Principal Research Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry
- Employer
- IDEAYA Biosciences
- Location
- South San Francisco, CA
- Posted date
- Sep 28, 2026
View more categories
- Discipline
- Regulatory, Science/R&D, Research/Documentation, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Research
- Required Education
- Associate Degree
- Position Type
- Full time
- Hotbed
- Biotech Bay
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Job Details
Non-Solicitation Policy and Notice to Agencies and Recruiters:
IDEAYA's Non-Solicitation Policy strictly prohibits agencies and recruiters from any contact and communication with IDEAYA employees, managers, and leaders to submit unsolicited candidate resumes and/or to solicit business partnerships. Submission of unsolicited candidate resumes by agencies or recruiters with or without a contract in place with IDEAYA Biosciences Inc. will not create any implied obligation. Failure to comply with this policy will result in disqualification from current and future business opportunities with IDEAYA Biosciences. All recruiting and talent agency decisions are strictly managed by the internal IDEAYA Human Resources function. All communication by external agencies and recruiters must be directed to humanresources@ideayabio.com. We ask that you only email your interest once.
Job Summary
Job Description
What you’ll do:
Apply modern synthetic techniques to prepare complex chemical targets to advance cutting-edge oncology programs and deliver high-quality molecules at a very productive rate
Design high-confidence reaction sequences that avoid known liabilities and reduce difficult purifications
Rapidly gather reaction information and troubleshoot problematic transformations
Plan ahead and multitask in and out of the lab to maintain high productivity
Deliver molecules on scales from 10 mg to > 25 g
Help manage external synthetic chemistry resources to high productivity
Follow SAR data and leverage medicinal chemistry knowledge to propose targets that address critical issues within a chemical series
Champion design and synthesis efforts into new directions as needed to achieve goals
Clearly and concisely communicate results and strategy to inform and influence others
Use structure-based design skills and modern computational tools to design targets with improved affinity and selectivity profiles
Requirements:
Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry with 3-8 years of pharmaceutical industry medicinal chemistry experience
Excellent scientific expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, including asymmetric reactions and modern cross-coupling techniques, strong knowledge of modern chemistry literature and in-depth knowledge of a wide range of purification and spectroscopic characterization techniques
Demonstrated ability to maintain high productivity in the lab and synthesize complicated chemical structures at the pace required to impact medicinal chemistry programs while maintaining high safety standards
Ability to develop new chemistry that is both practical and scalable
Ability to regularly troubleshoot synthetic problems and provide practical and creative solutions
Ability to keep good scientific records
Ability to identify the most critical issues with the lead chemical matter for a project, associate those issues with chemical functionality or physicochemical properties within the series, and strategically focus most target design efforts toward fixing these issues
Ability to multi-task and set priorities in a fast-paced and dynamic environment while demonstrating a positive attitude and superior work ethic
Ability to work well in diverse, multi-disciplinary teams
Demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills
Strong knowledge of medicinal chemistry concepts, including structure-based target design, SAR-driven target design, multi-parameter optimization, physicochemical properties of drugs, and ADME and pharmacological principles applied to drug discovery
Ability to use modern computational tools to better understand trends in biological data found within a series of drug-like molecules and to understand the underlying principles governing ligand binding
Desire to continually learn drug discovery concepts and structure-based design concepts and to stay current with the field while mentoring others
All employees are expected to act with integrity and in full compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and IDEAYA policies, including IDEAYA’s Code of Conduct.
Employees must demonstrate good judgement and ethical behavior in all business activities, maintain patient and product safety as a top priority, and report any suspected violations of law or Company policy through appropriate channels
Total Rewards
Along with our inspiring mission, and highly collaborative and inclusive environment, IDEAYA offers a competitive total rewards package that reflects our pay-for-performance philosophy where employees are eligible to be considered for merit-based salary increases, company discretionary short-term incentive plan participation, and company discretionary stock option awards (based on board approval). Our comprehensive benefits package includes, but is not limited to, medical/dental/vision coverage (100% company paid for employees and 90% company paid for dependents), 401k, ESPP, and wellness programs.
The expected salary range for the roleof Principal Research Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry is $177,000 - $218,000. The final salary offered to a successful candidate will depend on several factors that may include but are not limited to the office location where this open position is located, the final candidates’ experience within their profession, experience in the disease areas we are striving to make an impact in as a company, length of time within the industry, educational background, and performance during the interview process.
The Company complies with all laws respecting equal employment opportunities and does not discriminate against applicants with regard to any protected characteristic as defined by federal, state, and local law.
IDEAYA is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with applicable law, IDEAYA does not discriminate in hiring or otherwise in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital or veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status. EOE/AA/Vets.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please get in touch with us at hr@ideayabio.com.
Company
Founded in 2015, IDEAYA Biosciences is a public, clinical-stage synthetic lethality-focused precision medicine oncology company committed to the discovery and development of targeted therapeutics for patient populations selected using DNA sequencing and other molecular diagnostics. Our approach integrates extensive capabilities in identifying and validating translational biomarkers with small molecule drug discovery to select patient populations most likely to benefit from the therapies we are developing. We are applying these capabilities across multiple classes of precision medicine, including direct targeting of oncogenic pathways and synthetic lethality – which represents an emerging class of precision medicine targets. We believe this diversified approach will enable us to deliver the right medicine to the right patient to drive a more robust clinical response.
Stock Symbol: IDYA
- Phone
- 650-443-6209
- Location
- 5000 Shoreline Court, Ste. 300
South San Francisco
California
94080