Position: KOL Engagement (Director - Senior Director)

Position Summary

Karuna is seeking an experienced and motivated marketing leader to join our rapidly growing organization. Reporting to the Vice President, Marketing, this role will play a critical part in building the overall strategy and engagement plan with both leading and emerging external experts or key opinion leaders (KOLs) for our current and future portfolio products. This individual will manage and guide a team to lead Peer-to-Peer activities across current indications and life cycle management opportunities, including content strategy and development, speaker bureau creation & management, advisory boards, congress strategy, and key opinion leader (KOL) engagement, ensuring all are in alignment with brand strategy. This role will collaborate with other members of Commercial, Medical Affairs, Legal, Compliance, Regulatory, and Field Leadership to deliver on brand objectives. Demonstrated strategic agility and strong knowledge of product development and HCP marketing is required. Responsibilities include external expert identification, fostering relationships with external experts to inform commercial and other related strategies, analysis, strategic planning, and coordination across multiple internal and external partners. In addition, this role will lead cross-functional teams to ensure excellent coordination of planning across the organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to build overall external expert engagement strategic and tactical plans, including Peer-to-Peer content strategy, Advisory Boards, Congress Strategy and overall external expert communication plans
• Engage across functions to develop and execute strategic plans to identify and select physician partners/external experts in the appropriate therapeutic and specialty areas
• Manage the day-to-day interactions with external experts during the product development process as well as pre- and post-product launch. Interface with external experts through office visits, society and association meetings, and/or at Advisory Boards
• Work closely with cross-functional teams to maximize external expert engagement opportunities
• Collaborate with internal cross-functional teams and develop novel strategies to understand and impact strategic external expert thinking on critical areas of disease state and product need
• Successfully and compliantly exchange knowledge, gather insights and build advocacy with external experts
• Provide insights and learnings back to marketing, medical and/or sales as appropriate and within compliance guidelines
• Generate insights through use of secondary data, market research, and analytics and translate these into external expert strategy and tactical plan development
• Actively partner with internal teams to provide robust commercial direction on pipeline planning and product development strategy and ensure appropriate early commercial planning and execution
• Support the execution of contracts with external experts as needed
• Support Karuna in effectively communicating scientific and industry knowledge to broad communities of resources
• Understand the external expert universe at both the micro and macro levels to collaborate compliantly with internal partners, including Medical Affairs, Commercial, Corporate Communications and Clinical Development, to develop/collaborate on key initiatives impacting patient access and unmet medical needs
• Effectively manage agency partners to produce deliverables within timelines and allocated budget
• Maintain detailed understanding of relevant disease areas and competitive marketplace
• Develop and deliver presentations to key internal stakeholders and external audiences

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of commercial experience in biotech or at a pharmaceutical company, including a minimum of 5 years of commercial strategic planning or related experience
• Direct CNS/Neuro experience is preferred but not required
• Strong track record of delivering impactful strategies and plans
• Recent launch experience
• Exhibit high capability for working collaboratively and thinking strategically
• Experience in or working closely with Insights/Market Research
• Ability to interface with all levels of employees and management as well as outside agencies
• Demonstrated ability to build a team and develop a high performing organization
• Has demonstrated consultative decision making and acquired knowledge and skills/competencies to the degree expected at job level
• A proven track record of developing and implementing creative ways of working/executing projects in line with internal policies and external regulations to deliver optimal value to Karuna, external experts, patients and therapeutic community
• Excellent verbal and written skills, allowing for an open and effective dialogue throughout the company
• Attention to detail and quality are critical to success
• Highly accountable for the results and outcomes of their responsibilities and understands the impact of their efforts, results, and attitudes on others
• Uses teamwork to work cooperatively toward the most effective solutions, championing the best ideas of team members, and assisting where help is needed yet is capable of highly independent work when efficiency is required
• Results-oriented individual who is highly motivated, decisive, flexible in thought, and has the creativity to excel in and contribute to a rapidly growing company
• Forward thinking mindset with the ability to manage multiple projects, and identify and resolve issues
• Broad experience in an emerging, publicly traded company environment is a plus
• Candidates must have ability to travel 60%

The successful candidate will also embody our values:

Our purpose is to create value for those we have the privilege to serve:

• We take pride in our work
• We keep our promises and deliver
• We are driven to meaningfully innovate
• We succeed through inclusion and teamwork

Karuna Therapeutics is committed to equal opportunity in the terms and conditions of employment for all employees and job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, disability or veteran status.

Karuna Therapeutics requires all employees be fully vaccinated by an approved vaccine against COVID-19, including a booster dose if it has been more than eight months since the employee’s original vaccination, unless you need an exemption due to disability, pregnancy or conditions related to pregnancy or religion or unless otherwise provided by law; in the case of exemption, weekly testing will be required.

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