Scientist / Senior Scientist

Are you ready to operate at the forefront of our preclinical research team, owning the validation of novel therapeutic targets for heart failure and playing a pivotal role in shaping our therapeutic pipeline? 

In this role, you will combine physiological expertise and technical mastery to design, execute, and interpret sophisticated rodent studies with advanced functional readouts, directly influencing drug candidate nomination!

The Destination:

Gordian Biotechnology is a therapeutics company whose mission is to cure age-related disease and wake up every morning more capable than the day before.

Traditional ex vivo screening methods have failed to produce effective treatments, as age-related diseases have complex causes that include interactions with the aged environment.

To address this problem, Gordian’s Mosaic Screening pools interventions in living animals, producing datasets with causal validation for hundreds of targets, in the living context of disease and mapped to human patients. This data lets us make the most informed choices on what new ideas for treating complex disease, and move validated targets into drug development. (more info on our website, and in our preprint). 

We are running this discovery engine in successive indication areas, currently focused on cardiometabolic,  to map the in vivo effects of every druggable target across every relevant organ. We then develop drugs and run clinical trials, both internally and in collaboration with multiple partners. And by pooling the data from each program, we can start to identify medicines with broad impact on the multimorbidity and decline caused by aging. 

The Journey:

Our mission is audacious, and the path will be full of both challenges and excitement. Two things characterize the Gordian experience: 1) We work as a team, with ownership in our own roles and trust in each other. 2) We strive for extraordinary outcomes, and in doing so grow our skills and capability.

Team – Relying on each other begins with transparency. We set clear goals, visibly connecting individuals and teams to our company objectives. This empowers each of us to make autonomous decisions about our work, knowing how they will affect the bigger picture. Our communication happens out in the open. We give and receive feedback from a perspective of helping each other grow, share mistakes, and ask for help.

Extraordinary – Every day, we ask ourselves, “How could this process or outcome be even better?” Knowing our overall mission, we do what we think will make the most progress, without asking for permission. We don’t shy away from big challenges or unknown territory, we find a way to excel.

Gordian is trying to accomplish something tremendously difficult, and that requires people who care deeply about doing exceptional work. We take ownership of our work, ask every day how we can push our science forward faster, and challenge ourselves, and each other, to continually raise the bar. Holding ourselves and each other to that standard has created an environment where each of us grows into a better version of ourselves.

Doing exceptional work also means building a team that can sustain it. We keep standing meetings to a minimum so people can focus on the science, encourage open collaboration through hands-on experimentation and "pre-mortem" discussions that strengthen experimental design, and make time to connect over weekly team lunches. We also encourage people to unplug with an unlimited vacation policy. The combination of mission-focus, high expectations, and enabling people to thrive has created an environment that talent finds rewarding, as evidenced by a voluntary attrition of only ~6%/yr.

If this environment sounds appealing, help us bring it to life. We are at an exciting inflection point: applying our technology to create comprehensive atlases of therapeutic targets across multiple diseases, partnering for financial and intellectual support, and translating these insights into new medicines. We want both your ability and personality along for the ride. Our culture is a source of great pride; it represents both who we are and who we wish to be. 

You can dive deeper here: https://www.gordian.bio/culture/

About the Role:

Your primary mission as an In Vivo Cardiac Biology Scientist / Senior Scientist is to drive preclinical validation of novel therapeutic targets for heart failure, including heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). You will lead advanced in vivo heart failure rodent studies, perform and interpret advanced physiological analyses for therapeutic efficacy, and collaborate cross-functionally to turn screening hits into high-confidence drug discovery programs. You will play a direct role in one of the largest heart failure target validation studies ever conducted, significantly advancing our understanding of the disease across a wide range of biological mechanisms. 

In your first month, you'll fully onboard to our heart program launching a heart failure model development study. You will demonstrate echo image acquisition and analysis mastery and efficiency.

Within three months, you'll take ownership of a large target validation cohort, executing echocardiography and managing weekly logistical in vivo assays. You will achieve flawless rat echo acquisition, master advanced dosing and blood draw techniques, and begin hands-on training in rat invasive hemodynamics.  

At the six-month mark and beyond, you'll complete your initial model studies and the first round of target validation, before launching a second validation study for the HFpEF program. Ultimately, you will drive end-to-end target development programs, including small molecule proof-of-concept studies and strategic partner collaborations, while authoring and maintaining rigorous IACUC protocols. 

In this role you will grow into a world-class expert in heart failure drug development, taking novel targets from initial proof of concept through drug development and ultimately to the clinic.

And You:

You have a track record of success in high-agency work, consistently creating momentum rather than waiting for direction.

You want to do your best work alongside exceptional teammates and are energized by environments where people push each other to think more clearly, work at a higher standard, and grow into better versions of themselves.

You truly want to play a key role in an early-stage startup validating new targets for heart failure: a fast-paced environment full of both uncertainty and new challenges, demanding relentless resourcefulness.

You have a PhD and/or postdoctoral training in cardiac biology, cardiac physiology, or a related field (or equivalent 4+ years of industry experience leading end-to-end research projects), and you bring extensive hands-on experience independently running studies in rodent models of cardiovascular disease in an academic or industry setting.

You're demonstrably proficient in rodent echocardiography (conventional short axis and auto-LV required; apical 4-chamber view, MV inflow, and tissue Doppler preferred) and/or invasive hemodynamics like PV loops, and you bring exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail to everything you run.

You communicate clearly, both in writing and in conversation, and you take a collaborative approach to your work, with the adaptability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.

You have an intrinsic alignment with target validation and drug discovery, alongside a genuine enjoyment of small animal physiology work.

Additional valuable skills if you have them:

• You have direct experience in early-stage drug development for cardiometabolic or cardiovascular diseases.
• You've mastered diverse dosing routes (IP, PO, SC, IV) and blood collection methods.
• You bring a deep mechanistic understanding of cardiovascular biology, supported by a peer-reviewed publication record.
• You have experience performing rodent survival surgeries.
• You're familiar with downstream molecular analysis (qPCR, Western Blot, or histology) to evaluate target engagement.
• You have familiarity with relevant disease models (HFpEF, HCM, cardiac amyloidosis), tail cuff blood pressure, exercise tolerance treadmill testing, tissue sectioning, or isolating primary cardiomyocytes.

The Details:

Gordian aims to provide everything you need to thrive. Beyond or community and science, you’ll have enough equity to be a true stakeholder in the company, competitive salary, full health/dental/vision/life insurance, 401k with match, onsite lunch paid for 3 days a week, an onsite gym, whatever vacation you need to be at your peak, remote work flexibility, and access to world-class mentors and advisors to support your professional growth. Our building is in the heart of the biotech capital of South San Francisco.

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