Scientist I

Cytokinetics is a specialty cardiovascular biopharmaceutical company, building on its over 25 years of pioneering scientific innovations in muscle biology, and advancing a pipeline of potential new medicines for patients suffering from diseases of cardiac muscle dysfunction. Cytokinetics is seeking a talented synthetic and medicinal chemist to join our Medicinal Chemistry department as a Scientist I. As a leader in muscle biology and the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases, Cytokinetics relies on skilled bench chemists to design and synthesize novel small molecules that advance our discovery pipeline. Reporting into the Medicinal Chemistry group, this individual will contribute hands-on synthetic chemistry and compound design within multidisciplinary project teams, bringing strong synthetic capability, scientific curiosity, and a collaborative approach to advancing optimization programs. In this role you will: Design & Synthesize Novel Compounds: Rapidly synthesize drug candidates to enable the advancement of optimization programs toward clinical development. Contribute to the design of next-generation compounds, applying medicinal chemistry, DMPK, and physicochemical principles to the analysis of potency, DMPK, and off-target selectivity data. Design and synthesize compounds and focused libraries to address project objectives while managing synthesis timelines. Develop purification methods for synthesized targets on silica and reverse-phase columns. Apply Multi-Parameter Optimization & Design Principles: Integrate biology and DMPK feedback into design decisions, developing an understanding of PK/PD relationships and structure-based design. Build proficiency in multi-parameter optimization and hypothesis-driven problem-solving. Apply computational and modeling tools (e.g., MOE) to support hypothesis generation and structure-based design. Collaborate & Communicate: Communicate research progress and data interpretation during project meetings. Work effectively within cross-functional project teams spanning chemistry, biology, DMPK, and computational chemistry. Provide timely and thorough documentation of experimental records into the electronic lab notebook. Required Qualifications Ph.D. in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry, or related field (or M.S. with relevant industry experience). Demonstrated expertise in organic synthesis, chromatographic purification methods, and compound characterization using modern analytical techniques (NMR, MS, HPLC, etc.). Growing proficiency in multi-parameter optimization and hypothesis-driven problem-solving. Ability to incorporate computational chemistry tools to support compound design. Track record of scientific achievement and peer-reviewed publications (first-author publications preferred). Organized, detail-oriented, with excellent record-keeping skills and excellent verbal and written communication…