(Senior) Medical Director (MD Required)
Listed compensation
$207k-$380k
The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed
Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.
Job Description
AbelZeta is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel immunotherapy products. We are on a rapid growth trajectory and have a highly energized and accomplished team driving to new frontiers of care for cancer and autoimmune disease patients.
We are seeking a physician clinical developer to join the Inflammation & Immunology Clinical Development organization. The role may be appointed at the Medical Director, or Senior Medical Director level depending on the candidate’s depth of clinical development experience, therapeutic-area expertise, and demonstrated leadership scope.
The successful candidate will initially provide study-level clinical leadership and medical monitoring for one or more autoimmune and/or neuroimmunology trials, with meaningful responsibility for protocol design, study execution, investigator engagement, safety oversight, data interpretation, and regulatory support.
This role offers the opportunity to join a rapidly evolving clinical-stage cell-therapy organization at a point when programs are transitioning from early clinical evidence into global and potentially registrational development. The successful candidate can build deep expertise in autoimmune cell therapy while progressively expanding from hands-on study leadership to broader clinical development ownership.
Responsibilities and Duties
- Study Medical Leadership & Medical Monitoring
- Serve as Study Medical Lead for one or more clinical trials and provide day-to-day clinical oversight from study start-up through database lock and clinical study reporting.
- Perform or oversee medical monitoring activities, including eligibility review, AEs, SAE, concomitant medications, rescue therapy review, protocol deviation, data queries.
- Review subject-level clinical data in EDC and related data-review platforms
- Provide medical guidance to investigators and sites regarding protocol interpretation, eligibility, disease management, safety events, and study-specific clinical questions.
- Protocol Design, Data Interpretation & Scientific Strategy
- Lead or contribute to development of protocols, amendments, investigator brochures, informed consent forms, medical monitoring plans, clinical sections of statistical analysis plans, clinical study reports, and other core study documents.
- Integrate disease biology, clinical phenotype, standard of care, translational findings, PK/PD, biomarker data, and emerging safety/efficacy data into study-level decisions and future development strategy.
- Identify study risks, propose mitigation strategies, and help ensure high-quality, timely, and inspection-ready trial execution
- Participate in and, with increasing experience, help lead regulatory interactions related to expedited programs, protocol alignment, pivotal development, and registrational strategy.
- Build productive relationships with investigators, key opinion leaders, advisory boards, patient advocacy organizations, and external experts.
- Cell Therapy & Cross-Functional Development
- Develop expertise in the clinical and operational considerations unique to autologous CAR-T and other advanced therapies, including leukapheresis, manufacturing/vein-to-vein coordination, lymphodepletion, infusion, acute toxicity management, cytopenias, infection risk, immune reconstitution, and long-term follow-up.
- Partner with Safety and clinical experts on assessment and management frameworks for CRS, ICANS/neurotoxicity, infections, cytopenias, and disease-specific complications.
- Partner closely with Clinical Operations, Data Management, Pharmacovigilance/Safety, Biostatistics, Translational Medicine, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Writing, CMC/Technical Operations, and CRO partners
Qualifications and Requirements
- Required MD, DO, or equivalent medical degree.
- Board certification/board eligibility in Rheumatology, Neurology, Neuroimmunology/Multiple Sclerosis, Clinical Immunology, or another specialty with substantial autoimmune-disease expertise.
- Meaningful clinical experience caring for patients with autoimmune, rheumatologic, or neuroimmunology disease.
- Demonstrated understanding of clinical-trial methodology, GCP, patient safety, and clinical data interpretation.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to operate effectively in a highly matrixed, fast-moving environment.
Preferred Qualifications
- Industry clinical-development experience as a study physician, medical monitor, or clinical development experience; or academic clinical trial investigator
- Hands-on medical monitoring and EDC/data-review experience, including eligibility, AEs/SAEs, concomitant medications, protocol deviations, rescue therapy, and medical queries.
- Experience designing or executing Phase 1, Phase 1b/2, Phase 2, pivotal, or registrational clinical trials.
- Experience with CAR-T, cell therapy, gene therapy, hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, immune effector-cell therapy, or other advanced therapeutic modalities.
- Experience with biomarkers, translational medicine, precision medicine, pharmacodynamic endpoints, or mechanistically driven patient-selection strategies.
- Experience supporting regulatory submissions or direct health-authority interactions.
- Clinically credible: can engage investigators and KOLs as a physician peer while maintaining sponsor accountability.
- Collaborative: effective across Clinical Operations, Safety, Regulatory, Biometrics, Translational Medicine, CMC, Research, and external partners.
- Comfortable with ambiguity and urgency: able to prioritize, make decisions with incomplete information, and operate effectively in a growing biotechnology company
Why You Should Join AbelZeta
- Join a high-growth and fast-paced organization.
- Defined career path and annual performance review and feedback process.
- Comprehensive Benefits Plan, including 100% company paid medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance, and more!
- Competitive company 401k match.
- Paid holidays, sick leave, and annual leave.
AbelZeta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
AbelZeta validates right to work using E-Verify. Salary at AbelZeta is determined by various factors, including but not limited to location, the individual’s particular combination of education, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience, as well as contract-specific affordability and organizational requirements.
The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position and is just one component of AbelZeta’s total compensation package for employees.
Key Responsibilities
The Medical Director will provide clinical leadership and medical monitoring for autoimmune and neuroimmunology trials, overseeing protocol design and study execution. They will also collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate scientific strategy and ensure high-quality, inspection-ready trial data.
Requirements
Candidates must hold an MD, DO, or equivalent medical degree with board certification in a relevant specialty such as Rheumatology or Neurology. Significant experience in clinical development, patient safety, and clinical trial methodology is required.
Qualifications
- Education
- Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)
- Experience
- 10+ years of experience
Medical Affairs — Physician Career Context
The cost-of-living index for Maryland is 105.0 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$294k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $280k in an average-cost state. 62.9% of Maryland clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).
Medical Affairs pay on WeekdayDoc is up 1.7% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).
| Measure | This job | Market |
|---|---|---|
| Listed pay | $207k–$380k | Medical Affairs median $298k (middle half $264k–$324k)58 comparable listings, Oct 2026 |
| Cost-of-living adjusted pay | ~$280k in purchasing power | Maryland index 105.0 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024) |
| Medical Affairs listings in Maryland | 10 active | 294 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Oct 2026 |
| Sign-on & loan repayment | not stated | Maryland Physician listings: 20% state a sign-on bonus (median $50k) · 10% offer loan repayment391 active listings, Oct 2026 |
| Medical Affairs pay trend | +1.7% vs prior quarter | —through Sep 2026 |
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