Working with Us
Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us.

Position Summary

The Director, Patient Advocacy – Oncology & Autoimmune (Cell Therapy) will serve as a strategic and operational leader within the Global Patient Advocacy organization, with cross-therapeutic area accountability spanning cancer and autoimmune diseases. This role sits within the Oncology team, reporting to the “Sr. Director, Patient Advocacy Oncology”, with a dotted line reporting relationship to the “Sr. Director, Immunology, Cardiovascular and Autoimmune Cell Therapy”, reflecting this role's responsibility to lead select autoimmune advocacy initiatives. This role will play a pivotal part in embedding the patient voice throughout the full cell therapy lifecycle — from drug development through commercialization — ensuring that patient community insights meaningfully shape BMS strategy, clinical programs, and product launches.

The Director will lead the design and execution of portfolio-level patient advocacy strategies across disease areas to advance priorities of the cell therapy organization, owning both the operational infrastructure and the strategic relationships that make those programs successful.

Additionally, the individual will lead launch readiness efforts for cell therapy products in oncology, partnering deeply with commercial, medical, policy, market access, and communications functions to position BMS as the trusted and preferred partner to the patient advocacy community.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned advocacy professional who thinks strategically, executes tactically, builds trusted relationships at all levels, and thrives in a complex, fast-paced, matrixed environment.

 

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Launch Excellence

·         Lead patient advocacy strategy, execution and launch readiness for cell therapy products, ensuring the patient voice is integrated from pre-launch through post-launch phases.

·         Define and execute advocacy strategies in collaboration with therapeutic area leads, commercial teams, and cross-functional partners to support successful product launches.

·         Drive the development of high-impact, insight-driven advocacy plans that reflect deep knowledge of the patient community landscapes and that shape the environment to enable greater patient access.

·         Champion the integration of patient and caregiver perspectives into BMS cell therapy programs, from late clinical development through commercialization, ensuring strategies are patient-centered and commercially aligned.

·         Generate innovative business concepts and continuously search for novel applications of advocacy strategies to support evolving pipeline and launch priorities.

Cross-Therapeutic Area Operations & Program Management

·         Serve as the operational backbone of the Patient Advocacy Cell Therapy organization, leading and standardizing advocacy processes, project management frameworks, and cross-functional workflows across multiple therapeutic areas.

·         Lead workstreams across cancer and autoimmune cell therapy programs to collect and synthesize patient insights and translate them into actionable, portfolio-level strategic plans. In this capacity, lead the development of portfolio-level strategies and innovative ideas designed to drive meaningful impact across the cell therapy franchise.

·         Develop, implement, and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the impact of patient advocacy engagements on business priorities and continuously optimize execution.

·         Provide project management leadership across advocacy engagements at key external congresses, disease community events, medical conferences, and educational symposia spanning multiple areas of the portfolio.

·         Ensure project deliverables are managed in alignment with BMS Project Management best practices; encourage innovation and organize forums for cross-sharing of ideas and best practices.

External Stakeholder Engagement & Relationship Management

·         Cultivate and manage high-priority relationships with patient advocacy organizations and patient communities within oncology, with a focus on issues related to patient access to care and cell therapy adoption.

·         Represent BMS externally at advocacy events, medical conferences, and global forums; serve as a credible and trusted voice for the company with advocacy stakeholders.

·         Interact with and advise senior BMS leadership, representing the patient voice and providing strategic counsel on the advocacy landscape, community needs, and emerging issues.

·         Champion the patient voice with internal stakeholders, including BMS leadership, clinical development teams, and commercial organizations.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

·         Develop strong cross-functional relationships in multiple therapeutic areas as well as other functions within the Global Purpose and Patient Experience team.

·         Apply strong business acumen and subject matter expertise to drive project execution, fostering effective cross-functional collaboration to deliver impactful outcomes.

·         Partner with cross-functional teams (e.g., Medical, Marketing, Communications, Strategy & Operations, etc.) to ensure the timely and effective integration of advocacy insights into strategies and deliverables.

Qualifications & Experience

·         Education: Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) required; advanced degree (e.g., Master's, MBA, or scientific graduate degree) strongly preferred.

·         Experience: 10–12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry, with a focus on patient advocacy and commercial/launch strategy.

·         Demonstrated success leading patient advocacy strategies in oncology and/or autoimmune diseases; cell therapy experience strongly preferred.

·         Proven track record of leading patient advocacy responsibilities related to product launches and driving cross-functional alignment in a complex, matrixed organization.

·         Strong record of superior decision-making and performance in developing and executing strategic projects, including budget management.

·         Extensive experience engaging with patient advocacy groups and translating patient insights into actionable strategies within drug development and/or commercialization.

·         Demonstrated ability to foster collaboration, build strong internal and external partnerships, and influence stakeholders at all levels including senior and executive leadership.

·         Skilled communicator with strong facilitation, synthesis, and presentation abilities; capable of transforming complex input into clear, impactful deliverables.

·         Experience developing and tracking KPIs to measure advocacy program impact and drive continuous improvement.

