Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. Posted September 21, 2026

Director, Patient Engagement & Advocacy (State & Grassroots)

US CA Home Office, United States Full time
Notify me about similar jobs

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. 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

Who We Are:

Neurocrine Biosciences is a leading biopharmaceutical company with a simple purpose: to relieve suffering for people with great needs. We are dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing life-changing treatments for patients with under-addressed neurological, psychiatric, endocrine and immunological disorders. The company's diverse portfolio includes FDA-approved treatments for tardive dyskinesia, chorea associated with Huntington's disease, classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia, hyperphagia in Prader-Willi syndrome, endometriosis* and uterine fibroids*, as well as a robust pipeline including multiple compounds in mid- to late-phase clinical development across our core therapeutic areas. For more than three decades, we have applied our unique insight into neuroscience and the interconnections between brain and body systems to treat complex conditions. We relentlessly pursue medicines to ease the burden of debilitating diseases and disorders, because you deserve brave science. For more information, visit  neurocrine.com , and follow the company on  LinkedIn ,  X , Facebook and YouTube . ( *in collaboration with AbbVie )

At Neurocrine, strong leadership drives both business results and team success. We look for leaders who think strategically, anticipate what’s ahead and set clear direction, while building and empowering high-performing teams. Successful leaders foster an environment where people are motivated to do their best work and deliver meaningful, measurable impact through sound decision-making and accountability.

 About the Role:

Preferred work location - San Diego, CA or Washington DC. Open to remote

The Director, State & Grassroots Patient Engagement & Advocacy (PEA) provides strategic leadership for field-based patient engagement & advocacy across assigned Endocrinology therapeutic programs and brands. Reporting to the Senior Director, Endocrinology PEA, this role translates national patient engagement & advocacy strategy into coordinated state, regional, and local engagement plans that strengthen relationships with patient advocacy organizations and community stakeholders while ensuring patient and caregiver perspectives inform business decisions.

Working collaboratively across Corporate Affairs and the broader organization, the Director serves as Neurocrine's strategic lead to the patient community at the state and local level for assigned therapeutic programs. This role develops long-term partnerships with state and grassroots patient advocacy organizations, provides strategic leadership for field-based patient engagement across internal functions, strengthens and protects Neurocrine's reputation within local patient communities, generates actionable community insights, and ensures local perspectives meaningfully inform enterprise strategy and decision making. _

Your Contributions (include, but are not limited to):

Strategic Leadership

Lead the development and execution of state and grassroots patient engagement strategies for assigned Endocrinology therapeutic programs and brands, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities while addressing regional and local community needs

Translate national patient engagement strategy into coordinated field engagement plans that support business objectives while meeting the unique needs of local patient communities

Identify emerging community needs, trends, and opportunities, translating local insights into actionable recommendations that inform enterprise strategy and business decisions

State & Grassroots Partnership Leadership

Develop and steward long-term strategic relationships with state, regional, and grassroots patient advocacy organizations and other community stakeholders, serving as a trusted partner while advancing shared objectives

Strengthen and protect Neurocrine's reputation and credibility within local patient communities by fostering transparent, collaborative, and mutually beneficial partnerships that reflect the company's values and long-term commitment to patients

Identify, develop, and lead strategic collaborations with community organizations while monitoring the external landscape for emerging trends, unmet needs, partnership opportunities, and potential risks

Field Partnership Leadership

Serve as the primary Patient Engagement & Advocacy partner for field-based functions, including Sales, Field Medical, Field Medical Marketing, Regional Patient Access Managers, State Government Affairs, Market Access, and other field teams supporting assigned therapeutic programs

Partner with field leadership to coordinate patient engagement activities, support patient access and policy initiatives, and ensure consistent execution of national patient engagement strategy across local markets

Provide strategic guidance to field-based colleagues on appropriate engagement with patient advocacy organizations, proactively aligning cross-functional priorities while strengthening and protecting Neurocrine's long-term reputation and trusted relationships within local patient communities

Community Intelligence & Engagement

Lead strategies to generate meaningful community, patient, and caregiver insights through local engagement activities, advisory boards, conferences, and ongoing relationships, translating findings into actionable recommendations for internal stakeholders

