Distinguished Scientist, Small MoleculeTherapeutics

Your Impact at LILA The Distinguished Scientist, Small Molecule Therapeutics will play a key role in building a world-class small molecule screening organization across Lila’s discovery platform. The qualified candidate will leverage deep expertise in DNA-encoded libraries (DEL) and biophysical/biochemical assay development to identify, triage, and validate novel chemical matter in close partnership with Lila’s chemistry, computational, and automation teams. In this role, the Director will be responsible for designing and implementing the capabilities, workflows, and infrastructure needed to rapidly evaluate and advance hits across therapeutic modalities. They will also lead the establishment of biophysical instrumentation and scalable assay platforms, enabling an efficient, high-throughput discovery workflow for small molecule hit confirmation and validation. What You'll Be Building Implement and scale biophysical instrumentation and assay platforms to validate, confirm, and triage small molecule screening hits. Build screening technologies integrated with Lila’s AI-driven chemistry and robotic synthesis capabilities to identify novel, high-quality chemical matter. Establish, optimize, and deploy biochemical activity assays to enable target triage for screening and robust validation of screening hits. Develop fit-for-purpose mechanistic assays to determine mode of action for small molecule inhibitors. Design, produce, and characterize protein constructs required for high-throughput screening and assay development. Execute on DNA-encoded library (DEL) screening strategies, including downstream validation pipelines and hit-to-lead-enabling workflows. What You'll Need to Succeed PhD in Biology, Chemical Biology, Biochemistry, or a related discipline with 8–12 years of drug discovery experience; or MS/BS in a relevant field with 15+ years of industry experience in small molecule discovery and screening. Demonstrated track record of designing, executing, and delivering