Medical Director, Early Clinical Development (Cell Therapy)

Medical Director Opportunity at Orca Bio

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.

Unique opportunity! We are seeking a Medical Director to serve as medical lead for our next-generation cell therapy program (Orca-Q), in non-malignant diseases, including planned trials in autoimmune indications. This role is critical in conceptualizing multiple Phase 1 studies, developing the associated protocols, analyzing data, and conducting the clinical trial. The candidate must work collaboratively within Orca Bio and also with primary investigators (PIs) nationwide to progress the program towards product registration.

Location: Menlo Park, CA preferred, but open to remote candidates. Estimated travel required: ~10-20%.

Responsibilities

• Support strategic planning and execution of clinical strategy.
• Develop clinical trial protocols, statistical analysis plans, investigator brochures, and other documentation for early stage trials.
• Develop and present CRO/CRA/site training materials and present at Investigator Meetings/site initiation visits as required.
• Provide leadership to a Clinical Trial Manager (CTM) and Clinical Research Associate (CRA) dedicated to early stage programs.
• Medical monitoring, review, and analysis.
• Interpret early stage clinical data and provide an ongoing assessment of pre-clinical, clinical, scientific literature to inform clinical strategy and ensure positive benefit-risk profile for assigned programs in collaboration with key stakeholders.
• Collaborate with Regulatory, Operations, Safety, Medical team to provide oversight, prepare reports, and ensure all milestones are met.
• Work collaboratively with all internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

• MD, PhD or PharmD required; preferably a trained hematologist and/or oncologist.
• 3+ years of industry experience and expertise in cell therapy, bone marrow transplantation (BMT), or immune disorders preferred, including with early-stage trials.
• Self starter with an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to handle multiple priorities and timelines, work independently and drive initiatives.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to engage and motivate clinical site teams.
• Willingness to travel as needed to meet with clinical sites and stakeholders.

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.

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.