Scientist / Senior Scientist, Peptide Chemistry

About the Role

You’ll work closely with the founders and a small team from MIT, Harvard Medical School, Baker Lab, and Radical Numerics.

The pace and scope of the work create a substantial opportunity for growth. We are looking for speed and rigor, coupled with excitement and drive. In an early-stage environment, we value people who can bring clarity to open-ended problems, take ownership of the next steps, and follow through with energy.

We believe excellent performance and excellent output should be met with meaningful reward and ownership. At Capable, that means anyone who proves they can drive work forward can lead important programs, from senior scientists to junior scientists.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and scale end-to-end peptide synthesis workflows, including sequence design, resin loading, coupling/deprotection cycles, cleavage, purification, and analytical characterization.

• Run microwave-assisted solid-phase peptide synthesis, maintain the synthesizer, and troubleshoot failed couplings, low crude purity, side products, cleavage issues, and instrument downtime.

• Purify and characterize compounds using HPLC, prep HPLC, LC-MS, and related methods; track identity, purity, yield, and batch-level QC before handoff.

• Design next-round compounds from SAR, in vitro, and in vivo readouts, using potency, stability, and tolerability data to decide what we make next.

Who You Are

• You have 5+ years of hands-on industry experience in organic, medicinal, or peptide chemistry, with strong experimental judgment, deep troubleshooting ability, and a high bar for execution.

• You’re excited to own synthesis end-to-end: designing compounds, running reactions, purifying and characterizing them, and preparing them for testing with care and urgency.

• You enjoy solving problems creatively, iterate fast, and keep the science rigorous.

• You like being close to the biological readout. You want to understand how compounds perform in vitro and in vivo, then use potency and efficacy data to inform the next design cycle.

• You take responsibility for your work. When an instrument breaks, a synthesis fails, or a handoff is unclear, you troubleshoot and communicate clearly.

Pay & Benefits

$165,000-$220,000

Application Process

• Initial application

• First phone screen

• Second phone screen, approximately 30 minutes

• In-person work trial in San Francisco

Apply Today

Applying takes 5 minutes and we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. We're evaluating candidates on a rolling basis and want to make an offer quickly.