VP, Medical Affairs Head of Early Assets

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals • Cambridge, MA

17d

About The Position

The Vice President, Head of Early Assets, serves as the strategic and scientific leader for Alnylam’s early‑stage medical programs across CNS, cardiovascular, and hematology indications. As a key member of the Medical Affairs Leadership Team (MALT), this leader holds primary accountability for defining and executing the global medical strategy for multiple early‑stage assets and shaping Alnylam’s future portfolio direction.
The VP will influence enterprise‑level investment and development decisions, lead and develop a high‑performing team of medical directors, and partner closely with Program Leadership, Commercial, Clinical Development, Value & Evidence Strategy (VeST), and Patient Advocacy to ensure integrated, data‑driven, cross‑functional plans. This role is central to establishing early medical strategy, advancing evidence generation, and preparing markets for future launch success.

Requirements

• MD, PhD in life sciences, or PharmD
• 15+ years of progressive experience in Medical Affairs within pharmaceutical or biotechnology environments, with strong exposure to early clinical development.
• 5+ years of leadership experience, including managing directors and senior scientific staff.
• Strong understanding of evidence generation principles, regulatory considerations, and healthcare ecosystem dynamics.
• Reputation as a respected, visionary leader with the ability to influence across a matrixed organization.
• Demonstrated ability to build high performing teams, drive organizational change, and execute against complex, cross functional goals.
• Exceptional communication, leadership presence, and interpersonal skills.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated experience leading across multiple therapeutic areas; cardiovascular expertise is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of the global medical strategy for multiple early-stage programs, ensuring alignment with overall Medical Affairs and enterprise priorities.
• Provide strategic insight to shape early asset development, informing long-term planning, investment decisions, and portfolio growth opportunities.
• Serve as the primary medical affairs leader for early programs, influencing enterprise-wide decision-making through active engagement with Program and Product Commercialization teams.
• Partner with Program Teams to design and guide integrated evidence frameworks and long-term evidence generation plans, ensuring medical perspectives inform pivotal study design and lifecycle strategy.
• Collaborate with Clinical Development and VeST to ensure early clinical and real-world evidence needs are incorporated into study planning and execution.
• Drive alignment with the Scientific Communications team to ensure timely, accurate, and strategic dissemination of scientific data.
• Partner with Commercial to assess unmet need, epidemiology, market opportunity, and competitive landscape, shaping early market development activities.
• Lead KOL and early external engagement strategy to understand evolving clinical practice, guideline gaps, and real-world barriers.
• Partner with Patient Advocacy to ensure the voice of the patient and community insights inform program design, recruitment strategies, and broader development planning.
• Build, lead, and develop a high‑performing team of medical directors and cross-regional partners, operating as a true player‑coach—providing strategic direction while remaining hands‑on in critical workstreams to model excellence, accelerate execution, and develop talent.
• Ensure the development of high-quality, globally relevant medical plans that support disease education, market development, and future launch readiness.
• Partner with Medical Training to drive scientific readiness and capability building across the medical organization.

Benefits

• comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, a lifestyle reimbursement program, flexible spending and health savings accounts and a 401(k)with a generous company match
• Eligible employees enjoy paid time off, wellness days, holidays, and two company-wide recharge breaks.
• We also offer generous family resources and leave.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree