Senior Director, Global Medical Affairs - Auto Immune & Pipeline (Thousand Oaks)

We’re here for one reason and one reason only – to cure cancer. Every moment is dedicated to developing treatments and every action moves us one step closer to our goal. We’ve made incredible scientific breakthroughs and our pioneering personalized CAR T-cell therapies have changed the paradigm. But we're not finished yet.

Join Kite, as we make even bigger advances in cancer therapies, and help shape where our business and medical science goes next.

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Kite and help create more tomorrows.

Job Description

We are seeking an accomplished Senior Director, Global Medical Affairs to provide strategic and operational leadership for Kite’s auto immune portfolio, and pipeline assets in solid tumors. In this highly visible, matrix leadership role, you will shape and execute global Medical Affairs strategy across the product lifecycle, ensuring scientific excellence, patient‑centric decision‑making, and compliant engagement with the medical community.

You will partner closely with Clinical Development, HEOR, Market Access, Government Affairs, Marketing, and regional Medical Affairs teams, serving as a trusted scientific and strategic leader internally and externally. This role plays a critical part in evidence generation, insight capture, medical education, and launch readiness, with a clear mandate to translate science into real‑world impact for patients.

This role will be office-based/hybrid (3 days onsite) in Santa Monica, CA, Foster City or Parsippany NJ.

For those in CA (Santa Monica area-does not apply to Foster City/Bay area), Kite is transitioning from its current Santa Monica headquarters, with employees expected to relocate to our El Segundo or Thousand Oaks office beginning in January 2027. While this role will be based in Santa Monica through 2026, applicants should take this planned relocation into consideration. Kite supports a flexible working policy, offering a balanced approach with two days of remote working and three days working onsite.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Disease Area Ownership

• Provide a clear vision and strategic direction for the assigned disease areas, driving integrated cross‑functional product and disease strategies.
• Set and oversee the global Medical Affairs strategy, including medical plans of action (POAs) and priority cross‑functional initiatives.
• Serve as a senior medical thought partner, ensuring strategies are grounded in science, clinical practice, and patient need.

Evidence Generation & Launch Excellence

• Provide strategic direction, medical monitoring, and operational oversight for evidence generation activities, in close collaboration with cross‑functional partners.
• Lead Medical Affairs contributions to launch planning, ensuring scientific readiness and excellence in execution across regions.
• Provide medical expert input into global product development to support robust, differentiated data packages.

Insights, Scientific Exchange & External Engagement

• Systematically capture and synthesize internal and external insights, translating them into actionable strategies and activities.
• Engage with the global medical community, building and maintaining a strong thought leader and expert network.
• Represent Global Medical Affairs at national and international scientific congresses, professional societies, and stakeholder forums.

Team Leadership & Operational Management

• Ensure the continuous development and training of Medical Affairs team members, strengthening disease‑area and functional expertise.
• Provide oversight of the disease area budget, ensuring appropriate investment and resource stewardship.
• Contribute to and lead broader organizational initiatives at departmental, national, and international levels.

Cross‑Functional & Regional Collaboration

• Collaborate effectively and compliantly with colleagues in Clinical Research, Sales, Marketing, Market Access, and PVE, supporting shared objectives.
• Contribute to the development and execution of regional and country Medical Affairs plans, providing global strategic guidance where required.
• Stay current with Medical Affairs best practices and scientific advances, applying learnings to continuously elevate team performance.

Knowledge, Experience and Skills

• Doctorate degree (MD, PhD, PharmD or equivalent).
• 12+ years of experience in Medical Affairs and/or clinical research.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong clinical and/or scientific expertise in auto immune diseases, and/or cellular therapies.
• Demonstrated success leading in a global, matrix environment.
• Proven commitment to patient‑centric values, ethics, and compliance.
• Strategic mindset with a collaborative, results‑driven leadership style.
• Excellent organisational, prioritisation, and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently in a fast‑paced, international setting.
• Willingness to travel approximately 35%.

People Leader Accountabilities

• Create Inclusion - knowing the business value of diverse teams, modeling inclusion, and embedding the value of diversity in the way they manage their teams.
• Develop Talent - understand the skills, experience, aspirations and potential of their employees and coach them on current performance and future potential. They ensure employees are receiving the feedback and insight needed to grow, develop and realize their purpose.
• Empower Teams - connect the team to the organization by aligning goals, purpose, and organizational objectives, and holding them to account. They provide the support needed to remove barriers and connect their team to the broader ecosystem.

The salary range for this position is: $255,425.00 - $330,550.00. Kite considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*.

For additional benefits information, visit:

• Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.

Kite is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies with a goal of providing rapid, long-term durable response and eliminating the burden of chronic care. The company is focused on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) engineered cell therapies designed to empower the immune system's ability to recognize and kill tumors. Kite is based in Santa Monica, CA. For more information on Kite, please visit Sign up to follow @KitePharma on Twitter at

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Kite Pharma is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, and is dedicated to fostering an inclusive work environment comprised of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non‑job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact View email address on apply.placed-app.com for assistance.

For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the 'Know Your Rights' poster.

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Kite Pharma will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, (c) consistent with the legal duty to furnish information; or (d) otherwise protected by law.

Our environment respects individual differences and recognizes each employee as an integral member of our company. Our workforce reflects these values and celebrates the ]]> <