Kura Oncology, Inc.

Director, Marketing - Thought Leader Engagement Strategy

Kura Oncology, Inc.$234K — $262K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred (MBA, PharmD, PhD, MPH, or equivalent).
  • 8+ years in biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry, with significant oncology marketing experience preferred.
  • Experience leading thought leader engagement initiatives including speaker programs and advisory boards.
  • Proven ability to develop strategic customer engagement plans in regulated environments.
  • Expertise in transforming observations into actionable business insights.
  • Strong leadership skills with experience partnering across multiple functions.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.

Responsibilities

  • Develop and execute overall thought leader engagement strategy.
  • Identify emerging trends in healthcare professional (HCP) engagement.
  • Coordinate customer engagement strategies with various teams.
  • Create and maintain thought leader segmentation frameworks.
  • Design and execute advocacy strategies for priority thought leaders.
  • Lead the capture and synthesis of KOL-generated insights.
  • Manage speaker bureau strategy including recruitment and development.

Benefits

  • Career advancement and development opportunities.
  • Competitive compensation package with bonuses.
  • 401K with employer contributions.
  • Generous stock options and ESPP plan.
  • 20 days PTO and 18 holidays including summer and winter breaks.
  • Comprehensive benefits package with substantial employer match.
  • Paid maternity/paternity leave.
  • Catered lunches and home office setup support.
  • Lifestyle spending stipend and commuter stipend (Boston office).
  • Regular employee social activities.
Full Job Description
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Join us as we embark on an exciting journey in transforming the treatment landscape of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Marketing Director, Thought Leader Engagement Strategy to lead the development and execution of thought leader engagement strategies supporting KOMZIFTI® (ziftomenib) in relapsed/refractory (R/R) NPM1-mutant AML.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Brand Strategy and Marketing, this individual will serve as the strategic architect behind Opinion Leader (OL) engagement, advocacy development, insight generation, advisory board strategy, speaker bureau, and congress strategy. This role will be responsible for transforming field-based observations into actionable business recommendations that influence brand strategy and commercial execution.

Working in close partnership with Regional Marketing, Brand Marketing, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Sales Leadership, and Compliance, this individual will identify emerging trends, prioritize engagement opportunities, shape advocacy development plans and identify insights to improve outcomes for patients with NPM1-m AML.

The successful candidate will bring deep oncology marketing experience, strong OL engagement expertise, and a demonstrated ability to translate strategic insights into impactful educational and engagement programs.

Responsibilities

OL Engagement Strategy
  • Develop and execute the overall OL engagement strategy in alignment with brand objectives and customer needs.
  • Identify emerging trends in HCP engagement and implement new models that enhance physician education, interaction, and experience.
  • Partner closely with Field Regional Marketing, Medical Affairs, Sales, Market Access, Commercial Operations, and Corporate Communications to ensure coordinated customer engagement strategies.

OL Mapping
  • Create and maintain national and regional thought leader segmentation frameworks.
  • Develop annual and quarterly engagement plans aligned with brand objectives.
  • Build influence maps that identify key networks, referral patterns, and centers of excellence.
  • Continuously assess evolving stakeholder landscapes and emerging thought leaders.

Advocacy Development
  • Design and execute advocacy development strategies for priority thought leaders.
  • Establish advocacy goals and progression plans for key OLs.
  • Develop strategies to engage neutral or competitive physicians.
  • Monitor advocacy movement and influence over time.

Insight Generation & Strategic Interpretation
  • Lead the process for capturing, synthesizing, and prioritizing KOL-generated insights.
  • Transform qualitative observations into strategic recommendations.
  • Identify emerging market trends, competitive threats, unmet needs, and opportunities.
  • Develop executive-level analyses that deliver actionable recommendations to the commercial organization.

Speaker Bureau & Peer-to-Peer Education
  • Own speaker bureau strategy, including content, speaker identification, recruitment, training, development, and performance management in collaboration with regional marketing.
  • Evaluate program effectiveness and continuously evolve the speaker program model to maximize physician engagement and educational impact.
  • Develop innovative peer-to-peer education approaches that address the evolving speaker program environment.

Advisory Boards & Customer Insights
  • Lead planning and execution of advisory boards and other physician insight-gathering initiatives.
  • Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to define objectives and discussion topics.
  • Develop advisory board discussion decks
  • Synthesize insights into actionable recommendations that inform brand strategy, customer engagement, and future commercial initiatives.

Congress Strategy & Execution
  • Lead commercial congress strategy and execution for major national and regional hematology and oncology meetings.
  • Develop congress-related engagement tactics, events, and customer experiences that support brand objectives.
  • Assess congress outcomes and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

Ensure all above activities are conducted in compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements.

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to the job.

JOB SPECIFICATIONS:

Required Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (MBA, PharmD, PhD, MPH, or equivalent) preferred.
  • 8+ years of biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry experience with significant oncology marketing experience; hematology experience strongly preferred.
  • Demonstrated experience leading OL engagement initiatives, including speaker programs, advisory boards, KOL engagement, and congress activities.
  • Proven ability to develop and execute strategic customer engagement plans in regulated environment
  • Skilled at transforming observations into business decisions.
  • Proven ability to operate in a fast paced, dynamic environment of a fully integrated biotech company, driving ideas with a focus on innovation and patient centricity.
  • Strong cross-functional leadership skills with experience partnering across Commercial, Medical Affairs, Sales, Regulatory, Legal, and Compliance.
  • Comfortable influencing without direct authority.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
  • Experience managing external agencies and vendors.
  • Ability to travel up to 30%.

Preferred Qualifications
  • AML and/or hematologic malignancy experience.
  • Oncology product launch experience.
  • Experience developing innovative physician engagement approaches beyond traditional speaker programs.
  • Experience leveraging digital and omnichannel channels to enhance HCP engagement.
  • Sales experience or strong partnership with field sales organizations.

The base range for this role is $234,000 - $262,000. Individual pay may vary based on additional factors, including, and without limitation, job-related skills, experience, work location, and relevant education or training. Kura's compensation package also includes generous benefits, equity, and participation in an annual target bonus.

#LI-RM1

Kura's Values that are used for candidate selection and performance assessments:
  • We work as one for patients
  • We are goal-focused and deliver with excellence
  • We are science-driven courageous innovators
  • We strive to bring out the best in each other and ourselves

The Kura Package
  • Career advancement/ development opportunities
  • Competitive comp package
  • Bonus
  • 401K + Employer contributions
  • Generous stock options
  • ESPP Plan
  • 20 days of PTO to start
  • 18 Holidays (Including Summer & Winter Break)
  • Generous Benefits Package with a variety of plans available with a substantial employer match
  • Paid Paternity/Maternity Leave
  • In-Office Catered lunches
  • Home Office Setup
  • Lifestyle Spending Stipend
  • Commuter Stipend (Boston Office)
  • Regular employee social activities, including happy hours, monthly birthday celebrations, Kura Koffee Talks, and much more!

About Kura Oncology, Inc.

Kura Oncology, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company's pipeline consists of small molecule drug candidates that target cancer signaling pathways where there is a strong scientific and clinical rationale to improve outcomes by identifying those patients most likely to benefit from treatment. Kura Oncology's lead drug candidate, tipifarnib, is a potent, selective and orally bioavailable inhibitor of farnesyl transferase, in clinical development for the treatment of patients with solid tumors harboring HRAS mutations.
Learn more about Kura Oncology, Inc.
Size
107 employees
Market Cap
$775 million
Industry
Net Income
-$89.6 million
Founded
2014

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