Director Thought Leader Engagement

Abivax; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Abivax, a global biopharmaceutical company, seeks a Director of Thought Leader Engagement to drive U.S. thought leader programs, informing commercial planning and disease-state education. You will build a national KOL network, translate insights into action, and collaborate across Medical Affairs, HCP Marketing, and Sales to ensure launch readiness.

The role emphasizes leadership, budget ownership, and strategic engagement across multiple functions in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of biopharmaceutical experience with thought leader engagement responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute U.S. commercial thought leader engagement plans for launch readiness and long-term objectives.
• Support advisory boards and congress initiatives with regional and national KOLs.
• Coordinate with Medical Affairs, HCP Marketing, Sales Leadership, and agencies to ensure compliant execution.

Skills

Thought leader strategy

Cross-functional leadership

Budget ownership

Launch readiness

Key opinion leader networks

Advisory board execution

Commercial engagement

Stakeholder management

Job description

At Abivax, our purpose is simple: to improve patients' lives. As a global clinical-stage biotechnology company with headquarter in Paris and offices in the United States, we are advancing innovative therapies for people living with chronic inflammatory diseases.

We are looking for talented, purpose-driven individuals who want their work to have a meaningful impact. Every day, we challenge ourselves to ask: "How did I make a patient's life better today?" If that question inspires and motivates you, we invite you to join our team.

The Director of Thought Leader Engagement will develop and execute U.S. commercial thought leader engagement plans that support Abivax’s inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) launch readiness and long-term commercial objectives. This individual will build trusted relationships with national, regional, and emerging thought leaders, expand the Abivax key opinion leader (KOL) network, and translate customer insights into recommendations for commercial planning and disease-state education.

Reporting to the Head of Commercial Medical Communications, this role will partner closely with HCP Marketing, Medical Affairs, Sales Leadership, and Commercial Training to coordinate engagement activities, and support commercial advisory boards and congress initiatives. The role will operate within approved commercial scope and maintain clear coordination and appropriate boundaries with Medical Affairs.

Key Responsibilities / Essential Functions

Commercial Thought Leader Engagement

• Gather and synthesize thought leader perspectives on the IBD treatment landscape, clinical practice trends, patient journeys, and barriers to care.
• Deliver timely insight summaries and practical recommendations to the Head of Commercial Medical Communications, HCP Marketing, and other relevant partners.
• Help translate validated insights into engagement priorities, disease-state education topics, and launch readiness plans; track resulting actions and feedback.

Advisory Board Support and Execution

• Support commercial advisory boards, including needs assessment, advisor identification, agenda development, agency coordination, and synthesis of recommendations.
• Pull through Commercial KOL engagement strategy via regionally focused HCP Advisory Board execution

Congress Execution

• Plan and execute commercial thought leader engagement at national and regional congresses, coordinating objectives, meeting schedules, internal briefings, and follow‑up.
• Partner with HCP Marketing, Medical Affairs, and relevant Agency Partners on coordinated congress planning while preserving each function’s responsibilities and approved activities.

Cross‑Functional Leadership and Commercial Excellence

• Coordinate engagement plans with Medical Affairs, HCP Marketing, Patient Marketing, Sales Leadership, and other partners.
• Manage assigned agencies, vendors, timelines, and budgets; maintain accurate forecasts and resolve execution issues promptly.
• Track performance against agreed objectives, including priority KOL coverage, engagement quality, actionable insights, program effectiveness, and budget delivery.
• Execute activities using approved materials and established review, contracting, documentation, and reporting processes. Ensure interactions are appropriate to the investigational or approved status of the therapy and elevate questions to the relevant internal partners.

Qualifications

Required

• 8 or more years of relevant biopharmaceutical experience, including substantial responsibility for thought leader engagement strategy, complex cross‑functional initiatives, and program or budget ownership.

Preferred

Additionally, candidates must possess at least 3 years of leadership experience, including direct people management and/or leading complex cross‑functional initiatives within a biopharmaceutical or healthcare environment. Demonstrated success building high‑performing teams, influencing senior stakeholders, managing resources, and driving execution across multiple functions is required. Leadership experience may be concurrent with the required commercial and marketing experience.

Technical Skills

• Experience in gastroenterology, immunology, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or other specialty care markets strongly preferred.
• Experience leading and executing patient marketing strategies within the biopharmaceutical industry.
• Strong track record supporting successful product launches, pre‑launch planning, launch readiness, or commercialization efforts for specialty pharmaceutical brands.
• Expertise in developing and implementing integrated customer engagement strategies.
• Deep understanding of customer engagement principles, omnichannel strategy, digital marketing, customer insights, and marketing performance analytics.

Core Competencies

• Demonstrated success partnering with internal stakeholders to align strategy, customer engagement plans, and execution priorities.
• Experience leading complex cross‑functional initiatives and influencing decision‑making across Commercial, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Regulatory, and other key stakeholder groups.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across HCP and patient marketing functions to ensure a coordinated experience and consistent stakeholder engagement strategy.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and strategic planning skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and drive organizational alignment.
• History of delivering measurable results in dynamic, fast‑paced environments characterized by high visibility, evolving priorities, and significant accountability.
• Capable of balancing long‑term strategic thinking with rigorous execution, operational excellence, and attention to detail.

This job description is intended to describe the general responsibilities and qualifications for this position and is not an exhaustive list of all duties. Responsibilities may change based on business needs, and Abivax reserves the right to modify this job description at any time.

Reasonable accommodation will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of the position.

Abivax is an Equal Opportunity Employer and makes all employment decisions without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.