Vertex UK Int'l HQ/R&D Posted August 17, 2026

Clinical Development Medical Director, Autoimmune/Rare Diseases

Paddington, United Kingdom Full time
Clinical Development Rare Disease Director

Vertex UK Int'l HQ/R&D is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Job Description

General Summary:

The Clinical Development Medical Director, Autoimmune/Rare Diseases will serve as the Medical Lead for Vertex clinical trials, working with cross-functional multidisciplinary study teams on clinical trial strategy, design and execution and serving as the Medical Monitor responsible for monitoring the safety of enrolled subjects on assigned trials. The incumbent will work on multiple trials in all Phases of clinical development, and may also participate in other selected projects in clinical development.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Leads the development of Study Protocols, Investigator Brochures, Clinical Development Plans and other key study documents in conjunction with other line functions and with minimal guidance

Serves on cross-functional Study Execution Teams (SET) for assigned trials, working with other team members to achieve efficient, high-quality study execution

Participates in the preparation of regulatory documents in support of regulatory submissions, including clinical sections of INDs and CTAs, safety reports and annual reports for assigned trials, responses to regulatory authorities and Ethics Committees/IRBs, and other documents as appropriate

Provides scientific and clinical input to study-related documents and analysis plans including Informed consent forms (ICF), clinical research forms (CRF), statistical analysis plans (SAP), clinical pharmacology analysis plans (CPAP), and clinical study reports (CSR). Acts as liaison between Translational Medicine/Clinical Development and other internal groups at Vertex (e.g., Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Operations) for assigned studies

Represents Vertex to outside medical personal in the development of clinical protocols and study conduct

Performs other duties as assigned related to clinical programs

Knowledge and Skills:

Excellent oral and written communication skills

Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, team-based, matrix environment and to function independently as appropriate

Effective at building alliances across functions, based on end-to-end drug development thinking and experience

Experience developing and validating clinical endpoints and biomarkers in complex, heterogeneous disease populations

Clinical Development experience in autoimmune/rare diseases, ideally in neurology, rheumatology, or hematology

Education and Experience:

MD, DO or equivalent ex-US medical degree

Clinical Development experience in autoimmune/rare diseases, ideally in neurology, rheumatology, or hematology

Extensive clinical research experience in an academic or industrial setting, or the equivalent combination of education and experience

Typically requires experience in analysis of research data and publications; working knowledge of biostatistics; working knowledge of GCP, scientific and clinical research methods and clinical study design

Typically requires experience with design, execution, and analysis of clinical trials required

International travel to be expected at 20%

Flex Designation:

Hybrid-Eligible Or On-Site Eligible

Flex Eligibility Status:

In this Hybrid-Eligible role, you can choose to be designated as:

1.    Hybrid: work remotely up to two days per week; or select

2.    On-Site: work five days per week on-site with ad hoc flexibility.

Note: The Flex status for this position is subject to Vertex’s Policy on Flex @ Vertex Program and may be changed at any time.

#LI-Hybrid

Company Information

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation.

Vertex is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person's race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Vertex is an E-Verify Employer in the United States. Vertex will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.

Any applicant requiring an accommodation in connection with the hiring process and/or to perform the essential functions of the position for which the applicant has applied should make a request to the recruiter or hiring manager, or contact Talent Acquisition at ApplicationAssistance@vrtx.com

Job details

Seniority
Director
Function
Clinical Development
Therapeutic area
Rare Disease
Location
Paddington, United Kingdom
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Clinical Development role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 195 comparable Director Clinical Development roles across 32 biopharma companies.

195Comparable roles tracked
189Currently active
32Companies hiring similar roles
16Countries represented

Salary context

94 of 195 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Clinical Research Director (P4-P5) · Lilly $101,379/yr – $181,067/yr
Peer group range $141,223 – $392,100 (median $264,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 195 comparable roles

United States141
United Kingdom10
Spain9
Switzerland6
India5
China5

+ 10 more countries

Seniority mix

195 of 195 peers have a known seniority level

Director145
Senior Director27
Principal23

Therapeutic area mix

77 of 195 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology32
Immunology18
Neuroscience9
Respiratory6
Cardiovascular / CVRM6
Dermatology & Aesthetics2
Ophthalmology2
Rare Disease1
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

85%similar
Sanofi US Services Inc. Cambridge, United States Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority
60%similar
Novartis London (The Westworks), United Kingdom Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis London (The Westworks), United Kingdom Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis London (The Westworks), United Kingdom Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis London (The Westworks), United Kingdom Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis London (The Westworks), United Kingdom Director
Same function Same seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

85%
Clinical Research Director, Rare Diseases
Sanofi US Services Inc. · Cambridge, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
*Senior Clinical Development Medical Director - Renal
Novartis · London (The Westworks), United Kingdom · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director, Global Clinical Physician-Immunology
BMS Business Services Ltd · Uxbridge, United Kingdom · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
50%
Principal Statistician
Mylan Pharma UK Limited · Sandwich, United Kingdom · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.