Associate Director, Patient Engagement GDNF

AskBio Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, is a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to developing life-saving medicines and changing lives. The company maintains a portfolio of clinical programs across a range of neuromuscular, central nervous system, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease indications with a clinical-stage pipeline that includes investigational therapeutics for congestive heart failure, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, multiple system atrophy, Parkinson’s disease, and Pompe disease. AskBio’s gene therapy platform includes Pro10™, an industry-leading proprietary cell line manufacturing process, and an extensive array of capsids and promoters. With global headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and European headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland, the company has generated hundreds of proprietary capsids and promoters, several of which have entered pre-clinical and clinical testing.

Our vision: Pioneering science to create transformative molecular medicines.

Our mission: Lead innovative science and drive clinical outcomes to transform people's lives.

Our principles:

• Advance innovative science by pushing boundaries. 

• Bring transformative therapeutics to patients in need.  

• Provide an environment for employees to reach their fullest potential.  

Our values:

• Be a Pioneer. We are not afraid of the impossible and to innovate to make gene therapies accessible to those in need.

• Cultivate Collaboration. Strive to be the best teammate, actively listen, openly communicate, and embrace diverse points of view.

• Embrace Responsibility. We are humbled by the enormity of our mission.  We hold a relentless commitment to advance science and clinical outcomes for our patients, families, and caregivers.

• Raise the Bar. Continuously drive improvements and efficiencies. Seek and provide constructive feedback. Have a bias for learning and action.

• Act with Uncompromising Integrity. Be honest, transparent, and committed to doing what’s right in every situation. Make clear commitments and follow through.

Position Summary

We’re looking for an Assoc Director, Patient Engagement in the US to help us expand what’s possible for patients living with rare and more common diseases. Reporting to the VP, Global Head of External Engagement and Public Affairs in Medical Affairs, this individual will play a pivotal role in building and leading US-based patient advocacy engagements and collaborations focusing on central nervous system diseases (Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA)).

The primary goal for this role will be to cultivate positive relationships with patient communities, advocacy groups and individual patients affected by PD/MSA to better understand their needs, experiences, and challenges. This individual will be instrumental in providing the patient voice and perspective as we design and implement our clinical development programs. You will be the bridge between patients, patient organizations, and our organization, ensuring their perspectives shape our decision-making processes, clinical development strategies, and patient empowerment initiatives. You will lead US-based engagements with patient groups by setting the strategy and leading execution to evolve disease and gene therapy understanding and education.

This is a remote-based role in the United States.

Job Responsibilities

• Develop and implement an external engagement strategy for our PD and MSA programs aligned to internal business needs and external community needs

• Manage patient advocacy and external engagement to support AskBio’s development and commercial strategies in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA)

• Identify, develop, and cultivate trust-based relationships with patient advocacy and key patient/caregiver organizations consistent with the phase of development of AskBio clinical programs in CNS

• Be responsible for the development and execution of the PD/MSA medical affairs patient advocacy/external engagement plan and ensure its alignment with overall PD/MSA program goals and key deliverables

• Participate in and support patient organization events, workshops, and conferences to elevate gene therapy awareness and champion patient community engagement, as directed

• Participate as an active member of cross-functional study teams that are responsible for ensuring on-time recruitment and retention of participants for clinical studies

• Create and oversee quarterly community newsletter (AAVengers) for the community

• Communicate progress, metrics and milestone status for PD/MSA to leadership, R&D partners and others

• Engage with patient advocacy groups, foundations, and individual patients to understand their point of view and needs as it relates to patient-focused drug development

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key collaborators in the patient community

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure patient perspective is internally understood and incorporated into company culture and patient needs are considered at all stages of product development

• Collaborate with Corporate communications and external agencies to develop patient/advocate awareness of AskBio science and clinical programs

• Manage standing patient council meetings and recruit and organize Patient advisory boards, focus groups, meetings as needed, in support of clinical programs

• Perform other activities as assigned by the VP Medical Affairs and senior management

• Work to cultivate a culture of appreciation for Patients as Partners within Askbio

• Collaborate with Integrated Product Team, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Corporate Communications, Human Resources, Legal, Compliance and Partner companies to ensure that core values and corporate brand are represented in internal and external initiatives

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, healthcare, public health, or a related field and at least 8 years’ experience in patient advocacy/engagement or closely related roles within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical healthcare industries

• Experience in Neurology and/or Parkinson’s Disease

• Understanding of drug development process, with an ability to communicate complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences

• Consistent track record of performance in developing and driving strategic projects, including leading budgets and demonstrating impact

• Proven ability to translate patient insights into actionable inputs for clinical development

• Excellent communication and social skills to engage with patients, advocacy groups, and internal collaborators effectively

• Demonstrated peer leadership experience and ability to inspire and motivate a matrixed team

• Deep appreciation for patients and their families, with a passion for advocating on their behalf

• Knowledge of regulatory and ethical considerations related to patient advocacy and engagement

• Passionate for making a difference in the lives of patients with serious and rare disease

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the interpersonal skills to interact and collaborate effectively with people, internally and externally

• This position will require significant travel to attend patient-focused meetings, conference and events, with flexibility to work outside standard business hours as required

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills

• Ability to multitask among multiple projects and teams and work independently in a fast-paced, highly interactive environment.

• Acute organizational skills with a strong attention to detail, clarity, accuracy, and conciseness.

• Demonstrated ability to work with different personalities and styles efficiently and prioritize activities based on ambiguous or quickly changing information and environments is critical.

• Familiarity/experience with regulatory and pharmaceutical legal promotional review processes.

AskBio Inc. (AskBio) is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected status prohibited under Federal, State or local laws. All employment decisions are based on valid job‐related requirements. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website, you may request a reasonable accommodation to express interest in a specific opening by calling us at (919) 561-6210 or sending us an email at careers@askbio.com.

Agencies:  Please do not contact any employee at AskBio about this requisition.  Any resume submitted by a recruitment agency to any employee at AskBio, through any medium, will be deemed the sole property of AskBio unless the agency was engaged by AskBio Talent Acquisition team to recruit for that position.  All agencies must have a prior executed service agreement with AskBio prior to any search engagement.  If a candidate who was submitted outside of the AskBio agency process is hired by AskBio, no fee or payment of any kind will be paid to the agency.