Description of Role 

The Senior Director of Patient Advocacy will lead the development and execution of the companys patient advocacy and engagement strategy, ensuring the patient voice is embedded across clinical development, corporate strategy, disease awareness, and future commercialization efforts. Partnering closely with executive leadership, cross-functional teams, and colleagues within our parent organization, this individual will help develop and implement a strategic framework for incorporating patient perspectives into key business, development, and commercialization decisions. The role will build advocacy partnerships, drive patient-centered initiatives, influence decision-making, and advance measurable improvements in patient outcomes, disease awareness, clinical trial engagement, and access. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Build and lead the companys patient advocacy and engagement function, including strategy, operating model, governance, and external engagement frameworks. 

• Establish and cultivate relationships with patient advocacy organizations, professional societies, caregivers, patient leaders, and rare disease communities. 

• Develop processes to capture, analyze, and integrate patient insights across research, clinical development, regulatory activities, communications, and future commercialization planning. 

• Create and execute disease awareness, patient education, and community engagement initiatives that support diagnosis, education, and patient outcomes. 

• Develop and drive a strategic approach for integrating the patient voice into enterprise decision-making across Centessa and its parent organization, ensuring patient insights meaningfully inform clinical development, regulatory, medical, market access, and future commercial strategies, including clinical trial design, recruitment, retention, and participant experience. 

• Drive cross-functional collaboration across Medical Affairs, Clinical Development, Regulatory, Communications, Commercial, Market Access, and parent company stakeholders to advance a patient-centric culture and ensure patient perspectives are incorporated into strategic decision-making. 

• Identify advocacy, policy, and market-shaping opportunities that support both patient and organizational objectives. 

• Establish metrics, KPIs, and reporting processes to measure advocacy impact and organizational effectiveness. 

• Manage advocacy-related budgets, grants, and external partnerships while ensuring compliance with industry standards and company policies. 

Qualifications 

• Bachelors degree required; advanced degree preferred (e.g., MPH, MHA, PharmD, PhD, or MD). 

• Minimum 10 years of experience (combined with advanced degree) in patient advocacy, patient engagement or related biotechnology or pharmaceutical functions. 

• Demonstrated success building, launching, or significantly expanding patient advocacy capabilities, programs, or functions. 

• Proven ability to influence executive leadership and drive alignment across cross-functional teams in evolving and ambiguous environments. 

• Experience developing patient education programs, disease awareness initiatives, and patient-facing communications. 

• Experience establishing governance processes, operating frameworks, and performance metrics with measurable outcomes. 

• Knowledge of compliance requirements related to advocacy engagement, grants, and patient-facing activities. 

• Preferred experience in rare diseases, neurology, CNS in pre-commercial organizations. 

Work Location 

The Senior Director, Patient Advocacy role is based in the US, with occasional travel.