Senior Director, Medical Affairs Operations

Nuvalent, Inc.•Cambridge, MA

About The Position

Reporting to the Head of Nuvalent Medical Affairs, the Senior Director of Medical Affairs Operations will serve as a strategic thought partner to the Head of Medical Affairs and the Medical Affairs Leadership Team (MALT). This role provides operational leadership, discipline, and alignment across Medical Affairs, ensuring that objectives, processes, and resources are optimized to deliver impact at scale. The incumbent will drive operational excellence, enable cross-functional collaboration, and oversee field operations, insights, and analytics to support the organization’s growth and transformation.

Requirements

Advanced degree in life sciences, healthcare, or related field; MBA or equivalent preferred.
10+ years of experience in Medical Affairs, clinical development, or related operational leadership roles.
Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and driving operational excellence in complex organizations.
Strong financial acumen with experience in budget management and forecasting.
Expertise in KPI development, performance tracking, and analytics.
Exceptional communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
Ability to synthesize complexity into clear, actionable frameworks for executive and board-level audiences.

Nice To Haves

Strategic thinker with operational rigor.
Collaborative leader who builds trust and alignment across diverse stakeholders.
Skilled in change management and organizational transformation.
Adept at balancing strategic priorities with tactical execution.
Committed to fostering a culture of accountability, transparency, and innovation.

Responsibilities

Act as a trusted advisor to the Head of Medical Affairs and MALT, shaping operational strategy and execution.
Drive strong cross-functional team planning and alignment (e.g. MALT, MALT/CLT, Medical Strategy, and IEGT), ensuring smooth ways of working and operational discipline, with seamless execution of strategic priorities.
Lead KPI and objectives planning, tracking, and reporting to ensure accountability and transparency.
Develop dashboards and reporting frameworks to provide real-time visibility into Medical Affairs performance, risks, and resource utilization; establish frameworks for measuring impact and continuous improvement.
Define and evolve ways of working within Medical Affairs, including process development, capability building, and cross-functional orchestration.
Drive continuous process improvement and simplification, including SOP development and refinement to ensure scalability and compliance.
Oversee budget planning, forecasting, and resource allocation to ensure fiscal discipline and strategic investment.
Partner with Finance to align operational spend with organizational priorities.
Identify, assess, and mitigate operational risks, ensuring proactive management and transparent escalation to leadership.
Craft and deliver executive communications that synthesize operational performance, risks, and strategic initiatives for senior leadership and board audiences.
Support and enable key initiatives such as regional expansion, organizational transformation, and business model evolution.
Support Medical capability building initiatives, ensuring teams are equipped with the skills, processes, and tools to deliver impact.
Establish central knowledge management systems to ensure accessibility and transparency of information.
Facilitate effective team communication and alignment across Medical Affairs and field teams.
Provide oversight of field operations, insights generation, and analytics to inform strategy and decision-making.
Ensure robust mechanisms for capturing and translating field intelligence into actionable insights.
Foster a high-performance culture through facilitation, coaching, and team development.
Enable collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning across Medical Affairs.