Senior Director, Clinical Scientist -Neurodegeneration

Arvinas•New Haven, CT

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Arvinas is a biotechnology company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases through the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapies that degrade disease-causing proteins. Arvinas uses its proprietary PROTAC Discovery Engine platform to engineer PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras, or PROTACs, that are designed to harness the body’s own natural protein disposal system to selectively and efficiently degrade and remove disease-causing proteins. This differentiated approach has enabled Arvinas to build a broad pipeline of investigational therapies across oncology and neurodegenerative diseases, including ARV-102, targeting LRRK2 for neurodegenerative diseases; ARV-806, targeting KRAS G12D for mutated cancers, including pancreatic, colorectal, and non-small cell lung cancers; ARV-393, targeting BCL6 for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; ARV-027, targeting the polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor, or polyQ-AR, in skeletal muscle for sp inal bulbar muscular atrophy; and vepdegestrant, targeting the estrogen receptor for patients with locally advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer. Building on its leadership in targeted protein degradation, Arvinas achieved a major milestone in May 2026 with the first-ever U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a PROTAC protein degrader therapy. The approval marked a significant advancement for the field and demonstrated the therapeutic potential of targeted protein degradation as a novel treatment modality. This PROTAC has been out-licensed for commercialization and further development. #TeamArvinas is made up of passionate and curious employees, whose diverse thoughts and perspectives are highly valued. Arvinas employees embrace the freedom to pursue innovation, think creatively, and give back. They are driven by the company’s values and mission – to improve the lives of patients with serious diseases by pioneering therapies created with our revolutionary PROTAC protein degradation platform. We’re really excited about the work we’re doing inside and outside of Arvinas, and think you will be, too. But don’t just take our word for it – learn more about life at Arvinas and what employees have to say . Arvinas is headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut. For more information about Arvinas, visit www.arvinas.com and connect on LinkedIn and X .

Requirements

10+ years of relevant pharmaceutical or biotechnology clinical-development experience, including substantial experience with global interventional studies and demonstrated leadership of early-phase clinical development; equivalent combinations of education and experience will be considered.
Demonstrated clinical-development experience in neurodegenerative disease or movement disorders required, with meaningful experience in Parkinson’s disease, PSP, atypical parkinsonism, tauopathies, or closely related conditions strongly preferred.
Strong knowledge of ICH-GCP, the drug-development process, study design, statistics, clinical operations, and global regulatory expectations in neurodegenerative disease required.
Working knowledge of longitudinal efficacy endpoints, clinical rating scales, rater variability, disease progression, placebo effects, missing data, and operational challenges in neurodegeneration trials required.
Excellent project leadership, communication, and organizational skills, with demonstrated success leading matrix teams, exercising independent judgment, and influencing program-level and cross-functional decisions.
Ability to interpret complex clinical and biomarker data and communicate conclusions, limitations, and recommendations to technical and nontechnical audiences.
Strong team orientation, passionate commitment to patients and caregivers, and ability to work independently and reliably deliver high-quality objectives on time.
Advanced scientific or clinical degree required Doctoral-level degree such as PhD preferred. An MSc/MPH with extensive directly relevant experience may be considered.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated leadership of global early-phase clinical-development studies, including Phase 1, Phase 1b, or early proof-of-mechanism/proof-of-concept studies conducted across multiple countries or regions.
Direct experience in neurodegenerative disease is strongly preferred.
Experience designing or leading early-phase studies that integrate safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, biomarkers, imaging, dose and regimen selection, and preliminary clinical activity to inform study and program decisions.
Direct experience with a global PSP or Parkinson’s disease study, including an early clinical-development or randomized proof-of-concept study.
Experience with longer-term, placebo-controlled disease-progression studies is also desirable.
Experience with relevant neurodegeneration endpoints and assessments, such as the PSP Rating Scale, MDS-UPDRS, cognitive and global assessments, quality-of-life measures, MRI or fluid biomarkers, and patient- or caregiver-reported outcomes.
Experience with disease-modifying development programs and biomarker strategies involving tau, alpha-synuclein, lysosomal biology, genetically defined mechanisms, biologics, small molecules, or targeted protein degradation.
Experience addressing the scientific and operational complexities of multinational studies, including regional differences in standard of care, site capabilities, rater qualification, endpoint implementation, participant and caregiver burden, and regulatory expectations.
Experience with central or remote rater programs, digital biomarkers, wearable sensors, imaging endpoints, CSF sampling, independent monitoring committees, and interactions with FDA, EMA, or other health authorities is desirable.

