Director, Medical Affairs

Company Description

Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on helping conquer cancer globally through use of its proprietary tests, vast data sets and advanced analytics. The Guardant Health oncology platform leverages capabilities to drive commercial adoption, improve patient clinical outcomes and lower healthcare costs across all stages of the cancer care continuum. Guardant Health has commercially launched Guardant360®, Guardant360 CDx, Guardant360 TissueNext™, Guardant360 Response™, and GuardantOMNI® tests for advanced stage cancer patients, and Guardant Reveal™ for early-stage cancer patients. The Guardant Health screening portfolio, including the Shield™ test, aims to address the needs of individuals eligible for cancer screening.

Job Description

The primary role of the Director, Medical Affairs (DMA) is to educate and develop academic key opinion leaders (KOL) champions with the most current study findings (abstracts and publications) supporting the clinical value of Guardant Health’s product(s). The DMA will co-develop the studies and publication strategies with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to develop the clinical evidence to achieve positive guideline and physician adoption, and payer coverage. The DMA plays a major role in abstract and publication creation, and in the development and creation of physician educational slides to be deployed in focused events (such as academic grand rounds or Continuing Medical Education (CME) lectures), and in training speakers/educators. S/he will build a team focused on strategic partnerships with NCI-designated cancer centers and large community-based oncology groups with clinical trials capabilities.

The DMA will be effective at translating data from research projects and disseminating key information through publications, and presentations at national meetings, CME and educational activities. The role of the DMA position also involves supporting strategic commercial partnerships, marketing and managed care; education and training of the sales team, and development of regional physician influencers to drive test coverage. The DMA is distinguished from the MSL role primarily by building/managing a team, strategic initiative and collaboration with other senior Guardant executives, and construction of studies and publications roadmaps that achieve corporate objectives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Identify, develop and/or maintain strong, collaborative working relationships with premier cancer center KOL champions, to promote understanding and adoption of our novel diagnostic technologies.
• In partnership with the Sales executives, identify and support strategic partnerships that include molecular tumor boards, report interpretation and registry support, and development of pertinent abstracts and publications based on registry data.
• Critically review and develop education slides based on new publications and research findings, for approval by Medical Affairs and Marketing.
• Support on-site oral presentations, data reviews, and interactive education events for KOLs, also known as “deep dive” or “VIP” visits to Guardant Health.
• Synopsize and educate key personnel regarding emerging abstracts and publications relevant to molecular testing.
• Assist the Medical Director(s) in agenda planning and meeting facilitation of Clinical Advisory Board(s).
• Identify and help draft study protocols and publication plans, including drafting/first authoring of multiple abstracts and publications with external KOL coauthors.
• Manage Medical Science Liaison and Clinical Oncology Specialist teams to develop KOL champions at NCI centers and large oncology group strategic partners.
• Lead in major investigator-initiated, multicenter studies that expand our indications through validation and outcomes assessment.

Qualifications

Education/Experience Required

• Terminal degree in a scientific field of study (Pharm.D., Ph.D., M.D. or Master’s Level with academic equivalent such as Associate Professor position).
• Clinical expertise or related experience in relevant specialties is highly desirable.  Minimum of 3-5 years of healthcare experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry.
• Experience working with experts at academic medical centers to build consensus around new products and/or services.
• Skilled team builder/manager.
• Successful publication as primary author or primary draftee of peer-reviewed publications.
• Track record of independent presentation at major academic centers resulting in product adoption.
• Material input and experience in study protocol design and documentation.
• Prior experience as an DMA in the introduction of a novel new clinical product is highly desired.

Technical Skills Required

• Applies advanced knowledge of the biotechnology, diagnostics and pharmaceutical industry.
• Ability to apply advanced knowledge of company product specifications.
• Intermediate-to-advanced knowledge of the following computer software programs: Microsoft Office: Powerpoint, Excel, and Word
• Ability to work independently and remotely while maintaining a strong teamwork ethic.
• Multi-dimensional in abilities to work on simultaneous tasks, work cross-team and at different levels of the organization, whether internal or external relationships to the organization.
• Self-directed, intrinsically motivated, flexible to changes in an ever changing dynamic environment.
• Strong problem-solving skills, good attention to detail, time management skills and personal initiative.
• Exceptional human relations skills to coordinate the accomplishment of tasks through other people.
• Outstanding oral presentation skills.
• Highly developed written skills, the ability to produce documents for dissemination both inside and outside the organization for presentations, technical briefs and scientific publications.    
• Ability to elicit and answer clinical questions in groups ranging from individuals to larger didactic roundtables and meetings.
• Ability to address high-level experts in the scientific field at company-sponsored events and trade shows.
• Excellent proofreading skills, with the ability to proof for proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting of documents. 

Work Environment:

• Extensive travel required up to 3-4 days per week to meet with KOLs, attend physician education talks and conference, including specialty society scientific meetings (will require some weekend work). Travel is estimated to be approximately 50%.
• Must be physically able to handle extensive travel in vehicle, plane, or other modes of public transport.
• Office may be home-based, and involves extensive use of computer and keyboard while in home office.
• Requires the ability to focus on multiple tasks simultaneously, work in high-paced, high-energy environment.

Additional Information

Hybrid Work Model: At Guardant Health, we have defined days for in-person/onsite collaboration and work-from-home days for individual-focused time. All U.S. employees who live within 50 miles of a Guardant facility will be required to be onsite on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We have found aligning our scheduled in-office days allows our teams to do the best work and creates the focused thinking time our innovative work requires. At Guardant, our work model has created flexibility for better work-life balance while keeping teams connected to advance our science for our patients.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $196,500 to $265,200. The range does not include benefits, and if applicable, bonus, commission, or equity. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries across all US locations for the posted role with the exception of any locations specifically referenced below (if any).

Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including, but not limited to, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. If you are selected to move forward, the recruiting team will provide details specific to the factors above.

Employee may be required to lift routine office supplies and use office equipment. Majority of the work is performed in a desk/office environment; however, there may be exposure to high noise levels, fumes, and biohazard material in the laboratory environment. Ability to sit for extended periods of time.

Guardant Health is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our hiring processes for candidates with disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health conditions, or sincerely held religious beliefs. If you need support, please reach out to [email protected]

Guardant Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

To learn more about the information collected when you apply for a position at Guardant Health, Inc. and how it is used, please review our Privacy Notice for Job Applicants.

Please visit our career page at: http://www.guardanthealth.com/jobs/

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