Associate Director, Medical Affairs

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.; United States; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Retirement savings with company match

Tuition Assistance

Job summary

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. seeks a Senior Medical Training lead to develop and deliver comprehensive adult-learning medical training across epilepsy, MDD, bipolar depression, and pain programs.

You will translate complex clinical data into practical learning, partner with Medical Directors and Scientific Communications, and drive onboarding and ongoing medical training for diverse teams. Based in the Boston area (Needham), remote options are considered for exceptional candidates, with a 2-day

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a scientific/clinical discipline with 5+ years in Medical Affairs, Medical Education, Scientific Communications, or related functions.
• Experience developing and delivering training for multiple audiences (field medical, congress teams, cross-functional stakeholders).
• Strong instructional design and facilitation skills (live and virtual), with curricula-building capability.
• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills; ability to collaborate with Medical Directors, Commercial Training, Compliance.
• Demonstrated project management skills to prioritize and deliver training programs in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end medical and scientific training development and delivery across disease states and the neuroscience portfolio.
• Design and develop engaging training modules for different audiences and use-cases with checks and practical exercises.
• Facilitate live and virtual training sessions; manage calendars and measure impact via feedback and knowledge checks.
• Lead onboarding and role-based curricula to ensure readiness for compliant external engagement.
• Develop talking points, FAQs, and objection-handling resources aligned to medical communications plans.
• Support congress strategy and execution, ensuring readiness and post-congress follow-up and materials translation.
• Synthesize insights into actionable recommendations and integrated medical plans in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Lead HCP tiering to inform scientific engagement planning and contribute to medical strategies.
• Coordinate literature alerts and timely dissemination with Medical Directors and Scientific Communications.
• Ensure all training materials meet regulatory compliance and company standards.

Skills

Training development

Adult learning principles

Cross-functional collaboration

Instructional design

Facilitation (live/virtual)

Project management

Education

PharmD / PhD / MD / MSc (advanced scientific degree)

Job description

Who We Are:

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/xene) is a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company dedicated to drug discovery, clinical development, and commercialization of life-changing therapeutics for patients in need. We are looking for great people who thrive in a respectful, collaborative, inclusive, and productive culture to join the Xenon team.

What We Do:

We are advancing an exciting product pipeline https://xenon-pharma.com/pipeline to address indications with high unmet medical need, including epilepsy, depression and pain. Our Phase 3 azetukalner program represents the most advanced, clinically validated potassium channel modulator in late-stage clinical development for multiple indications. In March 2026, we announced positive topline data from our Phase 3 X-TOLE2 study of azetukalner in focal onset seizures (FOS), and we submitted a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration in the third quarter of 2026. Our Phase 3 epilepsy program also includes a second FOS study, X-TOLE3, which would support regulatory submissions outside the U.S., and the X-ACKT study in primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures, which would support regulatory submissions for an additional epilepsy indication. We also have multiple Phase 3 azetukalner clinical trials underway in major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar depression (BPD), based on topline data from our Phase 2 X-NOVA clinical trial. In addition, we are proud of our strong heritage in human genetics, deep understanding of ion channel biology, and expertise in novel chemistries to enable potent, selective ion channel targeting. We continue to advance an early-stage pipeline of novel therapeutic candidates, including Phase 1 studies for XEN1701 and XEN1720 (targeting Nav1.7) and XEN1120 (targeting Kv7), which are being developed for pain. Backed by a strong balance sheet to support our growth plans, we continue to build a fully integrated, premier neuroscience company with strong discovery, clinical development, corporate, and commercial operations.

About the Role:

To be successful in this role, you will bring strong scientific acumen and a passion for adult learning, translating complex clinical and mechanistic concepts into clear, practical learning experiences. You will partner closely with Medical Directors and cross-functional stakeholders to develop and maintain KIQs, core talking points, objection-handling resources, and other enablement tools, and lead onboarding and ongoing medical training for new hires and existing teams. You will also help translate scientific literature and field insights into training priorities and actionable medical initiatives, contributing to integrated medical planning within your areas of responsibility. You will also support the Medical Directors in congress execution, training, insights-to-action, tiering, and literature alerts. Reporting directly to the Executive Director, Medical Affairs, you will work within a multidisciplinary team, interfacing with Field Medical, Clinical Development, Scientific Communications, Commercial, Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance to ensure scientific accuracy, alignment, and high-quality execution.

