Career Opportunities

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Reports To:

Executive Director, Discovery Biology

Position Summary

Patients are at the heart of everything we do at Loxo Oncology, and we continue to be motivated by that goal. We pursue this goal with a tenacity, focus and commitment to excellence that defines who we are and how we work.

Loxo Oncology’s newly formed Drug Discovery group in Boulder, Colorado has an immediate opening for an experienced Biochemist. The Loxo Drug Discovery group’s mission is to invent life-changing targeted therapies for cancer patient populations that are poorly treated by existing therapies. To that end, we are building a multi-disciplinary team of dedicated drug discovery scientists who are passionate about driving the science forward to create highly selective drugs for known oncogenic drivers.

We are currently looking for an accomplished Biochemist. This individual will be a self-motivated, responsible and productive scientist who enjoys collaborating with biologists, chemists and assay scientists.  He/she will be responsible for rigorous experimental design, data analysis and data interpretation. The successful candidate will be an enzymology expert who can support small-molecule research teams by developing relevant biochemical assays and characterizing complex enzyme systems and inhibitor mechanisms involved in oncology. 

Roles and Responsibilities of the Position*

• Design and develop novel biochemical microplate assays to identify and characterize small-molecule modulators using a variety of techniques and detection methods, including chromogenic, FP, FRET, TR-FRET, BRET, and ALPHA.
• Perform enzyme kinetic analyses and MOA studies to characterize biological enzyme systems including kinases.
• Provide enzymology expertise to discovery project teams at various stages of advancement.
• Oversee outsourcing of enzyme assays to external CROs and monitor results.
• Operate automated platforms for liquid handling.
• Calculate and report assay results to the project teams.
• Document experiments and results in electronic notebook or database.
• Provide enzymology perspectives & intellectual support to projects.

Required Qualifications and Background

• A BS, MS, or PhD in a Life Sciences discipline, with training in molecular biology, enzymology or biochemistry, and a record of lab based independent research experience, minimum of 10+ years for BS, 5+ years for MS and 0-3 years for PhD, either in industrial or academic environment.
• Experience in mechanistic enzymology.
• Experience characterizing multiple enzymes using state-of-the-art methods.
• Must be highly collaborative and able to effectively engage small-molecule research project teams to make rapid progress.
• Familiarity with techniques and instrumentation relevant to automated plate-based assays
• Demonstrated ability to work well with other accomplished professionals within and across functions/teams. Willing collaborator.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to multi-task and shift priorities rapidly to meet tight deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communicator.
• Detail oriented and well organized.
• Good and thoughtful listener.
• Enthusiastic, self-motivated and keen to improve processes
• Proficient in Microsoft Office suite and applications.

Physical Demands / Travel

The physical demands of this position are consistent with working in a laboratory/ bench environment. Some light lifting, and maneuvering may be required.

The physical demands here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Work Environment

This position’s work environment is based in a laboratory/ bench environment.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of this job.

*To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each roles and responsibilities satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Apply Now

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Reports To:

Executive Director, Drug Discovery

Position Summary

Patients are at the heart of everything we do at Loxo Oncology, and we continue to be motivated by that goal. We pursue this goal with a tenacity, focus and commitment to excellence that defines who we are and how we work.

Loxo Oncology’s newly formed Drug Discovery group in Boulder, Colorado has an immediate opening for an experienced medicinal chemist. The Loxo Drug Discovery group’s mission is to invent life-changing targeted therapies for cancer patient populations that are poorly treated by existing therapies. To that end, we are building a multi-disciplinary team of dedicated drug discovery scientists who are passionate about driving the science forward to create highly selective drugs for known oncogenic drivers. We are currently looking for an accomplished Medicinal Chemist with a proven track record of success in small molecule drug discovery. The ideal candidate will be passionate about leading from the bench to solve medicinal chemistry challenges and excel at working closely with scientists across disciplines. The position requires excellent people skills, a positive can-do attitude and the ability to thrive in a highly interactive, fast-paced, team environment.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Position*

