Associate Director/Director - Head of DEL Discovery Strategy and Informatics

The Role

Valo is seeking a Head of DEL, encompassing discovery strategy and selections, DEL chemistry and informatics to advance DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology as a core engine for initiating chemistry efforts across the portfolio. This leader will set the strategy for how DEL is deployed from target assessment and selection design through hit identification, off-DNA validation, and chemistry-start decisions. The role will lead a team DEL team and partner medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, biology, protein sciences, and data science to turn DEL outputs into high-quality, model-ready data and chemically tractable starting points for the Opal Computational Platform™.

What You’ll Do…   

• Set the strategic roadmap for using DEL as a first-line discovery approach to initiate chemistry campaigns across Valo’s portfolio

• Lead and develop a team of 4 to 5 scientists spanning DEL informatics, on-DNA chemistry, analysis, and discovery strategy

• Define DEL deployment strategy, including target tractability, library fit, selection design, controls, counterscreens, and project-start decision criteria

• Translate DEL selection outputs into actionable chemistry starts through enrichment analysis, hit-family triage, SAR hypotheses, off-DNA validation, and analog prioritization

• Partner with medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, biology, protein sciences, in vitro pharmacology and data science to advance DEL-derived hits into validated, chemically tractable series

• Lead a team to build scalable DEL data workflows that generate high-quality, reusable, model-ready datasets for Opal and AI/ML-driven discovery

• Scout, evaluate, and apply emerging DEL technologies, including next-generation library design, DNA-compatible chemistry, advanced selection methods, sequencing analytics, and ML-guided interpretation

• Communicate strategy, tradeoffs, and recommendations to project teams and senior leaders to drive portfolio decisions

What You Bring... 

• PhD in protein sciences, chemistry, computational chemistry, chemical biology, or related field with 8+ years of relevant industry experience for the application of DEL in a drug discovery setting

• Demonstrated deep expertise in identifying and executing strategies for successful DEL campaigns for a variety of targets, including protein classes which are typically challenging for DEL selections

• Strong understanding of DEL strategy from library design and selection through data analysis, hit identification, off-DNA validation, and chemistry-start planning

• Demonstrated track record using DEL-derived data to initiate or advance medicinal chemistry programs and generate validated chemical matter

• Strong grounding in protein sciences, organic chemistry, on-DNA chemistry, medicinal chemistry principles, cheminformatics, and large experimental datasets

• Current knowledge of emerging DEL technologies and ability to assess which innovations should be adopted, partnered, or built internally

• Experience working across AI/ML, data science, computational chemistry, biology, and protein sciences to turn DEL data into predictive insight and project decisions

• Proven people leadership, cross-functional influence, and ability to communicate strategic recommendations clearly to senior stakeholders

How You Lead at Valo

At Valo, how you lead matters as much as what you deliver. At this level, our four core values show up as:

• Ownership: Challenges oneself to step out of comfort zone while delegating, to help others grow. Leads cross-functional teams in owning results and failures together, with a solutions mindset. Cares for company resources as one’s own, driving value through best utilization and ROI.

• Emergence: Builds and supports strong teams with clear direction, enabling structures, and resources. Thinks strategically, encouraging teams to leverage cross-disciplinary data, insights, and perspectives. Builds channels for open two-way communication and exhibits strong skills in facilitating meetings and driving decisions.

• Humility: Creates a culture where learning from setbacks is normalized and fuels team growth. Encourages constructive debate to sharpen thinking, ensuring challenge leads to better solutions. Leads with humility, creating space for strong ideas to surface over personal views.

• Impact: Advocates for bold approaches with peers and leadership; makes strategic bets and backs them with resources. Translates innovative ideas into strategic initiatives or programs. Challenges legacy processes, structures, or strategies when misaligned with goals; mobilizes teams and peers around better alternatives.

More on Valo

Valo Health, LLC (“Valo”) is a technology company built to transform the drug discovery and development process using human-centric data and artificial intelligence-driven computation. As a digitally native company, Valo aims to fully integrate human-centric data across the entire drug development life cycle into a single unified architecture, thereby accelerating the discovery and development of life-changing drugs while simultaneously reducing costs, time, and failure rates. The company’s Opal Computational Platform™ is an integrated set of capabilities designed to transform data into valuable insights that may accelerate discoveries and enable Valo to advance a robust pipeline of programs across cardiovascular metabolic renal, oncology, and neurodegenerative diseases. Founded by Flagship Pioneering and headquartered in Lexington, MA. To learn more, visitwww.valohealth.com. 

MA Salary Range 190000 - 210000 USD