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 commercial-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 cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients' blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.
The National Senior 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 leading 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.
This is a field-based position, reporting to: Vice President Medical Affairs.
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
Experience Requirements
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:
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
Reporting Structure & Authority:
- Direct reports include: Field based Medical Science Liaison Team
- Direct Supervisory responsibilities including decision-making authority
- recruitment, training, mentorship, and performance management
Travel Requirements
- Domestic travel will be required from time to time as needed (approximately 40-50%).
