Sr Director, Clinical Sciences

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals•Irvine, CA

9d•$255,000 - $357,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr Director, Clinical Sciences will lead Clinical Science (Eyecare) function, accountable for the scientific integrity, quality, and strategic impact of all eyecare clinical studies from early development through late-stage registration and lifecycle management. This role partners closely with Clinical Operations, Regulatory, Biostats, Medical Affairs, and Commercial to translate target product profiles into robust clinical development plans and high‑quality trial designs.

Requirements

Advanced degree in sciences (e.g. PharmD, MD, PhD) with deep experience in early clinical development
Minimum of 10 years of biotech/pharmaceutical clinical development experience, with a minimum of 8 years leadership in clinical trial management experience required
Established leadership track record with evidence of excellent performance-based people management experience, problem solving, collaboration, cross functional leadership and effective communication skills.
Expertise with SOPs, GCPs and regulatory and compliance guidelines for clinical trials.
Must be willing to be “hands on” and delve into details
Leadership Competencies - This role requires mastery of the Tarsus Leadership Competencies for Leading Teams, including: Empowering Others, Emotional Intelligence, Grows Capacity, Business Acumen, Innovative Mindset and Action.

Nice To Haves

Experience in ophthalmology is preferred; dermatology or infectious diseases a plus.

Responsibilities

Provide scientific leadership to cross‑functional study and program teams, ensuring timely study start‑up, enrollment, database lock, analysis, and readouts.
Lead the design of clinical development plans and individual study protocols (objectives, endpoints, inclusion/exclusion, assessments, statistical assumptions).
Maintains direct ownership of clinical deliverables, actively contributing to protocol development, document authoring, data review, study-level problem solving and execution decisions to ensure scientific rigor and operational excellence.
Shape clinical plans including timelines, budgets and oversight of clinical teams.
Build and maintain strong relationships with investigators, KOLs, and external partners; contribute to publication strategy and scientific communications.
Drive innovation in clinical endpoints, biomarkers, and digital tools, and champion continuous improvement in clinical science processes, templates, and data review frameworks.
Author and critically review key clinical and regulatory documents, including protocols, SAPs, CSRs, IBs and clinical value dossiers, ensuring scientific rigor, regulatory alignment and quality execution.
Conduct research to develop foundational education material to inform the early development program strategies.
Interpret clinical data and support data-driven decisions.
Serve as program lead on early development Core teams, investigator meetings and scientific advisory boards.
Engage with internal and external stakeholders, including KOLs and regulators.
Exhibits and fosters key leadership competencies, including an innovative mindset, strong business acumen, an outcome-driven orientation, and a commitment to growing and expanding the capabilities and capacity of the team.
Collaborate with Clinical Operations, Regulatory Affairs, Translational Sciences, Biostatistics, Medical Affairs and others to ensure robust trial design, scientific and operational alignment and execution.