Director, Head of Corporate Communications

About Celea Therapeutics

Celea Therapeutics is dedicated to advancing transformative treatments for people with serious respiratory diseases. Drawn from the Latin word for “sky,” our name reflects our mission to rise above the status quo and deliver therapies that change lives. Our lead program, deupirfenidone (LYT-100), is currently in Phase 3 clinical development with active candidate enrollment, representing a potential new standard of care for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other fibrotic lung diseases.

Rising above the status quo takes a team as strong as its science, and we hire and work by five values: accountability — owning outcomes and acting like owners; transparency — talking straight and building trust; collaboration — achieving together what no one could alone; innovation — challenging accepted ideas and taking smart risks; and passion — bringing energy and heart to the mission. 

As Celea prepares for its next stage of clinical, corporate, and capital markets growth, we are seeking a strategic, hands-on Director, Head of Communications to build and execute an integrated external communications program. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this role will serve as the company’s day-to-day owner for corporate communications and the operating cadence required for the company. 

This is a Director-level individual contributor role designed for someone who can think like a function head while personally writing, coordinating, organizing, and executing the work. In the near term, you will focus on strengthening Celea’s corporate narrative, supporting communications around clinical and corporate milestones, preparing external facing content, and creating practical processes that help Celea communicate clearly, consistently, and compliantly across multiple external audience segments. Over time, you will help scale the communications infrastructure needed to support the company’s public presence (electronic, in print and web presence), financing activities, medical and industry conferences, and milestone-driven engagement with key stakeholders. 

The ideal candidate combines biotechnology communications judgment,  excellent writing, disciplined project management, and comfort working in a lean environment where external agency partners, legal counsel, finance, clinical, medical affairs, and executive leaders must stay tightly aligned. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Own Celea’s integrated communications workplan, ensuring external messaging is clear, consistent, scientifically credible, regulatorily appropriate, and aligned with company strategy. 

• Develop, write, and maintain core corporate external-facing materials, including the corporate deck, external presentation, conference materials, press releases, executive talking points, Q&A documents, website updates, and social media content. 

• Partner with executive leadership, Finance, Legal, Clinical, Medical Affairs, and external advisors to support corporate objectives, including conference planning together with medical affairs, Q&A preparation, and company communications processes. 

• Partner with Leadership and HR on internal communications, providing strategic messaging and communications support for employee announcements, program rollouts, company news and other key organizational updates. 

• Translate complex clinical, scientific, regulatory, and commercial information into balanced, accurate, audience-appropriate messaging for, healthcare stakeholders, media, prospective employees, patients, and caregivers. 

• Lead proactive and reactive communications around corporate, clinical, financing, conference, and business milestones, balancing planned news flow with opportunistic visibility opportunities between major events. 

• Coordinate media relations and thought leadership activities, including media lists, inbound inquiries, executive preparation, earned media opportunities, and compliant amplification of scientific congress activity and scientific data. 

• Oversee external communications, design, wire distribution, website, conference, and agency partners, including scopes of work, timelines, budgets, deliverable quality, and issue escalation. 

• Lead strategic planning for Celea’s web presence across key audiences, including patients and caregivers, healthcare providers, career seekers, investors, media, and other external stakeholders. 

• Create practical processes, templates, message maps, trackers, and version-control standards that allow a lean company to operate with public-company-like discipline. 

• Prepare the infrastructure for building Celea’s future Communications team, including scalable processes, tools, workflows, agency interfaces, and role definitions that can support team growth as the company expands. 

Qualifications 

Required 

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, business, finance, life sciences, journalism, or a related field; equivalent experience considered. 

• 8+ years of experience in investor relations, corporate communications, financial communications, biotechnology or pharmaceutical communications, healthcare capital markets, or a closely related field. 

• Experience preparing corporate decks, message maps, press releases, and conference messaging. 

• Excellent writing and editing skills, with the ability to draft polished, executive-ready materials and translate complex science into concise business language. 

• Strong project management skills and the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced, early-stage environment with limited infrastructure and shifting priorities. 

• Proficiency using AI tools to work smarter, improve quality, accelerate drafting and research, and build repeatable workflows while maintaining human judgment and accountability. 

• Familiarity with rare disease, pulmonary, respiratory, or specialty pharmaceutical markets. 

Why Join Celea Therapeutics 

• Play a pivotal role in advancing life-changing therapies for patients with devastating lung diseases. 

• Shape the communications and investor relations foundation of a Phase 3 biotech poised for significant growth. 

• Work closely with an experienced, mission-driven leadership team and influence how Celea tells its story to patients, investors, clinicians, employees, and the broader market. 

• Build a function with public-company discipline while staying close to the science, the strategy, and the people behind the mission. 

• Competitive compensation and equity package. 

Compensation 

Transparency is one of our values, and that includes how we pay. The anticipated salary range for this role is $232,000-$245,000, plus bonus target and equity, as applicable. Where an offer lands within the range reflects the candidate’s experience, skills, and internal equity, and we welcome open conversations about compensation from the first call so there are no surprises at the offer stage. 

Our Commitment

Celea Therapeutics is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate every candidate against the requirements of the role using a structured, evidence-based process, and we make employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.

For more information, visit www.celeatx.com or connect with us on Twitter @celeatx.