Director, Patient Focused Drug Development and Innovation

Sarepta Therapeutics; Cambridge (MA); Hybrid; USD 186,000 - 232,000; Full time

Job summary

Sarepta Therapeutics is seeking a Director, Patient Focused Drug Development and Innovation to build patient-centered frameworks across disease areas. You will design collaborations to embed patient voices into R&D, regulatory, and clinical operations, influencing trial design and patient engagement strategies globally.

The role requires extensive patient advocacy experience, regulatory understanding, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams. Hybrid work from Sarepta facilities in the U.S.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 12+ years of patient advocacy experience in healthcare/biopharma.
• Rare disease experience preferred.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with ability to influence senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead strategic collaborations to ensure patient focused drug development across the pipeline.
• Embed patient voice into R&D decision-making and trial design.
• Develop and implement frameworks for patient input to trial design, recruitment and retention.

Skills

Interpersonal communication

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in psychology, counseling, social work, or related field

Job description

Why Sarepta? Why Now?

The promise of genetic medicine has arrived, and Sarepta is at the forefront. We hold a leadership position in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne) and are building a robust portfolio of programs across muscle, central nervous system, and cardiac diseases. In 2023, we launched our fourth therapy and the first ever gene therapy to treat Duchenne. We’re looking for people who see unlimited potential in themselves and who are motivated by an unwavering commitment to patients.

What Sarepta Offers

At Sarepta, we care deeply about all the people in our community and believe in the importance of supporting them in all aspects of their lives. We aspire to maintain a culture that acknowledges people bring their whole selves to work, and we will strive to help everyone in our community integrate their work and personal lives while maintaining productivity.

We are committed to offering a range of benefits and work-life resources designed to support people in the following areas:

• Physical and Emotional Wellness
• Financial Wellness
• Support for Caregivers

For a full list of our comprehensive benefits, see our website: https://www.sarepta.com/join-us

The Importance of the Role

The Director, Patient Focused Drug Development and Innovation at Sarepta Therapeutics is a pivotal role dedicated to building patient focused drug development frameworks while advancing Sarepta’s patient-centric approach across multiple disease areas.

Reporting directly to the Senior Director, Patient Affairs Strategy and Operations, the Director, Patient Focused Drug Development and Innovation will design and lead strategic collaborations to ensure patient focused drug development across the pipeline and embed the patient voice into R&D decision-making.

This role integrates the perspectives of patients and caregivers into the strategic and operational framework of the organization, spanning research and development to develop innovative solutions to support clinical trials that meet the needs of the patient community.

The Opportunity to Make a Difference

Develop and implement a comprehensive global patient focused drug development strategy, including development of a playbook for best-in-class collaboration between Patient Affairs and Clinical Development Design and implement innovative frameworks to ensure patient input to trial design, recruitment and retention such as patient friction coefficient, protocol input, and plain language summaries. Operationalize infrastructure and cadence that move patient and caregiver insights through the organization, with traceability from patient input to decisions and outcomes. Develop metrics and measures to track impact across all activities. Identify areas to publish and report metrics and enhance our external reputation across new communities. Working across Patient Affairs, establish and maintain strong, trustworthy relationships with patient leaders across various disease areas of responsibility. Contribute to advancing patient advocacy landscapes for new disease areas and identify engagement opportunities across Sarepta, including patient affairs, medical affairs, clinical development and clinical program strategy (encompassing patient recruitment and global feasibility). Participate in cross-functional meetings with clinical, medical affairs, and global program teams to ensure all plans and activities are informed by the patient voice. Identify educational needs of patient communities, particularly regarding novel therapeutic modalities, including gene therapy, and develop and facilitate cross-functional strategies to address these needs. Strategically manage and budget to execute operational frameworks to bring the patient voice into the organization. Stay current with industry and regulatory practices related to patient centered drug development and patient insights. Working with cross-functional colleagues, ensure patient experience data are incorporated in our development, regulatory, and clinical operations. Provide regular updates to disease communities through appropriate educational and information mechanisms. Ensure compliant interactions with patient advocates, patients, families, and caregivers, and monitor evolving global guidelines. Develop and implement caregiver and sibling strategies to support the needs of patients’ families and caregivers and minimize burdens associated with treatment. Perform other related duties as assigned.

More about You

Bachelor’s degree in psychology, counseling, social work, or a related field; advanced degree preferred. Demonstrated patient centric mindset. Minimum of 12+ years of patient advocacy experience in the healthcare/biopharma setting. Rare disease experience preferred.

Solid understanding of compliance requirements for patient facing industry roles and familiarity with the drug development process. Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills, including strong presentation skills; confident in presenting to senior leadership.

Ability to build rapport quickly with a diverse group of individuals. Proactive, objective, and diplomatic influence within all levels of the organization and with external community leaders.

Collaborative, independent, and able to prioritize strategic areas of importance to the company. Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and manage multiple responsibilities with strategic and tactical approaches. Experience working with stakeholders/partners at all levels globally in a matrix environment.

What Now?

We’re always looking for solution-oriented, critical thinkers.

#LI-Hybrid

This position is hybrid, you will be expected to work on site at one of Sarepta’s facilities in the United States and/or attend Company-sponsored in-person events from time to time.

The targeted salary range for this position is $185,600 - $232,000 per year.

Sarepta is making a good faith effort to be transparent and accurate around our hiring ranges. The salary offer is commensurate with Sarepta’s compensation philosophy and considers factors including, but not limited to, education, training, experience, external market conditions, criticality of role, and internal equity.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S.

Sarepta Therapeutics offers a competitive compensation and benefit package.

Sarepta Therapeutics is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and participates in e-Verify.

Sarepta is on an urgent mission: engineer precision genetic medicine for rare diseases that devastate lives and cut futures short.

We hold a leadership position in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne) and are building a robust portfolio of programs across muscle, central nervous system, and cardiac diseases. Our deep pipeline is driven by our multi-platform technologies in siRNA, RNA and gene therapy.

For more information, please visit www.sarepta.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.