Process Scientist, Medicines for All Institute

Medicines for All Institute (M4ALL), a part of Virginia Commonwealth University, is an entrepreneurial, impact-oriented institute founded with commitment to improving access to medications across the globe by driving down production costs. We do this, in part, by developing low-cost, high-quality routes for the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

We are seeking mission-driven professionals to join our team in tackling critical global health challenges in the position of Process Scientist! M4ALL strives to be a global center of excellence to drive increased access to pharmaceuticals. Through this role, you will support the development and management of current and planned programs at the intersection of chemistry, pharmaceuticals manufacturing, and medicine value chain.

This role encompasses a diverse range of responsibilities to include research and development, communications, as well as project and relationship management. As a Process Scientist, you will be responsible for:
• Building the scientific excellence of the Institute by delivering superior research results in the field of synthetic organic chemistry. Efforts will be directed toward the design and development of multistep synthetic routes of known active pharmaceutical ingredients and cover both early and late stage pharmaceutical process development as well as investigation of scalability.
• Conducting and documenting literature review of prior activities related to target drug substances.
• Executing new chemical reactions to prepare multi-gram scale products.
• Conceptualizing and assessing viability of routes utilizing low cost raw materials.
• Delivering results in a high pace and time sensitive environment.
• Documenting findings and communicating results to internal and external team members
• Preparing written project updates and reports for clients.
• Maintaining leading edge knowledge of current methods and technologies in organic chemistry.
• Developing new technical platforms for other M4ALL researchers (ex. reaction screening, biocatalysis, computational chemistry, etc.)
• Embracing and displaying a commitment to a safety culture as well as mentoring less experienced scientists
• Maintaining a strong technical literacy such as- Early stage: efficiently screen many valid reaction conditions and identify trends for improved outcomes. Late stage: perform careful, data-rich experiments that create a deep knowledge of the chemical system. Translate previous results into new experiments that will lead to lower costs and/or process improvements.
• Taking ownership of assigned tasks with an emphasis on thorough documentation and quality of execution.
• Creating and maintaining accurate and up-to-date records of experiments conducted, data collected and results obtained in M4ALL's electronic lab notebook (ELN).
• Contributing to variety of scientific materials such as paper studies, publications, manuscripts and other documents targeted at supporting future work in the labs.
• Serving as the subject matter expert to our partners to include presenting to, working closely with and enhancing the relationship.

As a team member, all that you do will be aligned with VCU's and M4ALL's core values:
• Mission-First: Our organization and our work are in service of our mission.
• Integrity: We pursue the highest standards of honesty, respect, and professional and scholarly ethics
• Safety: We are diligent in ensuring the safety of our team in our day-to-day work
• People: We treat each other with respect, and we are committed to creating opportunities for our people to develop and thrive.
• Customer Service: We operate with our customers in mind and build our products and services to meet their needs.
• Adaptable: We are willing to change - as individuals and as an organization - to adapt to new opportunities and new ideas.
• Healthy Communication: We are boldly transparent, seeking to understand and to build understanding, striving for clarity and impact.
• Collaborative: We believe that collaboration, internally and externally, is going to deliver the highest quality solutions for our customers.

Required Education & Technical Abilities
• PhD in organic, organometallic or inorganic chemistry. Individuals with significant years' experience and training equivalent to a PhD will be considered.
• Ability to publish research findings in high impact scientific journals. Preference will be given to candidates who demonstrate a proven track record of publications
• Knowledge with industrial process chemistry, process development and/or scale-up
• Understanding of and experience with all analytical methods relevant to synthetic organic chemistry (NMR, HPLC, MS, IR, UV, etc).

Required Interpersonal Skills & Individual Aptitude
• Full professional proficiency of the English language (speaking, reading, and writing) with the ability to communicate technical concepts to audiences of varying backgrounds. This includes the ability to use English fluently and accurately, as well as write in all styles and forms on all levels pertinent to the professional needs.
• Comfort and confidence to give presentations in a clear and concise way that is understandable by the audience and flows smoothly from beginning to end.
• Accountability and collaborative mindset to achieve organizational success for high quality, timely and cost-effective results within specified deadlines.
• Innovative and creative problem solving to develop solutions/alternatives, understanding of the feasibility and the value in taking responsible risks.
• Open-mindedness and commitment to valuing diversity, inclusion, and belonging in a multicultural work environment. M4ALL supports a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment.
• Energy and passion to thrive in a start-up environment and to deliver on the organization's goals, mission and values balancing the interests of one's own with those of the broader organization.
• Commitment to aligning and adherence to M4ALL's core values and purpose.

Internal candidates must have successfully completed their 12-month probationary period in order to be considered.

Preferred Qualifications
• Experience with advanced concepts including high throughput experimentation, Design of Experiments, kinetic, thermodynamic and mechanistic investigation, and catalysis
• Experience working with manufacturers to scale up lab-based results
• Experience with flow chemistry

Benefits that make M4ALL & VCU a great place to work:
VCU offers a competitive package that includes an expansive array of benefits options including group health, dental, life and disability insurance, flexible reimbursement accounts, retirement plans, as well as paid time off.

Hiring Range: Up to $90,400- based on qualifications and experience

Through this exciting experience, you will have the opportunities to:
• Publish in high-impact journals
• Gain experience working with a highly experienced team of senior chemists/leadership with decades of combined academic and industrial experience
• Help transfer processes into the marketplace and help with scale-up of your innovations to directly impact global health outcomes
• Work in top of the line research facilities with a wide-range of world-class capabilities at the ready, such as continuous flow processing and new syntheses from commodity chemicals
• Learn how to lead research projects
• Present technical information to non-technical audiences such as global health partners and sponsors
• Transmit knowledge to others and help train the next generation of scientists

Position Details
Department: Medicines for All, Office of the Vice President for Research & Innovation
Employment Type: UF - University Employee FT
Job Family: Research
University Job Title: Scientist Series
Schedule: 40 hours/week
Restricted Status: Yes, continued employment is dependent upon funding
Exemption Status: Exempt
ORP Eligible:Yes