Job description
More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Orca Bio is a late-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks. With our purified, high-precision investigational cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients’ blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.
The Associate Director, Marketing, reporting into the Head of Marketing, is responsible for leading the US promotional launch of Orca-T, Orca Bio’s first commercial product. You will be a critical member of the Commercial team, leading workstreams to collect and interpret HCP insights, develop engagement strategies, shape and test Brand messaging, and build promotional tactics. You will have a wide remit including HCP, payer, and patient audiences, personal and non-personal tactical development, and omnichannel media strategy. You will plan for multiple launch scenarios, completing promotional readiness, and contributing to Launch Readiness. You’ll collaborate closely with the cross-functional Orca team including Medical Affairs, Sales, Operations, Regulatory, IT, and Legal.
Location: preferential treatment will be given to candidates local to one of Orca Bio’s offices in Menlo Park or Sacramento.
Responsibilities
- Lead the promotional launch of Orca-T, driving robust pre-launch, launch, and post-launch strategies and omnichannel tactics to maximize market penetration and product adoption
- Drive development of unique and effective HCP engagement strategies aligned to Orca-T Brand strategy
- Collaborate with the Market Development team and other Commercial personnel to shape a comprehensive HCP Marketing tactical plan, budget, and performance plan aligned to Brand KPIs to enable a robust promotional launch
- Lead Orca-T message development across HCP and patient audiences, including insights generation and analysis
- Lead the execution of a full HCP-facing tactical suite for personal and non-personal channels, including PRC review and approval, for Day 0, Now Approved, and Campaign assets
- Contribute to omnichannel strategy, deployment, and management
- Manage agency partners effectively to deliver consistent results
- Contribute to advisory board content, execution, and analysis
- KOL Engagement at major congresses, advisory boards, and site visits as necessary to support Commercial onboarding workstreams
- Lead consistent engagement with Sales team to ensure optimization of messaging and assets
- Effectively manage the promotions tactical budget to Launch Readiness and Orca-T launch
Desired Competencies
- Strong Marketing experience, including unbranded and branded strategy and tactical execution
- Experience building and managing omnichannel tactics, including digital and print media
- Clinically proficient in acute leukemia and bone marrow transplantation, with a track-record of working with clinical and scientific experts in-house and externally to shape strategy and tactics
- Strong business acumen and insight into HCP perception/behavior dynamics and key value drivers
- Expertise in prioritizing and managing multiple projects simultaneously to deliver against ambitious goals
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to educate internal stakeholders about Marketing best-practices while driving results
- Able to thrive in dynamic, ambiguous environments and champion an entrepreneurial mindset
- Thrives in a fast-moving, dynamic environment
- Proficiency with Veeva PromoMats preferred
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Marketing, Finance, or related; an MBA or other advanced degree is preferred
- 8+ years of biopharmaceutical experience, including 5 years+ of experience in Marketing, Commercial Strategy, and/or Sales
- Experience in hematology/oncology and/or bone marrow transplantation and marketing complex, novel products in therapeutic areas of high unmet need
- Proven ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously, including market research, message development, promotional tactics, advertising campaigns, and associated PRC and OPDP processes
- Track record of cross-functional collaboration
- Willingness to travel up to 20%
Who we are
We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatments are one day accessible to all who need them.
We live by our core values of passion, courage, and integrity. Excellence in our work means the chance to unlock a better quality of life for our patients, and with that comes tremendous responsibility.
We innovate on a path that hasn’t been paved. We embrace an entrepreneurial spirit and take calculated risks to achieve our mission. We aren’t afraid to ask “why not” and challenge the status quo.
We maintain a start-up culture of camaraderie and leadership by example, regardless of title.
We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that celebrating our differences creates stronger, lasting solutions that better serve our team, our patients and their healthcare providers.
Notice to staffing firms
Orca Bio does not accept resumes from staffing agencies with which we do not have a written agreement and specific engagement for a particular opening. Our employment activities, inquiries and offers are managed through our HR/Talent team, and all candidates are presented through this channel only. We do not accept unsolicited resumes, and we rarely outsource recruitment.
