Executive Director, Chemical Biology

The Impact You'll Make

Recursion is seeking an Executive Director of Chemical Biology to develop and lead chemical biology efforts that bridge multiomic discovery with target ID, including chemical probe design, as we expand our platform into new modalities beyond traditional small molecules (e.g. targeted protein degradation, molecular glues, and other emerging modalities). This is a senior scientific leadership role responsible for setting chemical biology strategy, managing a team of designers, and driving programs that bridge multiomic discovery to target ID and designing our chemical probe library to facilitate target discovery.  .

You will lead multidisciplinary project teams: partnering closely internally with biology, multiomics platform (high content imaging, RNA etc), computational biologists and data scientists to translate novel target and ligand insights into potent, selective, and developable chemical matter. You'll bring hands-on chemical biology expertise together with the strategic judgment to prioritize programs, manage internal and external (CRO) teams, and build the new capabilities needed to establish new modalities within the portfolio. 

Recursion's AI/ML-driven Design Platform is a core tool your team will draw on, and you'll play an active role in shaping how computational and generative design approaches are integrated into chemical biology decision-making. This role blends deep technical credibility with people and program leadership.

The Team You'll Join

You will lead within the Drug Design team as part of the Discovery function in building Recursion's next generation of therapeutic modalities, working alongside computational drug design, medicinal chemistry, biology, data science and platform technology groups that integrate proprietary AI-driven technology with advanced molecular design. The team tackles structurally enabled and non-structurally enabled targets across a diverse range of therapeutic areas, with a growing focus on proximity (e.g. protein degradation, molecular glues), and PPI blockers (e.g. macrocycles). As a leader, you will help define how chemical biology strategy and capability is built out and scaled to impact our portfolio.

In This Role, You Will:

• Set chemical biology strategy for Recursion based on our multiomics platform, with a focus on linking our proprietary maps of  biology to targets using modern chemical biology methods and work with teams to establish the right drug modalities (e.g. degraders, molecular glues) alongside traditional small molecule work
• Build, manage, and mentor a team of multiomics chemists, fostering a coaching-driven environment for growth
• Establish and manage internal and external (CRO) chemistry teams and networks to execute screening, synthesis, and validation campaigns
• Partner closely with biology, target ID teams, structural biology, and computational drug design to align chemical biology strategy with target validation and platform capabilities
• Define and align program strategy and go/no-go criteria with senior leadership, factoring in competitive landscape and portfolio priorities
• Represent the team in portfolio reviews and governance meetings, and lead technical discussions on molecular design with external collaborators and partners
• Contribute to IP strategy and business development activities related to novel chemical matter and new modalities

The Experience You'll Need

• PhD in chemical biology, chemistry, or related field, with 10+ years of relevant industry experience and demonstrated people leadership
• Deep, hands-on track record in chemical probe design — selective inhibitors, proximity approaches such as molecular glue degraders/PROTACs, covalent or activity-based/photoaffinity chemistry
• Proven ability to deconvolute phenotypic hits to mechanism via chemoproteomics or equivalent target ID methods
• Track record building and scaling a chemical biology function — hiring, mentoring, and developing multiple scientists/managers
• Experience setting multi-year technical strategy (e.g. chemical library architecture, probe portfolio direction) rather than executing a single program's plan
• Comfortable operating with high ambiguity — translating open biological questions into executable chemistry strategy without a pre-defined target
• Executive-level communication: able to represent chemical biology strategy directly to C-suite/board and influence cross-functional senior leaders
• Prior experience managing, mentoring, or leading chemists and cross-functional project teams, including internal/external (CRO) team management

Nice to have

• Direct experience with phenomics, high-content imaging (e.g., Cell Painting), or other image-based screening platforms
• Familiarity with how AI/ML-derived phenotypic signatures inform compound prioritization or target nomination
• External scientific visibility — publications, conference leadership, or partner/BD-facing technical credibility
• Experience contributing to IP strategy or licensing diligence involving novel chemical matter

Working Location & Compensation:

We are open to candidates who are local or interested in moving to Salt Lake City, Utah; employees are expected to work in the office at least 50% of the time.

At Recursion, we believe that every employee should be compensated fairly. Based on the skills, experience, and qualifications needed for this role, the estimated annual base salary range is: $237,600–$284,900. In addition to base salary, this role is eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and a comprehensive benefits package.

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