• Drive the team forward with new medicinal chemistry analogs that consistently move the project toward the next breakthrough drug candidate.
• Optimize lead series for potency, selectivity, physiochemical properties, in vitro ADME and PK by coupling multivariant SAR analysis with hypothesis driven medicinal chemistry design principles. Use sound scientific methods to propose hypotheses and determine next steps even with complex or ambiguous data.
• Work closely with structural biology and computational chemistry colleagues to design novel compounds and hypotheses that address key drug optimization goals.
• Reduce ideas to practice in the lab quickly by effectively employing a broad range of modern organic chemistry transformations, synthetic methods, tactics, purification and characterization techniques.
• Synergize with the broader team by communicating results, sharing insights, making plans and setting goals in an open, honest way.
• Provide medicinal chemistry insight for new target and lead identification and evaluation initiatives in the oncology space.
• Implement and maintain the necessary equipment, processes, software and infrastructure to enable a state of the art medicinal chemistry facility.
• Proactively investigate new or different technologies to improve the effectiveness of the drug discovery process.

Required Qualifications and Background

• B.S., M.S. or Ph.D. in Chemistry with a focus on synthetic organic chemistry.
• 5-15+ years of experience in small molecule drug discovery experience in biotechnology or pharmaceutical setting.
• Proven track record of success in advancing programs from leads to advanced candidates.
• Extensive experience lead compound optimization in the areas or potency, selectivity, ADME and PK.
• Highly versed the all current medicinal chemistry instrumentation: HPLC, LC-MS, NMR and purification systems.
• Expert in using common medicinal chemistry software: electronic notebook, structure drawing, data spreadsheet analysis; data visualization; structure viewing; literature, chemical and database searching.
• Committed to staying current with the latest scientific breakthroughs in the medicinal chemistry field through continued reading of the literature and attendance of scientific conferences.
• An excellent team player with ability to communicate synergistically with a multidisciplinary team and be accountable for the medicinal chemistry progress of the project. Highly organized with excellent analytical, documentation, time management and multi-tasking skills.

Physical Demands / Travel

The physical demands of this position are consistent with working in a laboratory/ bench environment. Some light lifting and maneuvering may be required.

The physical demands here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Work Environment

This position’s work environment is based in a laboratory/ bench environment.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of this job.

*To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each roles and responsibilities satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Apply Now

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Reports To:

Executive Director, Discovery Biology

Position Summary

Patients are at the heart of everything we do at Loxo Oncology, and we continue to be motivated by that goal. We pursue this goal with a tenacity, focus and commitment to excellence that defines who we are and how we work.

The Senior Cell Biologist will play a key role in developing Loxo Oncology’s Drug Discovery group in Boulder, Colorado. The newly created Drug Discovery group is responsible for identifying molecular targets for life-changing oncology drugs, creating and evaluating novel drug candidates with a focus on small molecule drugs, and providing forward-thinking approaches to advance our clinical portfolio. The Senior Cell Biologist will be responsible for creating and evaluating cellular assays, execution strategies to quantitatively determine the potency and selectivity of small molecule compounds and interrogate signaling pathways. This is a hands-on position for an experienced lab scientist who enjoys working in the lab. This scientist must have excellent people skills and be able to work with a positive, “can-do” attitude in a dynamic, fast-paced, team environment focused on high quality science to deliver innovative cancer drugs.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Position*

• Create, develop and validate quantitative mammalian cellular assays to address the project team’s mechanistic and functional needs.
• Establish robust screening assays and routinely test compounds to support medicinal chemistry lead optimization programs. Establish processes to efficiently and effectively communicate results to the project team.
• Set-up and maintain laboratory equipment with extensive involvement in equipment evaluation, purchase, installation, testing and IT integration.
• Identify, evaluate, and manage vendors for outsourced services and studies.
• Collaborate with colleagues throughout the company to ensure assays meet the program needs and results are appropriately interpreted.
• Prepare reports for internal and external purposes including regulatory submissions.
• Participate and lead project-based and technical team meetings to identify and solve problems, guide work towards project goals, communicate on-going work and progress, and plan forward thinking strategies.
• Develop and continually advance one’s knowledge base on the molecular pathways being targeted by our clinical and research programs and cellular systems to test new compounds.
• Proactively investigate new or different technologies, methods, and service providers to ensure our work is being done in a scientifically sound, efficient, and reasonable way.

