Team Lead

COMPANY

Octant is a clinical-stage drug discovery company developing correctors for protein misfolding diseases with active programs in rare diseases and oncology. Octant’s platform, The Navigator, combines high-throughput synthetic biology, generative chemistry, and AI/ML to discover and develop therapeutics against complex cellular mechanisms in human cells.

JOB DESCRIPTION

We are seeking an experienced DMPK leader to head Octant’s OpenADMET team. As a leader at OpenADMET, you will own the strategy and execution of ADMET/DMPK assay development and data generation, both for the OpenADMET consortium and for Octant’s internal platform. You’ll be a leading voice in a community working to push the field ADMET prediction forward. At Octant, you will select the assays/endpoints, set standards for data quality, working closely with the ADMET ML community, partnering with our internal drug discovery programs on DMPK, and more. You will also represent Octant externally, working with high-profile funders and consortium members.

As an OpenADMET lead, you operate comfortably at both the strategic and execution layers, and have a track record of leading complex, cross-functional projects. You are motivated by Octant’s mission and have a team-first mindset. You bring excellent communication skills and an ability to thrive in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.

OpenADMET is a multi-institution open science consortium, spanning Octant, UCSF, and the Open Molecular Software Foundation (OMSF), on a mission to solve ADMET prediction and make ADMET a design challenge. Octant leads assay development and data generation for the consortium, including the data behind OpenADMET’s public blind challenges.

IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL:

• Represent Octant within OpenADMET, coordinating closely with partners at UCSF and OMSF
• Work closely with internal drug discovery programs on DMPK
• Build long-term relationships with funders, provide regular progress updates, and scope out the next stages of funding
• Grow community across the OpenADMET ecosystem, including blind challenge participants and others working on ADMET prediction
• Decide which ADMET assays Octant builds and onboards for internal drug discovery programs, and ensure they run robustly and reproducibly at high throughput
• Connect our in-house high-throughput synthesis capabilities with ADMET assays in a closed design-make-test loop, including technology development in microscale synthesis and quantification
• Lead and grow a team, working hand-in-hand with machine learning scientists, software engineers, biologists, chemists, and automation engineers

THIS JOB MIGHT BE GREAT FOR YOU IF YOU HAVE:

• A PhD in Analytical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry, Chemistry, Biology, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience
• 8–10+ years of experience in small molecule drug discovery, including leading large, cross-functional projects and teams. Industry experience strongly preferred.
• Experience spanning ADME/DMPK, pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry, with the intuition to reason about ADMET through a molecular lens
• A track record of building platforms or other enabling technology, such as new assays, high-throughput workflows, or data and automation infrastructure
• Computational fluency: you don’t need to be a data scientist or computational chemist, but you are comfortable working with data and AI tools are core to your workflows
• The ability to move between strategy and execution, and to communicate clearly with funders, collaborators, and internal teams
• Excitement about open science: much of this work is public-facing through OpenADMET, a rare opportunity in drug discovery
• Adaptability to rapidly changing priorities and project needs, with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. Comfortable with ambiguity and able to pivot strategies as needed to meet project goals.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities, with a proactive approach to anticipating potential issues and addressing them before they become critical.

The expected annual salary for this role is in the range of $195,000 to $230,000, depending on experience level. We offer health benefits (medical, dental, vision), equity, and 401(k) matching.

Octant is located in Emeryville, California and we work onsite.

Octant is an equal opportunity company that values applicants of all backgrounds. We’re committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment. We value less traditional backgrounds, and may consider an equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education, and experience to meet minimum qualifications. We know that confidence-gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates, so please don’t hesitate to apply — we’d love to hear from you.

OCTANT’S NAVIGATOR PLATFORM:

Octant’s Platform, “The Navigator,” accelerates the design, build, test, & learn iterations across chemistry and biology to build drugs against cellular mechanisms. The Navigator is an expanding set of drug discovery and development capabilities with three interwoven components that operate together:

• Generative Biology – Multiplexed measurements from engineered sensors in human cells to understand cellular mechanisms
• Generative Chemistry – Nanoliter-scale chemical synthesis for rapid exploration of local & targeted chemical space
• Generative AI – ML/AI ingests large-scale biological and chemical datasets and drives iteration of experiments to build better molecules faster

Together, the Navigator platform drives week-to-week progress on our drug programs, generating 3M+ readouts each week across multiple therapeutic areas.