Serve as the primary conduit for bringing community intelligence, emerging issues, and local patient perspectives back to headquarters to inform enterprise strategy, evidence generation, commercialization, patient access, and future engagement planning

Partner with the PEA Operations Manager to plan and execute field-based patient engagement activities while ensuring strategic objectives are achieved

Financial & Business Management

Develop annual state and grassroots patient engagement strategies, engagement plans, and proposed budgets for assigned therapeutic programs and brands, aligning investments with business priorities, community needs, and long-term strategic objectives

Manage approved budgets and resources responsibly while ensuring all activities comply with company policies, applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards

Leadership

Partner closely with the Director, National PEA to ensure enterprise strategies are effectively translated into coordinated field engagement activities and that community insights continuously inform national strategy and enterprise decision making

Foster a collaborative, high-performing culture by mentoring colleagues, sharing best practices, and contributing to the continued development of Patient Engagement & Advocacy capabilities across the organization

Perform other duties as assigned

Requirements:

High school diploma with 16+ years of combined relevant education and experience; OR

BS/BA degree in Business, Economics, Communications, Public Health, Healthcare Administration, or a related discipline with 12+ years of relevant experience; OR

Master’s degree with 10+ years of relevant experience

Experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, a patient advocacy organization, or a healthcare consulting, communications, or patient engagement agency is strongly preferred

Experience developing partnerships with state, regional, or grassroots patient advocacy organizations and community stakeholders

Experience working closely with field-based commercial, medical, market access, or government affairs organizations

Experience supporting patient access, state policy, or community engagement initiatives preferred

Experience working in rare disease or specialty pharmaceutical environments preferred

Demonstrated ability to develop and execute strategic patient engagement initiatives across diverse state, regional, and local environments

Exceptional relationship-building, influencing, stakeholder management, and diplomacy skills

Strong understanding of field-based commercial, medical, market access, and government affairs organizations and their interactions with patient communities

Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence without formal authority

Excellent communication, presentation, facilitation, negotiation, and executive presence

Strong judgment and ability to balance competing stakeholder priorities while maintaining trusted external relationships

Knowledge of the U.S. healthcare, biopharmaceutical, patient advocacy, and state policy landscape

Commitment to compliant, ethical, and patient-centered engagement

#LI-TM1

Neurocrine Biosciences is an EEO/Disability/Vets employer.

We are committed to building a workplace of belonging, respect, and empowerment , and we recognize there are a variety of ways to meet our requirements. We are looking for the best candidate for the job and encourage you to apply even if your experience or qualifications don’t line up to exactly what we have outlined in the job description.

_

The annual base salary we reasonably expect to pay is $190,900.00-$260,000.00. Individual pay decisions depend on various factors, such as primary work location, complexity and responsibility of role, job duties/requirements, and relevant experience and skills. In addition, this position offers an annual bonus with a target of 35% of the earned base salary and eligibility to participate in our equity based long term incentive program. Benefits offered include a retirement savings plan (with company match), paid vacation, holiday and personal days, paid caregiver/parental and medical leave, and health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.

Job details

Seniority
Director
Function
Communications & Public Affairs
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
US CA Home Office, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Communications & Public Affairs role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 23 comparable Director Communications & Public Affairs roles across 14 biopharma companies.

23Comparable roles tracked
23Currently active
14Companies hiring similar roles
9Countries represented

Salary context

6 of 23 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 $190,900/yr – $260,000/yr
Lowest disclosed · Director Federal Policy · Pfizer $176,600/yr – $294,300/yr
Peer group range $235,450 – $253,850 (median $241,313)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 23 comparable roles

United States12
Germany2
Japan2
United Kingdom2
Saudi Arabia1
Singapore1

+ 3 more countries

Seniority mix

23 of 23 peers have a known seniority level

Director19
Senior Director4

Therapeutic area mix

2 of 23 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology2

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.

60%similar
AstraZeneca Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States of America Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. US CA San Diego, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
E.R. Squibb & Sons,L.L.C. Princeton, United States 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.

60%
Director, Global Oncology Policy & Advocacy (Breast Cancer & Pan Tumour)
AstraZeneca · Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director, Enterprise Transformation Communications
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director Federal Policy
Pfizer · New York City, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director, Global Value & Access Business Development (Remote)
Amgen USA Inc. · Remote, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area 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.