Job Title: Associate Director to Executive Director, CADD

Reports To: VP, Chemistry

Location: Shanghai, China

About Us:

Structure Therapeutics develops life‐changing medicines for patients using advanced structure‐based and computational drug discovery technology. The company’s platform combines the latest advancements in visualization of molecular interactions, computational chemistry, and data integration to design orally available, superior small molecule medicines that overcome current limitations of biologic and peptide drugs. We are advancing a clinical‐stage pipeline of differentiated treatments focused on chronic diseases with high unmet need, including cardiovascular, metabolic, and pulmonary conditions.

Structure Therapeutics is led by an experienced group of international drug innovators and financed by top-tier global life sciences investors. The company completed an initial public offering (IPO) in February 2023. With offices in California and Shanghai, Structure Therapeutics has the benefit of being at the center of life science innovation in both the US and China and capitalizing on the strengths of each geographic location.

Position Summary

Join us in advancing cutting-edge science at the intersection of GPCR structural biology, computational chemistry, and data science. This role offers a unique opportunity to leverage proprietary GPCR structural data and contribute directly to industry-leading drug discovery R&D.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own project-facing CADD/SBDD leadership on one or more discovery programs, shaping computational strategy and partnering closely with Medicinal Chemistry, Structural Biology, and Biology to drive effective S-DMTA execution.
• Translate protein–ligand structural insights and SAR into prioritized, testable SBDD design hypotheses—balancing potency, selectivity, and developability—and enabling clear, data-driven go/no-go decisions.
• Apply fit‑for‑purpose CADD methods (e.g., molecular docking, molecular dynamics, FEP+, library design/enumeration, virtual screening, structure-guided SAR analysis) to address key design questions and advance leads with speed and scientific rigor.
• Partner deeply with Structural Biology (cryo‑EM/X-ray/biophysics) to maximize SBDD impact—help define structural questions, guide ligand/construct/experiment strategy, interpret maps/models, and convert structural insights into actionable medicinal chemistry plans.
• Integrate ADMET and translation considerations by partnering with Medicinal Chemistry, DMPK, in vitro/in vivo pharmacology, safety, and translational teams — using ADMET/property prediction and experimental data interpretation to optimize potency, selectivity, PK/PD, and overall drug-like profiles.
• Collaborate with Platform team to customize and implement novel/state-of-the-art CADD/Cheminformatics tools — articulate fit‑for‑purpose requirements, align on priorities and timelines, pilot and validate new capabilities in discovery programs, and drive user adoption/feedback loops.
• Communicate and influence at the program level and beyond, delivering concise recommendations, documenting rationale/assumptions/uncertainty, aligning stakeholders across functions, and mentoring scientists on best-practice application of CADD/SBDD in project decision-making.

Qualifications – Required

• Master’s or PhD (or equivalent) in Computational Chemistry or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated, sustained impact applying CADD/SBDD in drug discovery programs (7+ years post-PhD, or equivalent experience).
• Strong SBDD expertise with a track record of using structural information to drive compound design—able to propose binding hypotheses, rationalize SAR with structure, and translate interactions into medicinal chemistry actions.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with Structural Biology/biophysics teams, interpret structural and biophysical outputs, and integrate them into iterative design plans and DMTA cycles.
• Hands-on expertise with core CADD workflows and tools (e.g., Schrödinger, Molecular Discovery, OpenEye or equivalents).
• Strong understanding of medicinal chemistry and SAR, including practical judgment around property tradeoffs, developability, and the realities of synthetic feasibility and design cycles.
• Ability to analyse and process compound/assay datasets and perform basic scripting/analysis (e.g.
  Python, RDKit).
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and matrix leadership skills—able to influence decisions, align cross-functional stakeholders, and move programs forward with clarity and accountability.

Qualifications – Desirable/Plus

• Working experience in a biotech or biopharma (>5 years)
• Experience applying SBDD to GPCRs, including ensemble thinking, induced-fit considerations, or integrating multiple receptor states (e.g., from cryo‑EM, MD, or related approaches).
• Experience supporting drug discovery in the BRO5 space, including structure-based strategies for property optimization and design of compounds beyond traditional small-molecule rules.
• Familiarity with advanced physics-based or data-driven approaches as an informed end-user/decision-maker (including Co-folding, generative AI).