This position is based out of Boston, MA, USA in our Needham office. We will consider remote locations for exceptional candidates. If in the Boston area, we require a minimum of 2 days per week in the office.

Responsibilities:

• Medical Training Strategy: As the primary focus of the role, own the end-to-end medical and scientific training development, and delivery across disease states and the neuroscience portfolio (e.g., epilepsy, MDD, bipolar depression, pain), aligning curricula with program milestones, evidence generation, evolving scientific communications, and identified learning needs.
• Training Module Development: Design and develop engaging training modules for different audiences and use-cases (field medical, congress teams, cross-functional partners), incorporating adult learning principles, knowledge checks, and practical application exercises.
• Training Delivery & Measurement: Facilitate live and virtual training sessions, manage training calendars, and assess effectiveness through feedback, knowledge checks, and continuous improvement of content and delivery methods. Lead development of certification module tests and partnering with field medical on full certification of MSLs.
• Onboarding & Role-Based Curricula: Lead medical/scientific onboarding for new hires who require medical training, creating role-based learning paths and ensuring readiness for compliant external engagement.
• Talking Points & Objection Handling: Work with Medical Directors and Scientific Communications to develop, review, and maintain compliant FAQs, talking points, and objection-handling resources aligned to the latest medical communications platform and publication plan.
• Congress Strategy, Execution & Scientific Readiness: Support the medical congress lead in developing and executing congress plans aligned with medical priorities, including scientific coverage, team preparation, and post-congress synthesis and follow-up. Train field and congress teams on new medical communications materials and publications (e.g., congress data disclosures, manuscripts, slide libraries), ensuring consistent interpretation and appropriate scientific exchange.
• Insights-to-Action & Key Insight Questions: Support the insights lead and Field Medical in developing and refining key insight questions (KIQs), synthesizing field and congress insights, and identifying implications for medical strategy and training. Help translate prioritized insights into actionable recommendations and track agreed follow-up activities.
• HCP Tiering & Medical Planning: Lead HCP tiering in partnership with Medical Strategy and Field Medical to inform scientific engagement planning. Develop and execute assigned components of integrated medical plans, aligning objectives, deliverables, and timelines with MDO priorities.
• Scientific Literature & Knowledge Sharing: Lead literature alerts and coordinate timely synthesis and dissemination of relevant scientific developments with Medical Directors and Scientific Communications. Translate new evidence into updates to training and scientific readiness resources.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Collaborate closely with Medical Affairs, Scientific Communications, Clinical Development, Regulatory, Legal, Compliance, and Commercial partners to ensure training content is accurate, aligned, and delivered on time.
• Quality & Compliance: Ensure all training materials and delivery are compliant with applicable regulatory requirements and corporate standards, following required review/approval processes and maintaining version control.
• Act in accordance with Company policies, including, for example, the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and ensure policies are understood and followed by direct reports, if any
• Ability to travel up to 10%, as needed.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Advanced degree in a scientific/clinical discipline (PharmD, PhD, MD, MSc, or equivalent) with 5+ years of relevant management biopharmaceutical or agency experience in Medical Affairs, Medical Education, Scientific Communications, or related functions.
• Experience developing and delivering training for multiple audiences (e.g., field medical, congress teams, cross-functional stakeholders), with demonstrated ability to translate complex data into clear, practical learning.
• Strong instructional design and facilitation skills (live and virtual), including building curricula, developing modules, and using feedback/metrics to continuously improve training effectiveness.
• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills; ability to build credibility and partner effectively with Medical Directors, Scientific Communications, Commercial Training, and Compliance.
• Demonstrated project management skills with the ability to prioritize, deliver on timelines, and manage training programs alongside broader Medical Affairs initiatives in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience supporting medical congress planning, field insights synthesis, advisory boards, or related medical strategy initiatives preferred; ability to translate scientific literature and insights into strategic recommendations and educational priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with high attention to scientific accuracy and a compliance-first mindset in content development and delivery.

Our Total Rewards program includes base salary, target bonus, and stock options, as well as a full range of benefits including medical, dental, vision, short- & long-term disability, accidental death & dismemberment, and life insurance programs, Employee Assistance Program, travel insurance, and retirement savings programs with company matching contributions.

Xenon encourages time to rest and re-charge through vacation, personal days, sick days, and an end-of-year company shutdown. Xenon highly values employee development and has an expanding Training, Learning & Development program, including a Tuition Assistance program for advanced degrees.