Director, Clinical Development – MD

Gilead Sciences

Medical Director providing clinical oversight to clinical trials for innovative cancer therapies at Kite. Leading project teams and developing strategic drug development plans.

Posted 5/1/2026full-timeFoster City • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesLeadWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Provide clinical oversight and medical monitoring to one or more clinical trials
Lead project teams to design and implement clinical studies
Write protocols, investigator brochures, clinical study reports and review clinical trial documents
Conduct investigator meetings and lead site initiation visits with clinical trial investigators
Implement and deploy drug development strategic plans, develop contingency plans, provide technical and strategic advice, and meet milestones and budgets
Translate findings from research and nonclinical studies into clinical development opportunities
Interact with clinical investigators and thought leaders
Work with internal regulatory affairs team and other ethical guidelines relevant to the pharmaceutical industry, and ensure compliance with these external guidelines
Work with internal pre-clinical scientists, translational scientists, business and commercial organizations in a cross functional manner
Provide clinical expertise and input for regulatory filings (i.e., BLA, MAA) as well as response to questions from regulatory authorities in the context of IND submissions, clinical trial applications or filing procedures
Provide clinical guidance and work in a team environment in interactions with external stakeholders (medical experts, advisory boards, patient advocacy groups) and internal stakeholders (Research, Translational Sciences, Clinical Operations, Safety, Regulatory, Medical Affairs, and Commercial)
May present scientific information at scientific conferences as well as clinical study investigator meetings
Where applicable, takes a lead on authoring scientific publications
May assist in the clinical evaluation of business development opportunities

Requirements

What you’ll need

MD/DO and 4+ years of clinical, scientific and/or drug development experience in the biopharma industry, healthcare, consulting, academia
Board certification/specialization in hematology/oncology and experience managing phase 1-3 trials
Drug development experience, either within industry or as a clinical investigator/physician scientist in academia
Cell therapy, solid tumor and/or hematological malignancy experience
Demonstrated clinical development strategist with experience designing, implementing and conducting clinical trials, with emphasis on proof-of-concept and first-in-human studies
Strategic leadership and tactical skills, excellent initiative and judgment
Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain excellent working relationships with both internal colleagues and external contacts, including key thought leaders, and investigators
Demonstrated ability to work well in teams in a cross functional manner
Ability to communicate and work in a self-guided manner with scientific/technical personnel
Ability to think critically, and demonstrated troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
Self-motivated and willing to accept responsibilities outside of initial job description
Comfortable in a dynamic small company environment with minimal direction and able to adjust workload based upon changing priorities
May travel up to 25%

Benefits

Comp & perks

Kite Pharma is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment
Work environment free of harassment and prohibited conduct
Support individual differences and diversity of thoughts and opinion

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Hard Skills & Tools

clinical oversightmedical monitoringprotocol writingclinical study reportsregulatory filingsdrug developmentclinical trialsphase 1-3 trialscell therapyhematological malignancy

Soft Skills

strategic leadershiptactical skillsinitiativejudgmentteamworkcommunicationcritical thinkingtroubleshootingproblem-solvingself-motivation

Certifications

MDDOboard certification in hematology/oncology