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.
Position Summary:
The National Director of Field Medical Affairs will serve as the strategic and operational leader of the Medical Science Liaison (MSL) organization. You will be responsible for building and evolving the MSL function, providing visionary leadership, and ensuring effective execution of medical strategies across territories. The role will involve close cross-functional collaboration to align field medical activities with broader organizational goals. Domestic and international travel will be required from time to time as needed (approximately 40-50%).
Responsibilities:
- Establish, grow, and lead the national field-based MSL team, including defining operational frameworks, best practices, and standard operating procedures
- Ensure high standards of scientific and operational excellence through effective recruitment, training, mentorship, and performance management
- Translate overarching medical strategy into clear, actionable goals and measurable field medical initiatives
- Lead the identification and strategic engagement of key thought leaders and external experts in alignment with the medical strategy
- Oversee field-based support of clinical trials, including site education, patient recruitment, and investigator engagement
- Represent the organization at scientific conferences and participate in advisory boards and other scientific forums
- Build MSL team infrastructure for compliant scientific insight and data collection, MSL training and SOPs; direct the team on CRM operations
- Oversee, MSL scientific engagements & activities that support compliant interactions with KOLs/HCPs and key stakeholders and guide the collection and dissemination of actionable insights that inform internal strategies relevant to the medical and clinical development landscape
- Work within the team to bring alignment & collaboration across products, disease states and indications
- Support MA by engaging with cross functional teams on business planning, special projects & strategic imperatives as assigned, including working with cross functional partners to optimally lead and support congress planning & execution
- Direct MSL activities to ensure the highest ethical standards & compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, industry codes, policies, SOPs, OIG, FDA, PharMA guidelines & the Orca Bio Code of Conduct
- Maintain scientific and clinical expertise through continuous education and attendance at key meetings and symposia
- Collaborate with in-house teams on publications, training, internal initiatives, and development of medical resources
- Other duties as assigned
Required Experience:
- Advanced scientific degree required, doctorate level clinical/medical degree (MD, PharmD, PhD)
- 8+ years’ experience within Medical Affairs, experience working as an MSL and at least 3 years of experience managing field-based MSL teams
- This leadership position requires excellent communication and interpersonal skills, motivation, initiative, mentoring, strategic thinking, problem solving, planning, & organizational skills
- Strong understanding of US pharma rules and regulations, particularly as they apply to MSL activities; ability to develop, coach & oversee a highly compliant MSL function
- Experience in team management, developing, reporting, & tracking MSL performance
- Experience with managing departmental projects & resources
- Experience with managing & developing relationships with key opinion leaders (KOLs)/health care professional (HCPs)
Preferred Experience:
- Cell and/or gene therapy experience
- Experience working in a small biotech company or start-up environment
- Demonstrated success in field medical launch planning and execution
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.
