes drugging the “undruggable” proteome finally feasible – enabling a paradigm shift in drug discovery. Our therapeutic programs are focused on some of the most important and difficult targets in human disease, starting with cancer, in order to change the lives of patients for the better.

On Sept. 23, 2019, FierceBiotech named Frontier Medicinesas one of 2019's Fierce 15 biotechnology companies. This is FierceBiotech's 17th annual Fierce 15 selection, which recognizes the most promising private biotechnology companies in the industry. 

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced protein biochemist to fill the position of Principal Scientist in the Discovery Biology group. The successful candidate will provide scientific leadership and hands-on experience in protein expression, purification and analytical characterization to support biochemical, biophysical and structural efforts. This individual will work closely with an experienced team of interdisciplinary scientists and have regular opportunities to represent Protein Sciences on project teams and interact with the senior management. The position will report to the Director of Discovery Biology and is located in South San Francisco.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and optimize protein expression and purification strategies.
• Contribute to the drug discovery pipeline by leveraging expertise in protein biochemistry to enable compound screening against challenging targets.
• Coordinate and oversee protein expression/purification and structural biology activities performed by external vendors.
• Contribute to project teams by performing mechanism of action studies for insights into effect of small molecule ligands on structural organization of protein targets.
• Troubleshoot and optimize expression/purification procedures by identifying and implementing novel techniques and experimental approaches.
• Effectively communicate with colleagues and stakeholders; create and present research updates and provide strategic input to team/company meetings.
• Maintain a clear, detailed laboratory notebook to document all experiments and findings.
• Comply with best laboratory safety practices.

• PhD in Biochemistry, Structural Biology, Biophysics or a related discipline with 10+ years industry experience.
• Broad experience in expressing recombinant proteins in a variety of expression systems.
• Proficient in applying state-of-the-art technology for protein purification and characterization (e.g. FPLC, HPLC, dynamic light scattering, DSF).
• Experience in structural biology and methods for isolating and characterizing protein complexes highly desired.
• The candidate should be driven, have experience working in a cross-disciplinary team and thrive in a dynamic start-up environment.
• Demonstrated track record of accomplishments, publications and conference presentations.
• Excellent communication, organization, and technical writing skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills, ability to learn new skills.
• Legally authorized to work in the US.