Vice President, Medical Affairs

Job Description

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 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 Vice President of Medical Affairs will build, develop, and lead our Medical Affairs function including Medical Science Liaisons, Medical Affairs Operations, Medical Information, Medical Communications, and Investigator Sponsored Trials for Orca-T (our lead, late-stage product), and other products in development as needed (responsibility shared with the Clinical R&D team for products in development). 

You will lead the medical affairs team while working closely with the R&D team to support the publication and promulgation of clinical/pre-clinical data as well as other important information. You will present a strong outward-facing presence with key KOLs and will support the company in many different capacities, including business development. You will provide medical support for our trials in Advanced Hematologic Malignancies undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Key Responsibilities

• Reporting directly  to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), the VP of Medical Affairs is accountable for the management, development, and execution of the Medical Affairs department—including the design and structure of the supporting functions of a Medical Affairs team such as Med Information, Medical Communications, Publications planning, Medical Science Liaisons, etc., allocating and directing internal resources while effectively utilizing outsourcing to achieve project and business goals in a timely manner.
• Provide scientific and functional leadership to the Medical Affairs team.
• Working closely with the CMO, develop and lead outreach by establishing and maintaining strong relationships with key opinion leaders, academic institutions, and medical societies in the field of hematology/oncology, particularly cell therapy.
• Manage the leader of the field-facing Medical Science Liaison function, with overall accountability for the team.
• Working with the CMO, in developing the strategy for Medical Affairs including external communications, publications, investigator sponsored Trials (ISTs), congress and Advisory Boards planning and scientific communications.
• Lead publication planning and objectives and planning, CME education, symposia, and congress planning and assess full Medical Communication requirements to support launch.
• Assess and implement Medical Information requirements to support launch.
• Manage the investigator-initiated studies program review process post-launch
• Establish policies and procedures for key Medical Affairs activities, ensuring compliance with the principles of Scientific Engagement, including leading discussions around compassionate use programs
• Lead the medical objectives for Advisory Board meetings.
• Work closely with the Regulatory Affairs and Commercial organizations to ensure timely, accurate and compliant preparation and review of promotional and educational material.
• Partner with Legal and Compliance to ensure Medical Affairs activities are conducted according to Orca’s policies and procedures, and in a manner compliant with all external laws and regulations.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Project Management, Regulatory Affairs, and Commercial, to drive the successful development and commercialization of Orca-T.
• Provide medical and scientific information to the relevant teams of the organization, as well as guidance to Commercial/Marketing Organizations on promotional material and campaigns.

Qualifications

• Educational requirements: Advanced life science degree, including M.D., Ph.D., and/or Pharm.D. MD degree preferred.
• Minimum of 15 years of Medical Affairs or clinical research experience, from which minimum 10 years in Medical Affairs within the pharmaceutical/biotech industry.
• Minimum of 8 years’ experience in leading a Medical Affairs function; prior experience with new product launch is strongly preferred.
• Previous Medical Affairs expertise within hematology and/or transplant experience (specific diseases include AML, ALL, MDS) strongly preferred.
• Previous cell therapy experience is highly desirable.
• Track record of success in building and leading teams.
• Collaborative Medical leader who can establish and drive strong cross-functional partnerships and scientific exchange with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience in the US health care marketplace is required.
• Extensive travel is required as part of this position (up to 50%).
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and to operate with the highest ethical standards and professionalism.

The anticipated annual salary range for this job is based on prior experience in the role/industry, education, location, internal equity, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. For remote-based positions, this range may vary based on your local market. Full-time employment positions will also be eligible to receive pre-IPO equity and annual bonus, in addition to competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, PTO, 401(k) plan, life and accidental death and disability coverage, and parental leave benefits. Other perks include subsidized daily lunches and snacks at our on-site locations.

 

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.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.