Responsibilities

Provide clinical-science leadership for clinical development plans, target product profiles, indication strategies, evidence-generation plans, and program-level decision making in Parkinson’s disease, PSP, and related neurodegenerative disorders.
Partner with the clinical research physician to design global Phase 1-3 studies, with particular emphasis on early-phase, proof-of-mechanism, and proof-of-concept development, including population and disease-stage definitions, dose and regimen selection, estimands, endpoints, visit schedules, safety monitoring, biomarker and imaging plans, and participant/caregiver burden.
Guide selection and interpretation of relevant outcome measures, including the MDS-UPDRS, PSP Rating Scale, clinical global assessments, cognitive and functional measures, quality-of-life instruments, patient- and caregiver-reported outcomes, and digital measures, as applicable.
Contribute to data-collection tools, statistical analysis plans, case report forms, data-review plans, rater-training plans, and endpoint-quality strategies.
Collaborate with cross-functional study teams to enable timely study start-up, including CRO and vendor selection, central laboratory and imaging onboarding, rater qualification mechanism, and Data Monitoring Committee or other independent committee activities.
Lead development of clinical study protocol synopses and full protocols, engaging internal and external subject-matter experts on study design, endpoints, biomarkers, and operational feasibility.
Contribute to clinical portions of investigator brochures and review documents for scientific consistency, accuracy, and applicability.
Lead or contribute to clinical study reports, development safety update reports, annual reports, regulatory briefing documents, responses to health-authority questions, and other clinical and regulatory deliverables.
Contribute to development of internal and external presentations and publications, including abstracts, posters, manuscripts, congress presentations, advisory-board materials, and investigator-meeting content.
Participate in publication planning and contribute to departmental working processes, standard operating procedures, templates, and best practices.
Provide senior clinical-science leadership from study start-up through closeout, including support for investigator and site training, enrollment and retention strategies, eligibility review, protocol deviation assessment, and resolution of clinical and scientific questions.
Lead development of medical monitoring and clinical data-review plans in partnership with the clinical research physician and safety colleagues.
Perform ongoing review and critical analysis of blinded and unblinded efficacy, safety, biomarker, imaging, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic data; integrate emerging findings to support dose selection, escalation or expansion decisions, study adaptation, and program strategy; and identify trends, inconsistencies, and questions requiring cross-functional action.
Responsible for processes for rater qualification, scale-administration standards, central review, inter-rater variability, data completeness, and missing-data mitigation in longitudinal neurodegeneration studies.
Partner with Clinical Operations, Translational Sciences, Pharmacovigilance, Data Management, Biostatistics, Statistical Programming, and other functions to assure high-quality and timely study conduct, analysis, and reporting.
Support interpretation and communication of emerging benefit-risk information and prepare clear data summaries and recommendations for senior leadership, governance committees, advisory boards, investigators, and regulators.
Perform literature searches and critically review and summarize scientific, drug-development, clinical, and regulatory literature to support protocols, investigator brochures, clinical study reports, competitive assessments, and development strategy.
Monitor the neurodegeneration treatment landscape and emerging approaches in movement-disorder trial design, progression endpoints, biomarkers, imaging, digital measures, and patient-focused drug development.
Build productive relationships with movement-disorder investigators, key opinion leaders, patient advocacy organizations, clinical research networks, and external partners; support advisory boards and investigator meetings.