Director, Cheminformatics – In Silico Discovery

Key Skills

Aartificial intelligence, Cheminformatics, Data Analysis, Data Mining, Data pipelines, Data science techniques, Design, Machine learning techniques

Job Description

At the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, we work to create a world without disease. Transforming lives by finding new and better ways to prevent, intercept, treat and cure disease inspires us. We bring together the best minds and pursue the most promising science. We collaborate with the world for the health of everyone in it. Learn more at www.janssen.com and follow us @JanssenGlobal. Janssen Research & Development is part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies.

We are seeking creative, self-motivated, and driven leader in informatics to join our In Silico Discovery team. We are expanding our capabilities in informatics across multiple platforms and are seeking a leader to continue to build that group and bring their expertise to exciting efforts in drug design across synthetic modalities. Come join an enthusiastic, diverse, and global community of scientists committed to bringing innovative new medicines to patients!

The Director, Cheminformatics will lead a core group of computational scientists with responsibility for setting and implementing the strategy for informatics support of our core small molecule drug discovery platforms. These platforms include, but are not limited to, high-throughput screening, DNA-encoded library (DEL) screening, peptide-display discovery, and support for RNA-based therapeutics. Working with other teams within In Silico Discovery and R&D Information Technology (IT), this leader’s team will also be responsible for data management and analytics across the Janssen synthetic discovery portfolio.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Drive the development and implementation of computational methods across a wide variety of small molecule discovery technologies including DNA-encoded libraries, fragment-based lead discovery, targeted protein degradation, peptide discovery using mRNA display, and RNA-based therapeutics.
• Lead the design of cheminformatics infrastructure supporting scientists at all levels in small molecule discovery.
• Develop tools which enable structure manipulation, analysis, and decision-making for large numbers of compounds.
• Develop appropriate visualization tools to enable discovery scientists.
• Ensure deployment of such tools to computational non-experts to enable self-service analysis with high scientific detail.
• Collaborate closely with AI/ML and CADD scientists in the broader In Silico Discovery Team.
• Serve as a scientific guide in multi-disciplinary discovery project teams that include chemists, structural biologists, and other discovery scientists.
• Mentor junior scientists fostering their development as leading cheminformatics scientists.
• Periodically evaluate and make recommendations for the acquisition or building of new technologies. This may include performing Due Diligence on potential partnering/M&A opportunities.
• Publish results in peer reviewed journals and present at scientific meetings.

Qualifications

• A minimum of a PhD in Computational Chemistry, Data Sciences, Informatics, or a related subject area is required.
• At least 8 years experience in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry is required.
• Experience working with multi-disciplinary/cross-functional teams is required.
• People management experience is required.
• Extensive hands-on experience in cheminformatics working with large scale data aggregation, manipulation, integration, mining, and analysis, including structured and unstructured data sources, is required. 
• Experience with chemical descriptors, similarity, diversity, SAR analysis, properties, library enumeration, design, chemical transformations, etc. is required.
• Experience in the design, enumeration, and evaluation of libraries for Encoded Library Technologies (e.g. DNA-encoded libraries (DEL) or similar) is preferred.
• Experience applying cheminformatics toolkits and packages (e.g. Pipeline Pilot, KNIME, ChemAxon) to analyze large scale data sets from multiple sources is preferred.
• Experience conducting high-throughput virtual screening and experience applying machine learning (ML)/artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to drug discovery is preferred.
• Experience developing visualization tools to enable drug discovery is strongly preferred.
• The preferred locations for this position are on-site in either Spring House, PA or Cambridge, MA. Consideration may be given for candidates to be located on-site in La Jolla, CA or Beerse, Belgium. Up to approximately 25% travel may be required.

At Johnson & Johnson, we’re on a mission to change the trajectory of health for humanity. That starts by creating the world’s healthiest workforce. Through cutting-edge programs and policies, we empower the physical, mental, emotional, and financial health of our employees and the ones they love. For more information on how we support the whole health of our employees throughout their wellness, career and life journey, please visit www.careers.jnj.com . The anticipated base pay range for this position is $157,000 to $271,400. The compensation and benefits information set forth in this posting applies to candidates hired in the United States. Candidates hired outside the United States will be eligible for compensation and benefits in accordance with their local market.