Oruka Therapeutics logo
Oruka Therapeutics
Waltham, Massachusetts · Hybrid

Medical Director, Clinical Development

Medical AffairsFull-Time

Listed compensation

$256k-$288k

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about call expectations, weekend coverage, nights and shift pattern and time off.

Posted 1mo ago · Verified live

Job Description

About Us

Oruka Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ORKA) is developing novel biologics designed to set a new standard for the treatment of chronic skin diseases.

Oruka’s mission is to offer patients suffering from chronic skin diseases like plaque psoriasis the greatest possible freedom from their condition by achieving high rates of complete disease clearance with dosing as infrequently as once or twice per year.

Oruka is advancing a proprietary portfolio of potentially best-in-class antibodies that were engineered by Paragon Therapeutics and target the core mechanisms underlying plaque psoriasis and other dermatologic and inflammatory diseases. For more information, visit orukatx.com

As we build our core team, we're seeking top talent in different functional areas who are not just looking for a job, but an opportunity to be part of something bigger. Someone who is passionate about making a difference and eager to contribute to establishing an engaged, inclusive, and positive company culture.

Job Title: Medical Director, Clinical Development

Location

Remote OR Hybrid 3 days/week if located near office in Waltham, MA will be required.

Role Overview

Medical Director of Clinical Development plays a key role in the execution and operational oversight of clinical trials, ensuring high-quality data generation to support the safety and efficacy of our pipeline products.

This role involves supporting clinical study design, implementation, and data interpretation while working cross-functionally to align clinical activities with overall development plans.

The Medical Director collaborates closely with internal and external stakeholders to ensure trial execution meets regulatory, scientific, and business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Clinical Trial Design and Oversight:

Supports the development of clinical trial protocols, including patient selection criteria, study endpoints, and data collection methods

Oversees the conduct of clinical trials at study sites, ensuring adherence to protocols and good clinical practice (GCP) guidelines

Reviews and interprets clinical data to assess the safety and efficacy of the investigational drug

Authors and contributes to clinical and non-clinical documents required during the clinical development process (including but not limited to: Clinical Study Protocols, Investigator Brochures, Clinical Study Reports)

Medical Expertise

  • Provides medical expertise of the therapeutic area, disease state, and potential drug effects
  • Reviews clinical data to identify and analyze safety concerns and adverse events, and makes appropriate recommendations to the team
  • Stays current with relevant medical literature and clinical trial methodologies

Contributes medical expertise to external interactions with collaborators throughout the clinical development cycle

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Works closely with other functions including clinical operations, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, biometrics, pre-clinical and project management teams to help ensure optimization of the clinical development process

Presents clinical data to internal and external stakeholders

Strategic Leadership

Contributes to the Overall Clinical Development Strategy

  • Helps to identify critical clinical development milestones and helps the team to drive toward meeting or exceeding timelines
  • Leads the clinical contribution for clinical study reports, clinical documents and regulatory submissions
  • May oversee the work of Clinical Scientists working on the same or other programs

Qualifications

  • Medical degree (MD) with board certification in a relevant specialty
  • Extensive experience in clinical research and development, ideally within the pharmaceutical industry
  • Strong understanding of clinical trial design, GCP guidelines, and regulatory requirements
  • Excellent communication, leadership, and analytical skills

Compensation

An appropriate financial package will be developed for the successful candidate to include a competitive base salary and equity, with a performance-related bonus opportunity.

The anticipated salary range for the Medical Director is $256,00-288,000. The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to the type and length of experience within the job, type and length of experience within the industry, education, etc. Oruka is a multi-state employer and this salary range may not reflect positions that work in other states.

We're looking forward to hearing how you can contribute to our team and mission. Join us in shaping the future of our company and making a real impact every day.

  • Salary Range for the Role
  • $256,000—$288,000 USD

What We Offer

A chance to be part of a vibrant startup culture where your work can directly impact bringing new medicines to patients.

  • Competitive salary and benefits package.
  • A supportive and inclusive team environment where everyone is encouraged to bring their authentic selves to work.
  • Opportunities for professional growth and development.

Qualifications

Education
Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
10+ years of experience

Key Skills

Safety assessmentAdverse event analysis

Medical Affairs — Physician Career Context

The cost-of-living index for Massachusetts is 105.8 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$272k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $257k in an average-cost state. 63.2% of Massachusetts clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Medical Affairs pay on WeekdayDoc is up 2.9% vs. the prior quarter (through Oct 2026).

What does the Medical Affairs market look like in Massachusetts?
MeasureThis jobMarket
Work-life score6.0 / 10 · top 25% in medical affairsranked against 273 Medical Affairs listingslisting-based score, 0–10
Listed pay$256k–$288kMedical Affairs median $302k (middle half $281k–$325k)20 comparable listings, Nov 2026
Cost-of-living adjusted pay~$257k in purchasing powerMassachusetts index 105.8 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Medical Affairs listings in Massachusetts89 active273 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Sign-on & loan repaymentsign-on bonusMassachusetts physician listings (all specialties): 19% state a sign-on bonus (median $75k) · 13% offer loan repayment618 active listings, Nov 2026
Medical Affairs hiring demand#6 of 28 specialtiespostings stay open a median 69 daysWeekdayDoc Hiring Index, October 2026 · 162 postings, 36 closed
New Medical Affairs listings94 in the last 30 days90 the 30 days before (+4%)U.S., first seen on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Medical Affairs pay trend+2.9% vs prior quarter—through Oct 2026
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index (273 Medical Affairs listings), BEA Regional Price Parities (2024), WeekdayDoc Hiring Index; as of Nov 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Medical Director, Clinical Development at Oruka Therapeutics a 6.0 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the top 25% in Medical Affairs — ranked against 273 active Medical Affairs listings on WeekdayDoc. Contributing factors include remote work flexibility.

Top Medical Affairs Jobs

1 matches · ranked by pay
#1

Payer & Health Systems Oncology, Medical Affairs Director (PHSO MAD) (PA, MD, Upstate NY)

MSD · Baltimore, Maryland

$210k-$331k

Work-life snapshot

median 3.0this job 6.0
Better work-life than 80% of Medical Affairs listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 273 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • Hybrid
  • Remote
Oruka Therapeutics logo

About Oruka Therapeutics

Biotechnology Research
51-200 employees

Benefits & Perks

Competitive salary and benefits package
Equity
Performance-related bonus opportunity
Professional growth and development