Head of Discovery

Job Description

Job Description

The Role

Output has built a biological reasoning model that understands biology at the scale and complexity life actually operates. Our model independently learned the principles of molecular interactions, opening up drug treatments that were previously impossible. We're already generating therapies that traditional approaches cannot reach. The hardest problems in both AI and biology are being solved here, and there is room for you to own one.

Output is currently in stealth, operated by a team of repeat founders and biotech veterans with multiple exits in AI x Bio, and backed by top-tier VCs including Y Combinator.

You are a drug hunter. You own the scientific strategy behind Output's drug discovery programs. You help select targets for our pipeline, evaluate what the models generate, and make the scientific decisions that advance candidates from computational generation to real-world testing.

• You will identify and evaluate therapeutic targets, building the scientific rationale for which programs to pursue and why

• You will analyze model outputs to assess drug candidates, evaluating biological plausibility, therapeutic potential, and readiness for advancement

• You will prioritize candidates and make scientific go/no-go decisions, advancing the strongest compounds through the discovery pipeline

• You will manage CRO partnerships for candidate synthesis and biological testing, designing experiments that validate or refine drug design hypotheses

• You will work closely with the founders and model team, bringing drug discovery expertise to model evaluation and development priorities

• You will stay current with target biology, disease mechanisms, and the clinical landscape across relevant therapeutic areas

About You

• You have a PhD in pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, computational biology, or a related field with 5+ years of drug discovery experience in pharma or biotech, or equivalent depth through extensive industry experience

• You have hands-on experience advancing drug discovery programs through pipeline stages: target selection, hit identification, hit-to-lead, and lead optimization

• You have demonstrated experience evaluating drug candidates and making scientific go/no-go decisions on real programs

• You are comfortable working directly with computational model outputs and analyzing AI-generated molecular data

• You have strong scientific judgment across target biology, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic modalities

• You can build and defend a scientific rationale, communicate across disciplines, and make decisions under uncertainty

Bonus Points

• You have experience with AI-driven drug discovery or computational drug design tools

• You have experience managing CRO relationships for synthesis and biological testing

• You have experience across multiple therapeutic areas or modalities, including small molecules and peptides

• You have a track record of advancing compounds into preclinical or clinical development

• You have programming skills in Python, with the ability to work with data analysis tools and model outputs hands-on

• You have publications at top-tier venues or relevant drug discovery and medicinal chemistry journals

What We Offer

We encourage new and different ideas, creativity and contrarian thinking

• Healthy feedback focused environment to help you strive. Leadership will have high expectations, regularly share constructive feedback, support you and help you grow, and welcome receiving feedback and ideas from you

• You own your day-to-day management. What we care about is that we all hit our milestones

• Competitive salary and equity in a growing, well-funded startup

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage

Our Values

❤️ Heart: We foster a culture of ownership. We are assembling a team of individuals who are passionate and take pride in their contributions.

Excellence: We have an unwavering commitment to excellence and continuously challenge ourselves to reach the highest standards.

Practicality: We value practicality and results-oriented thinking. We are committed to making a tangible impact on the lives of patients and the broader community.

Honesty: We place a high value on honesty and directness. We firmly believe in addressing issues as they arise, in an open and transparent manner.

Fun: We believe that life is too short to not have fun. Our goal is to create a workplace that is fun, engaging, rewarding and fulfilling.

What We Offer

• We encourage new and different ideas, creativity and contrarian thinking

• Healthy feedback focused environment to help you strive - leadership will have high expectations, regularly share constructive feedback, support you and help you grow, and welcome receiving feedback and ideas from you

• You own your day-to-day management. What we care about is that we all hit our milestones

• Competitive salary and equity in a growing, well-funded startup

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage