Senior Director, Clinical Development

Overview

Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, is a clinical-stage company developing orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonists as a new class of medicines for the treatment of narcolepsy and potentially other sleep-wake disorders. Centessa's lead investigational candidate - cleminorexton (formerly ORX750) - is being developed for narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2, and idiopathic hypersomnia.

Centessa's OX2R agonist portfolio includes additional clinical and preclinical-stage assets with potential utility across a broader range of neurological, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric conditions. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Centessa was recognized as a Great Place to Work ® in 2026.

Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: CNTA) new kind of pharmaceutical company with a deconstructed R&D environment that prioritizes data driven decision making led by subject matter experts. Centessa is advancing a portfolio of high conviction programs with strong biological validation.

The (Senior) Director, Clinical Development will play a critical leadership role in advancing our clinical programs in sleep-wake disorders and broader CNS indications. Reporting directly to the Associate President, Clinical Development, this leader will assume primary responsibility for the strategic and operational execution of the company's late-stage Orexin Receptor 2 Agonist Program (Program 750), which targets narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2, and idiopathic hypersomnia.

Responsibilities

• Primary point of contact for clinical development activities with willingness to work strategically and hands on at the program and clinical trial levels.
• Accountable for the oversight, monitoring and surveillance of overall risk, safety, benefit/efficacy to patients as well as compliant trial execution and optimal integrity of data.
• Responsible for establishing relationships and communication with KOLs, investigators and relevant site medical (or other supportive roles) personnel.
• Lead the clinical development strategy and innovative approaches for the overall clinical pathway for the asset.
• Key clinical development contributor to publication strategy and planning, authoring of publications, posters, etc., and present or support presentations, posters, etc., in conferences and meetings.
• Play a key role in regulatory and health authority interactions.
• Lead clinical development contributor to regulatory activities, submissions, and clinical sections of regulatory/health authority pre-meeting packages and initial applications, routine annual reports, ad hoc safety reports (SUSARs), interim and final CSRs, etc.
• Author asset and clinical trial level plans, charters, documents.
• Determine optimal clinical trial design options that are innovative, patient centric, cost efficient, and enable meeting business goals.
• Responsible for review, analysis and interpretation of all clinical trial data including assessment of protocol deviations.
• Lead asset level clinical sub-teams and play key leadership role on program team for clinical development.
• Lead asset level and trial level medical forums as needed (safety review committee, ad board, KOL meetings, medical review/discussions of patient cases, cohort review meetings, etc.).
• Attend and present as needed at core team meetings, investigator meetings, site visits, etc.
• Liaise with cross functional partners, vendors, and CROs to ensure the progression of clinical studies within the expected time frame.
• Provide clinical evaluation and interpretation of pre-clinical results.
• Remain current on the development of orexin agonists and the relevant therapeutic areas through review of the scientific literature, interactions with KOLs and other external experts and attendance at relevant scientific meetings, to provide input and guidance for the strategic direction of Centessa clinical stage programs.

Basic Qualifications

• MD required, MD/PhD strongly preferred (includes internationally recognized equivalent)
• Minimum 5 years of combined experience across academia, clinical practice, pharma/biotech industry, etc.
• Minimum 2 years of pharmaceutical/biotech industry experience, including managing clinical development programs and clinical trials
• Substantial experience supporting CNS / neuroscience drug development required; sleep medicine and associated therapeutic areas strongly preferred
• Willingness to deliver project and tactical level work* Excellent working knowledge of regulations across various agencies (FDA, EMA, etc.) and GCP, & ICH guidelines. Knowledge or experience supporting regulatory or health authority inspections a plus.
• Experience leading and authoring clinical development inputs into regulatory submissions (IND, CTAs, NDA/BLAs, designation applications, etc.) and representing clinical development in agency interactions.*
• Experience authoring and guiding teams with key asset and clinical trial level plans and documents.
• Strong knowledge in clinical development strategy, clinical trial design, regulatory pathways, biostatistics methodologies, and ability to analyze and interpret translational medicine, clinical, and research data as it relates to an asset, patients, etc.
• Possess excellent written and oral communication skills with internal and external stakeholders
• Proven ability to work collaboratively, take initiative, solve complex issues, and deliver results in a fast-paced, team-based matrix environment
• Demonstrate sound judgement in handling complex, confidential, and highly regulated information
• Ability and willingness to travel as required.

Work Location

The (Senior) Director, Clinical Development role is a remote role based in the US, with occasional travel.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women's Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

• Actual compensation will depend on a candidate's education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $201,000 - $356,400
• Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance).

In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly's compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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