Job Description

Director of Medical Affairs, Parkinson's Disease About Octave: Octave is a pioneering organization at the forefront of advancing precision medicine for neurodegenerative diseases through innovative research, development, and commercialization of medical technologies. We are committed to delivering comprehensive insights that bring scientific clarity to neurodegenerative diseases, enabling an optimal care journey for patients to live more harmonious lives. Octave is seeking a dynamic and visionary Medical Affairs Director, Parkinson’s Disease (PD) to expedite our research and development efforts in PD and lead our Medical Affairs strategy. About the Role: As the Medical Affairs Director, Parkinson’s Disease (PD), you will leverage your deep scientific expertise in PD and extensive relationships within the Movement Disorders community to guide the development of a novel multi-protein blood test for PD and ensure its successful launch. For the initial product development, you will work across multiple functions within Octave (Data Science, Assay Development, Business Development, and Commercial), providing your input while engaging external Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) for further guidance and strategic research collaborations. You will later shift into pre-launch mode, executing a broader Field Medical Affairs and Scientific Communications strategy to build awareness and advocacy within the PD ecosystem, including clinicians who will use the test for patient care and companies who will use it to inform drug development. This will be a strategy-focused individual contributor role in the near term, with later potential to lead a Medical Affairs expansion. Responsibilities: Research and Development: Provide scientific guidance to the development of Octave PD progression biomarker panel (PDDP), synthesizing a broad knowledge of PD pathophysiology, clinical measures, and existing and emerging therapies. Build and refine Target Product Profiles (TPPs) for Octave PD biomarker tests, integrating input from Octave colleagues, PD patient perspectives, and feedback from Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and community clinicians. Serve as Principal Investigator and/or primary point of contact for the Octave/Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF) PD biomarker development collaboration. Provide timely progress updates to MJFF stakeholders, while identifying additional opportunities for a deeper level of collaboration, to expedite achievement of goals. Provide scientific and clinical input to Data Science and Assay Development teams to inform data analysis strategies and the choice of clinical endpoints for validation studies. Advise in the choice of which proteins to include in the final PDDP, based on association with clinical endpoints, relevance to PD pathophysiology, and the potential to produce clinically meaningful, actionable insights. Engage external scientific leaders and subject matter experts for advice and guidance, as needed, across multiple stages of development, validation and commercial launch. Build relationships and coordinate efforts with additional research consortia and organizations, submitting research grant proposals when opportunities arise. Initiate and manage external research collaborations, including, study design, sample acquisition, mechanistic studies, and data analyses. Medical Affairs and Field Activity: Lead Medical Affairs strategic engagement plan for KOLs and subject matter experts, to ensure that Octave receives the best possible guidance in developing our products while fostering a sense of common purpose in advancing the understanding of PD and improving patient care. Ensure launch readiness for PDDP–in pharma drug development applications and later clinical use–through building and executing the scientific communications strategy. Develop KOL relationships and advocacy through field scientific exchange, initially serving as a global Medical Science Liaison while laying the foundation for a later MSL team expansion. Coordinate the development of manuscripts, abstracts, and posters with Octave and external authors. Formulate post-launch evidence strategy: Identifying evidence gaps and planning studies whose outputs would drive payer reimbursement, broaden adoption, and have Octave biomarker tools incorporated into guidelines for clinical management of PD. Build relationships with Medical societies, patient advocacy groups, and industry/government coalitions, building awareness of Octave and identifying points of common interest. Support business development efforts with potential pharma partners by creating and presenting scientific content. Coordinate conference strategy to maximize Octave’s scientific footprint; Attend and cover conferences, present posters as needed, liaise with KOLs, and report back to Octave on key insights. Qualifications: PhD in a scientific discipline, or clinical degree (MD) with intensive scientific training. Other credentials could be considered (e.g., PharmD, MS, MPH), if accompanied by deep expertise in PD/Movement Disorders (as outlined below) and a background in Medical Affairs. Extensive experience in a CNS/neurology therapeutic area, in pharma, medical device, or diagnostics. Deep working knowledge of PD pathophysiology, clinical measures, and existing and emerging therapies. Broad knowledge of PD treatment paradigms, current unmet needs (from the standpoint of both patient and clinician), and the future therapeutic landscape, particularly with regard to disease modifying therapies (DMTs). Peer status and scientific credibility in the Parkinson’s disease/ Movement Disorders community, built through direct involvement in research and/or scientific exchange in a prior Medical Affairs role. Record of scientific accomplishment, by way of publications, presentations, or otherwise demonstrable impact within your field. Experience in Medical Affairs, ideally as a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) and MSL leader. As an MSL, success in managing a large territory, as demonstrated by long term KOL relationships– built on trust and scientific credibility–in institutions that are otherwise closed to industry. Experience in people management, leading field based MSL teams. Experience in building a scientific message platform, and developing field-facing materials to guide MSL scientific exchange. Experience in clinical study design and protocol development; Direct experience in running clinical studies and/or familiarity with real world challenges in study execution. Familiarity with clinical translation of fluid biomarkers for use in clinic or to support clinical trial endpoints. Fluently conversant in biostatistics; familiarity with cutting edge data science methods and machine learning. Demonstrated success in strategic scientific communications, leading up to product launches. Exceptional communication skills, with a talent for simplifying complex scientific concepts (without diluting them), and making them relevant to multiple audiences. Willingness to travel up to 50%: For conferences, meetings at the Menlo Park office (approximately quarterly), and KOL scientific exchanges in the field. Factors for Success in this Role Intrinsically motivated, with a passion for pushing the boundaries of science and improving patient lives. A deep understanding of biological systems, able to connect complex systems and distill them into testable hypotheses. Ability to balance a long-term strategic perspective with a focus on incremental day-to-day progress, overcoming setbacks. Creative, intellectually curious, and able to maintain focus when necessary. Relationship-oriented, able to cultivate strategic KOL relationships and engage them in a meaningful, humanistic way. A diplomatic communicator who can bridge divides across professional, scientific, and ideological backgrounds. Comfort with both collaborative and independent work, taking initiative while integrating others’ ideas when appropriate. Ability to articulate the business rationale for long-term scientific investments and the scientific value derived from business investments. Strong prioritization skills and the ability to manage competing demands effectively. Comfort with occasional ambiguity and the ability to track progress even when outcomes are not immediately measurable. Empathetic, resilient, and adaptable in the face of evolving business needs, always maintaining a focus on scientific integrity and patient benefit. Travel: Willingness to travel up to 50% for conferences, meetings, and KOL exchanges. Seniority level Director Employment type Full-time Job function Health Care Provider, Business Development, and Sales Industries: Research Services, Hospitals and Health Care, and Biotechnology Research #J-18808-Ljbffr Octave

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