Director / Senior Director, Small Molecule Therapeutics

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.

• 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.

• 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 mentoring scientific teams.

• Familiarity working in AI-enabled drug discovery environments or integrating machine learning insights into experimental workflows.
• Experience scaling automated discovery platforms that integrate robotics, high-throughput screening, and computational workflows.
• Deep familiarity with large-scale screening technologies, including DNA-encoded libraries (DEL), fragment screening, or other modern small molecule discovery approaches.
• Experience implementing high-content screening, phenotypic assays, or complex cellular screening systems.
• Strong understanding of screening data analysis and interpretation, including management of large experimental datasets.
• Experience building screening infrastructure from the ground up, including instrumentation selection, workflow design, and laboratory automation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead in fast-moving, innovative biotech environments.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to align multidisciplinary teams around ambitious scientific goals.

Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard-coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.

LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.

Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you'd love to work in, even if you don't meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

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