Director, Health Equity

Milken Institute; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Life Insurance

Paid Time Off

Family Leave

Fertility Support

Disability benefits

FSAs

Pet Insurance

Training & Development

Job summary

Milken Institute in Washington, DC, is seeking a Director, Health Equity to lead initiatives addressing representation in clinical research and access to health innovation across US and global markets. The role oversees programs, coordinates with internal teams, and represents the organization at conferences and events.

Ideal candidates have 8–15 years of health and medical research experience, proven project management and stakeholder engagement, and strong written and oral communication skills.

Qualifications

• 8-15 years of health and medical research experience including research, project management, and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience in the clinical research industry preferred, including global markets.
• Ability to conceptualize and execute projects independently.
• Ability to lead business development efforts and engage funders.
• Deep understanding of the biomedical research ecosystem and its stakeholders.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Oversee FasterCures’ efforts to address barriers to medical product innovation, including representation in clinical research.
• Serve as subject matter expert on representation and access to clinical trials in US and global markets.
• Conceptualize projects, identify potential funders, and execute across priority areas.
• Expand FasterCures’ stakeholder network and build communities around focus areas.
• Develop project-specific work products: convenings, events, papers, and summaries.
• Represent FasterCures at conferences, meetings, and workshops.
• Contribute to overall activities, including events and programmatic work.
• Supervise and develop staff, with responsibility for performance and growth.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Written communication

Team player

Adaptability

Job description

Director, Health Equity

Full-time Regular Washington, DC, US

Salary Range: $150,000.00 To $170,000.00 Annually

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a globally minded, publicly supported, non-partisan, and nonprofit think tank headquartered in Santa Monica, with offices in Washington, DC, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. For the past three decades, the Milken Institute has served as a catalyst for practical, scalable solutions to global challenges by connecting human, financial, and educational resources to those who need them. Guided by a conviction that the best ideas, under-resourced, cannot succeed, we conduct research and analysis and convene top experts, innovators, and influencers from different backgrounds and competing viewpoints. We leverage this expertise and insight to construct programs and policy initiatives. These activities are designed to help people build meaningful lives, in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities.

The Milken Institute’s events and programmatic activities, involve the exchange of ideas with leaders from around the world. The Institute hosts more than 200 events each year, with our annual flagship event, Global Conference, bringing together 4,500+ participants from around the world, featuring more than 900+ speakers throughout 200+ sessions over the course of the event.

About FasterCures

FasterCures is part of the Milken Institute, a global non-profit organization. Today, there are approximately 10,000 known diseases affecting our world; we have treatments for about 500 of them. The current system to discover and develop those treatments is complex, siloed, imperfect, and not aligned with the needs and wants of patients. Much of the inefficiency is entrenched. At FasterCures, we envision a system that is run effectively and driven by patient needs. We envision a system where the potential of transformative science is fully realized through the right incentives, bringing better and faster treatments to the people who need them.

We define and map current and emerging barriers that slow medical treatments, finding the areas of challenge, and proposing more patient-serving solutions. We address the following types of barriers to an optimal biomedical system: policy barriers, market disincentives, and areas where lack of leadership slows progress. Finally, because we know we cannot do this alone, we engage and catalyze our network to take on these important challenges.

About the Position

The Director is responsible for supporting the mission of FasterCures by serving as a leader in addressing barriers and developing solutions to catalyze the biomedical research system – from basic science to bedside. This position requires an ability to conceptualize and oversee a portfolio of programs and projects consistent with our areas of focus within the organization. The role involves overseeing and supporting FasterCures’ portfolio of projects addressing representation in and access to clinical research, as well as other projects related to FasterCures’ mission. The role includes representing FasterCures at conferences and meetings and supporting events programming. The Director works with internal staff to bring FasterCures’ programs to targeted external audiences and build communities around our areas of focus to move from ideas to implementation.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and advise on FasterCures’ efforts to address barriers to medical product innovation and, in particular, representation in clinical research and access to health innovation in US and global markets.
• Serve as FasterCures subject matter expert on representation and access to clinical trials, clinical research infrastructure and innovative approaches to clinical trials in US and global markets.
• Conceptualize projects, identify and engage potential funders and execute projects across all of FasterCures’ priority areas, including projects focused on improving the R&D environment and accelerating innovation.
• Work with and expand FasterCures’ stakeholder network.
• Develop project-specific work products, including convenings, events, papers, summaries, etc., as required.
• Represent FasterCures at conferences, meetings, and workshops.
• Contribute to overall FasterCures activities – events, programmatic work, etc.
• Manage and contribute to the professional development of direct and indirect reports, with responsibility for staff supervision and development.
• Engage cross-functionally, including with Business Development, Government Affairs, and Communications.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

We’re looking for a professional who is:

• Flexible and adaptable. Flexible, proactive, and comfortable with pivoting from project to project. Possesses a roll-up-the-sleeves mindset. Comfortable with ambiguity and proposing an approach upfront while constantly refining along the way.
• Excellent analytical, creative, and rigorous thinker and writer: Detail-oriented and flexible problem solver. Can synthesize diverse streams of information and switch comfortably between academic and real-world thinking. Strong writer and communicator with the ability to clearly convey key themes and ideas to a variety of audiences.
• Team player: Collaborate well with multidisciplinary teams, comfortably taking leadership when necessary, as well as following directions.

Experience & Training

• 8-15 years of successful experience in the health and medical research-related field that includes research and analysis, project management, and stakeholder engagement
• Experience in the clinical research industry is preferred; including experience in global markets
• Demonstrated ability to conceptualize and execute projects independently
• Ability to lead business development efforts to identify new projects and engage funders
• Deep understanding of the stakeholders in the biomedical research ecosystem, their challenges, and drivers
• Ability to engage and build relationships with external audiences and stakeholders
• Strong written and oral communication skills1

Working Conditions & Travel Requirements

This position will work in a professional office environment on a hybrid schedule consisting of three (3) days per week reporting in-person to the Washington, DC office location (Tuesday – Thursday), with the remaining two (2) days working remotely. Please understand, this schedule is subject to change at the Institute’s sole discretion.

This person will also be required to travel occasionally to other offices and/or venues to assist with events as needed, requiring occasional work outside of traditional hours. International along with domestic travel is possible. Additionally, this position requires interacting virtually on a regular basis with Milken Institute staff based in other locations in the United States and around the world.

Note

The statements herein are intended to describe the overall nature and level of work being performed by employees and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.

We are interested in qualified candidates who are eligible to work in the United States. Please note, we are not sponsoring visas at this time, being authorized to work in the U.S. is a precondition of employment.

Our Culture

The Milken Institute is proud to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or status as a veteran.

Every person at the Milken Institute is treated with respect, supported with resources and training, and exposed to a broad range of experiences. We foster a space for growth with opportunities to share knowledge and passion with both clients and colleagues. We are committed to building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive. Our leadership is actively involved in our commitment to diversity and inclusion, and fostering a culture that creates opportunities for everyone.

• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Personal, Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity & Paternity)
• Fertility Support
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Flexible Spending Account (FSAs)
• Pet Insurance Discount
• Training & Development:
• LinkedIn Learning –over 15,000 self-guided classes offered