Director / Senior Director, Small Molecule Therapeutics

Your Impact at Lila The Senior Director, Small Molecule Therapeutics will lead the biological evaluation and screening of small molecule therapeutics across Lila’s discovery platform. This leader will build and scale a world-class screening organization that translates AI-designed and robotically synthesized molecules into validated biological insights and therapeutic opportunities. Working closely with Lila’s chemistry, automation, and AI/computational teams, this role will establish the biological screening infrastructure required to rapidly evaluate novel chemical matter. The Senior Director will design and deploy high-throughput and high-content screening strategies, build automated assay platforms, and develop innovative approaches to interrogate large chemical spaces. This leader will play a critical role in shaping Lila’s small molecule discovery engine by integrating biology, automation, and data science into scalable discovery workflows that accelerate the identification of high-quality therapeutic candidates. What You'll Be Building Build and lead Lila’s small molecule biology and screening organization, including hiring, mentoring, and developing a high-performing scientific team. Design and implement high-throughput and automated screening platforms to evaluate small molecules generated through Lila’s AI-driven chemistry and robotic synthesis systems. Develop and optimize biochemical, biophysical, and cell-based assays to identify and validate novel small molecule hits. Establish scalable automation-enabled workflows for assay execution, screening campaigns, and data generation. Lead the development and implementation of DNA-encoded library (DEL) screening strategies and downstream validation pipelines. Partner closely with chemistry, computational, and automation teams to integrate screening results with molecular design and synthesis efforts. Define and execute screening strategies for new therapeutic targets, including target validation, assay design, and hit identification. Oversee large-scale screening campaigns, including hit triage, orthogonal validation, and early mechanism-of-action studies. Implement data-driven approaches to analyze screening outputs and guide iterative molecule design. Establish best practices for screening data quality, reproducibility, and assay robustness. Collaborate across disciplines to translate screening hits into validated chemical starting points for therapeutic programs. What You’ll Need to Succeed PhD in Molecular Biology, Chemical Biology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, or a related scientific discipline with 12–15 years of experience in drug discovery, or MS/BS in a relevant scientific field with 15+ years of industry experience in small molecule drug discovery and screening. Demonstrated experience building and leading small molecule screening teams or platforms, including hiring, mentoring, and developing multidisciplinary scientists. Proven track record designing and executing high-throughput screening (HTS) campaigns for small molecule discovery. Deep expertise in biological assay development, including biochemical, biophysical, and cell-based assays used in early-stage drug discovery. Experience establishing automated or robotics-enabled laboratory platforms, including integration of liquid handling, assay automation, and scalable experimental workflows. Experience with DNA-encoded library (DEL) screening or other large-scale chemical library interrogation approaches. Strong understanding of hit identification, triage, and validation workflows in small molecule discovery programs. Experience working closely with medicinal chemistry teams to translate screening hits into validated chemical matter. Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in highly interdisciplinary environments spanning chemistry, biology, automation, and computational teams. Track record of scientific leadership and program delivery, including advancing discovery programs and ... (truncated, view full listing at source)