Senior Director Medical Communications & Publications

Verastem•Boston, MA

1d•$260,000 - $310,000

About The Position

The Senior Director, Medical Communications, will report to the Head of Medical Affairs. The individual will be accountable for Verastem’s external communications for both avutometinib + defactinib and pipeline assets (VS7375), managing two direct reports who will themselves be responsible for the strategy, development, and review of scientific communications and publications, scientific platforms, congress publication plans, and other activities. The position will partner cross functionally to ensure that all communications are scientifically/medically accurate and aligned. The individual will also have broad responsibilities in accountability for Medical information Call Center and internal review teams (PMR/MMR), management of external authors and partners for Scientific Communications, coordination with cross-functional team members in development of evidence generation strategy, as well as leadership on the Medical Affairs Leadership Team (MALT).

Requirements

Degree in a scientific discipline. Advanced degree is preferred (i.e., M.Sc., M.P.H., Pharm.D. or Ph.D.).
Minimum 8+ years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry
Considered a subject matter expert for publication process and content generation with demonstrated leadership in running a publication strategy and plan
Experience in developing and executing medical affairs evidence generation plans
Effectively managed Medical communication budget (planned vs actual)
Experience in oncology/hematology preferred; prior experience in ovarian, lung, pancreatic, or colon cancer is helpful
Launch experience preferred
Exceptional project management skills
Ability to lead and also roll up the sleeves and help get the work done as needed
Demonstrated ability to plan, prioritize, and execute multiple projects; ability to multitask and work both independently and within multi-disciplinary teams
Understand the clinical development process, especially clinical study data and outcomes measures in oncology
Ability to critically appraise and apply knowledge gained from the medical/scientific literature
Strong interpersonal skills for effective professional communications, aiming to cultivate strong working relationships with both internal and external groups
Demonstrated leadership and cross-functional stakeholder management skills to drive business priorities
Ability to effectively communicate complex medical/scientific information and contribute to scientific strategy.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (e.g., Outlook, Excel, Power Point) is required, as well as familiarity and working knowledge of key software applications relevant to publication planning and implementation (e.g., Datavision, literature search indices, journal databases, etc.).

Responsibilities

Accountable for overarching Medical Communications strategy, execution, and budget
Management of two direct reports who are each responsible for asset-specific activities, one for avutometinib + defactinib, and one for VS7375
Developing a broad and deep understanding of the strategic objectives for each asset, and representing the function in high-level strategic discussions (e.g., MALT, cross-functional teams, etc.)
Assessing, modifying, and addressing the foundational elements of industry best-practices in Medical Communications, overseeing new policies, processes, or workflows as needed in a lean, fast-moving environment.
Contribute to development of the overarching Medical Affairs strategy and provide leadership and guidance to internal partners during development of strategic plans and assets
Broad oversight of Scientific/Medical Communications and Medical Information partners, ensuring that they meet expectations with respect to strategic input, deliverables, and budget
Advocate for a strong scientific communication strategy through building effective relationships with key stakeholders across the organization and externally
Provide visible leadership support to key alliance partners and joint venture partners, ensuring the right scientific and technical skills and capabilities from Publications / Scientific Communications and driving effective behaviors to support the success of strategic alliances.
Execute best practices within oncology publications to streamline communications and workstream development
Support direct reports in the development and execution of plans to support Verastem’ s presence at global oncology congresses.
Execute work in a timely manner according to plan prioritization, available resources and following internal policies, good publication practices and highest standards quality.
Track and report the progress of Medical Communications activities across both assets, and communicate these to senior management
Maintain current knowledge of the scientific publication planning processes, current standards of good publication practice (GPP2022), pertinent external guidelines related to industry publications (ICMJE), and scientific reporting standards for studies (CONSORT) and ensure that these standards are communicated and adhered to across the organization.
Ensure that medical/scientific publication activities are within company policies, procedures and good publications practices.
Plan, support, and attend scientific conferences and medical meetings as needed.
Ensure that direct reports are appropriately resourced to be able to develop and maintain core data decks, Disease State Decks, FAQ documents, and training materials, and other related medical content for all current assets.
Work with corporate communications / investor relations and other internal teams to ensure the aligned scientific narrative of all external messages.