Required Qualifications and Background

• PhD in Molecular/Cellular Biology, Biochemistry, or related field with 5+ years hands-on molecular biology and cell assay experience in a biotech/pharma setting or BS/MS in Molecular/Cellular Biology or Biochemistry with 10+ hands-on molecular biology and cell assay experience in a biotech/pharma setting.
• Extensive experience in creating, developing, and running cellular assays; engineering cell lines to express or knock-down genes of interest, interrogating cellular signal transduction pathways, characterizing kinase activity, and technical expertise in molecular biology methods; must be comfortable setting up and maintaining lab equipment and its associated software.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to communicate and interact well with colleagues, vendors, contractors, scientific advisors, and staff at all levels.
• Highly organized with excellent analytical, documentation and multi-tasking skills
• Committed to staying current with the latest scientific breakthroughs in the targeted oncology field from target identification through human clinical trials.

Physical Demands / Travel

The physical demands of this position are consistent with working in a laboratory/bench environment. Some light lifting, and maneuvering may be required.

The physical demands here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Work Environment

This position’s work environment is based in a laboratory/bench environment.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of this job.

*To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each roles and responsibilities satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Apply Now

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Reports To:

Vice President, Discovery Biology

Position Summary

Patients are at the heart of everything we do at Loxo Oncology, and we continue to be motivated by that goal. We pursue this goal with a tenacity, focus and commitment to excellence that defines who we are and how we work.

This position offers the opportunity to be part of Loxo’s discovery teams focused on creating novel, highly specific and selective drugs for genetically identified targets.  The Senior Structural Biologist will offer structural and mechanistic insights to a multi-disciplinary discovery team by providing high-resolution protein-ligand crystal structures.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Position*

• Generate protein-small molecule complex x-ray crystal structures with hands-on lab involvement throughout the entire gene to structure process including protein expression, purification, crystallization, and structure determination.
• Coordinate protein construct design, expression, and purification with the project team to support biochemical and biophysical assays.
• Rapidly communicate scientific results and insights to the team.
• Identify, evaluate, and manage vendors for outsourced services and studies.
• Collaborate with colleagues throughout the company to ensure structural work meets the program needs and results are appropriately interpreted.
• Prepare reports for internal and external purposes including regulatory submissions.
• Participate and lead project-based and technical team meetings to identify and solve problems, guide work towards project goals, communicate on-going work and progress, and plan forward thinking strategies. 
• Develop and continually advance one’s knowledge base on genetically targeted drugs and structure-based drug design.
• Proactively investigate new or different technologies, methods, and service providers to ensure our work is being done in a scientifically sound, efficient, and reasonable way.
• In the future, this position’s responsibilities may include supervision of scientists and associates.

Required Qualifications and Background

• PhD in Biochemistry, Chemistry, or related field
• Ideal candidate will have with 5+ years hands-on gene to structure protein-small molecule crystallography experience in a biotech/pharma setting.
• Highly skilled in crystallization of protein-small molecule complexes and high-resolution x-ray structure determination
• Extensive experience in protein construct design, expression, purification, and characterization
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to communicate and interact well with colleagues, vendors, contractors, scientific advisors, and staff at all levels.
• Highly organized with excellent analytical, documentation and multi-tasking skills
• Committed to staying current with the latest scientific breakthroughs in structure-based drug design and structural biology.
• Expertise in other methods of biophysical and structural biology is a plus

Physical Demands / Travel

The physical demands of this job are consistent with light office duties.

The physical demands here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Work Environment

This position’s work environment is in an office and the lab.  

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of this job.

*To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each roles and responsibilities satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Apply Now