Director, Scientific and Medical Communications

Company Overview:

Protara Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to advancing transformative therapies for people with cancer and rare diseases. Protara’s portfolio includes its lead candidate, TARA-002, an investigational cell-based therapy in development for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and lymphatic malformations (LMs). The Company is evaluating TARA-002 in an ongoing Phase 2 trial in NMIBC patients with carcinoma in situ (CIS) who are unresponsive or naïve to treatment with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), as well as a Phase 2 trial in pediatric patients with LMs. Additionally, Protara is developing IV Choline Chloride, an investigational phospholipid substrate replacement for patients on parenteral support who are otherwise unable to meet their choline needs via oral or enteral routes.

Protara was named one of the Best Places to Work by BioSpace, a leading industry news and job source. This honor demonstrates the company’s desirability in the recruitment marketplace, looking at various merits with an emphasis on culture, career growth and development opportunities, leadership and innovation.  Attracting and retaining top talent is integral to building a successful company in biotech, and we are committed to ensuring Protara provides our employees with an exceptional experience throughout their careers, even as we continue to grow.

Job Overview:  

Protara Therapeutic’s Scientific and Medical Communications leader develops and drives the scientific and medical communication strategy for Protara’s oncology, and rare disease product portfolio.  This role ensures scientific accuracy, message consistency, and high‑quality communication across internal and external audiences. The ideal candidate brings strong scientific grounding, exceptional writing and data positioning skills, and experience supporting medical affairs, clinical development, and corporate communications in highly innovative therapeutic areas.

**This position can be remote with some travel to the NYC home office.

 *Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

Scientific Narrative and Content Development

• Create and maintain the company’s scientific platform, core data narratives, and disease‑area messaging across oncology, cell and gene therapy, and rare diseases.
• Develop and/or oversee the development of high‑quality scientific materials including slide decks, white papers, FAQs, backgrounders, and scientific statements for internal and external use.
• Translate complex clinical, nonclinical, and mechanistic data into clear, compelling content tailored to scientific, clinical, regulatory, and investor audiences.
• Work closely with Corporate Communications colleagues to ensure consistency of scientific messaging across publications, presentations, press releases, and corporate communications.

Medical Affairs Support

• Lead development and/or provide oversight of medical affairs materials such as scientific response documents, medical information letters, field medical slide decks, and training modules.
• In collaboration with the Clinical Sciences team, support planning and execution of advisory boards, scientific roundtables, and congress activities.
• Partner with Medical Affairs to ensure alignment between scientific communications and medical strategy.

 Publications and Congress Strategy

• Develop publication plans and drive publication planning and execution, including abstracts, posters, oral presentations, and manuscripts.
• Collaborate with internal authors, external investigators, and publication agencies to ensure scientific rigor and timely delivery.
• Develop scientific congress plans and manage congress strategy, including scientific messaging, booth content, symposia materials, and data dissemination plans.

 Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Clinical Development, Clinical Sciences and Regulatory, Corporate Communications, and Commercial to ensure scientific accuracy and alignment across all materials.
• Partner with Corporate Communications to ensure scientific integrity in external announcements, investor materials, and media engagements.

 Internal Scientific Communication

•  Develop internal scientific updates, newsletters, and training materials to ensure employees understand the science, pipeline, and therapeutic areas.

 Supervisory Responsibilities: None currently.

 Education/ Qualifications:

• 8–10+ years of experience in scientific or medical communications within biotech/pharma, CROs, or medical communications agencies.
• Advanced degree in life sciences (i.e., MPH, PhD, PharmD, MD) preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise in oncology, cell and gene therapy, or rare diseases.
• Proven ability to translate complex scientific concepts into clear, accurate, and engaging content.
• Strong understanding of clinical development, medical affairs, and publication processes.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and presentation skills with meticulous attention to scientific accuracy.
• Experience in a fast‑paced, high‑growth biotech environment.
• Familiarity with regulatory processes and the scientific components of INDs, BLAs, and briefing documents.
• Experience managing external vendors, agencies, and scientific collaborators.
• Knowledge of digital communication platforms and modern scientific dissemination tools.
• Scientific fluency across oncology and advanced therapeutic modalities.
• Strategic thinking in shaping scientific narratives that support corporate and medical goals.
• Storytelling ability to make complex science accessible without oversimplifying.
• Cross‑functional influence and comfort working with senior scientific and clinical leaders.
• Operational excellence in managing publications, congress activities, and content pipelines

 Computer Skills:

• Must be proficient in MS Office Suite, with advanced skills in Excel.
• Experience with NetSuite, Workday Adaptive and/or Smartsheet is a plus

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations: none required

 Other Skills and Abilities:

• Strong interpersonal skills, including ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences and build strong relationships
• Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to prioritize and multi-task successfully in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail are essential
• It is essential that this individual demonstrates the ability to work with highly confidential information.
• Ability to manage both day-to-day operations as well as project work in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work both independently and in a collaborative team setting.
• Proficiency in data mining/data extraction.
• Demonstrated experience working with and presenting to senior level management.
• Ability to work through uncertainty.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

•  This position requires minimal travel; average travel for this position is 5-10% with some variation based upon the demands of the business imperatives.

Work Environment: 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

• No specific work demands.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

*Salary Requirements are between $220,000 - $225,000 based on experience and qualifications.  We offer a competitive Compensation & Benefits package including incentive bonus, equity compensation, matching 401(k), medical, dental, vision, commuter, and fertility benefits.

Why You’ll Love Working at Protara

• Friendly, open, and fun team-oriented culture that values unique & diverse perspectives.
• Company-wide dedication to profoundly impacting patients’ lives.
• Amazing culture whereby our core values and behaviors are shared cross-functionally.
• Flexible working hours/schedule.
• Generous Paid Holidays and Unlimited PTO.

Protara is committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace. Protara is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed in policy and in practice to recruit, hire, train, and promote in all job qualifications without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, sex or gender, gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, military service and veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.