·         Outstanding organizational skills; ability to manage concurrent projects within tight deadlines while maintaining excellent service to internal and external customers.

·         Strong acumen with digital engagement tools and platforms.

·         High ethical standards; exhibits self-awareness, adaptability, empathy, active listening, and cultural sensitivity, particularly in working with patient and caregiver communities.

·         Passion for patients with a demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships and a strong track record of thinking creatively and strategically while executing tactically.

·         Experience working in a global matrixed environment required.

·         Travel: Domestic and international travel up to 40%, including regular visits to BMS headquarters in Princeton, NJ. 

 

If you come across a role that intrigues you but doesn’t perfectly line up with your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be one step away from work that will transform your life and career.

Field - United States - US: $202,130 - $244,934

The starting compensation range(s) for this role are listed above for a full-time employee (FTE) basis. Additional incentive cash and stock opportunities (based on eligibility) may be available. The starting pay rate takes into account characteristics of the job, such as required skills, where the job is performed, the employee’s work schedule, job-related knowledge, and experience. Final, individual compensation will be decided based on demonstrated experience. 

Eligibility for specific benefits listed on our careers site may vary based on the job and location. For more on benefits, please visit https://careers.bms.com/life-at-bms/.
 

Benefit offerings are subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans in effect at the time and may require enrollment. Our benefits include:

• Health Coverage: Medical, pharmacy, dental, and vision care.

• Wellbeing Support: Programs such as BMS Well-Being Account, BMS Living Life Better, and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

• Financial Well-being and Protection: 401(k) plan, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, accident insurance, supplemental health insurance, business travel protection, personal liability protection, identity theft benefit, legal support, and survivor support.

​Work-life benefits include:

Paid Time Off

• US Exempt Employees: flexible time off (unlimited, with manager approval, 11 paid national holidays (not applicable to employees in Phoenix, AZ, Puerto Rico or Rayzebio employees)

• Phoenix, AZ, Puerto Rico and Rayzebio Exempt, Non-Exempt, Hourly Employees: 160 hours annual paid vacation for new hires with manager approval, 11 national holidays, and 3 optional holidays

Based on eligibility*, additional time off for employees may include unlimited paid sick time, up to 2 paid volunteer days per year, summer hours flexibility, leaves of absence for medical, personal, parental, caregiver, bereavement, and military needs and an annual Global Shutdown between Christmas and New Years Day.

All global employees full and part-time who are actively employed at and paid directly by BMS at the end of the calendar year are eligible to take advantage of the Global Shutdown.

*Eligibility Disclosure: The summer hours program is for United States (U.S.) office-based employees due to the unique nature of their work. Summer hours are generally not available for field sales and manufacturing operations and may also be limited for the capability centers. Employees in remote-by-design or lab-based roles may be eligible for summer hours, depending on the nature of their work, and should discuss eligibility with their manager. Employees covered under a collective bargaining agreement should consult that document to determine if they are eligible. Contractors, leased workers and other service providers are not eligible to participate in the program.

Uniquely Interesting Work, Life-changing Careers
With a single vision as inspiring as “Transforming patients’ lives through science™ ”, every BMS employee plays an integral role in work that goes far beyond ordinary. Each of us is empowered to apply our individual talents and unique perspectives in a supportive culture, promoting global participation in clinical trials, while our shared values of passion, innovation, urgency, accountability, inclusion and integrity bring out the highest potential of each of our colleagues.

On-site Protocol

BMS has an occupancy structure that determines where an employee is required to conduct their work. This structure includes site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design jobs. The occupancy type that you are assigned is determined by the nature and responsibilities of your role:

Site-essential roles require 100% of shifts onsite at your assigned facility. Site-by-design roles may be eligible for a hybrid work model with at least 50% onsite at your assigned facility. For these roles, onsite presence is considered an essential job function and is critical to collaboration, innovation, productivity, and a positive Company culture. For field-based and remote-by-design roles the ability to physically travel to visit customers, patients or business partners and to attend meetings on behalf of BMS as directed is an essential job function.

Supporting People with Disabilities

BMS is dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace accommodations/adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request a reasonable workplace accommodation/adjustment prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodations/adjustments in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, direct your inquiries to adastaffingsupport@bms.com. Visit careers.bms.com/eeo-accessibility to access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

Candidate Rights

BMS will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to applicable laws in your area.

If you live in or expect to work from Los Angeles County if hired for this position, please visit this page for important additional information: https://careers.bms.com/california-residents/

Data Protection

We will never request payments, financial information, or social security numbers during our application or recruitment process. Learn more about protecting yourself at https://careers.bms.com/fraud-protection.

Any data processed in connection with role applications will be treated in accordance with applicable data privacy policies and regulations.

If you believe that the job posting is missing information required by local law or incorrect in any way, please contact BMS at TAEnablement@bms.com. Please provide the Job Title and Requisition number so we can review. Communications related to your application should not be sent to this email and you will not receive a response. Inquiries related to the status of your application should be directed to Chat with Ripley.

R1600790 : Director, Patient Advocacy – Oncology & Autoimmune (Cell Therapy)