Head of Research and Scientific Communication

Virta Health is on a mission to reverse metabolic disease in one billion people. Current treatment approaches aren’t working—over half of US adults have either type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, and obesity rates are at an all-time high. Virta is changing this by helping people reverse their metabolic condition through innovations in technology, personalized nutrition, and virtual care delivery reinvented from the ground up. We have raised over $350 million from top-tier investors, and partner with the largest health plans, employers, and government organizations to help their employees and members restore their health and take back their lives. Join us on our mission to reverse metabolic disease in one billion people.

We are recruiting an experienced leader who can provide strategic vision for the research team and also share our evidence with the world. This leader has done it all in the research domain, and can bring their team along with them, and they are an expert communicator who can implement a strategy to share Virta science with key opinion leaders, scientists, and commercial stakeholders.

The clinical research team’s mission is to generate rigorous evidence to inform Virta’s care, to build credibility among clinical, commercial and scientific audiences, and to accelerate expansion of Virta’s care model. We put evidence ahead of convention to improve patient outcomes and impact metabolic disease at scale. See the team’s work here.

Transitioning to an era where long-term health outcomes and economic impact move to the center of the metabolic health space, we’re adding real world evidence to the focus of the clinical research team, and hence are searching for a leader who has built a portfolio of work leveraging claims and clinical datasets to demonstrate the impact of a clinical health program.

We also know that generating evidence isn’t sufficient. This leader will need to have a track record of building KOL networks, communicating science, and partnering closely with Commercial Marketing to translate Virta’s clinical outcomes, economic impact, and research leadership into a compelling market narrative. This person will help ensure Virta’s evidence base is not only disseminated, but actively used to shape how the market understands metabolic health outcomes and the value of Virta’s care model.

This leader will have four primary areas of responsibility:

1. Leading the research team, composed of doctoral level clinical investigators, who conduct virtual clinical trials and collaborate with academic investigators on sponsored and collaborative research, all leading to peer-reviewed publication.

2. Developing real world evidence supporting Virta’s impact on clinical and economic outcomes, in collaboration with the Virta data science team and external data resources, from data warehouses to health plans and employers.

3. Partnering with Commercial Marketing, Sales, and Clinical leadership to translate Virta’s research, real-world evidence, and clinical outcomes into a compelling market narrative. They will help define how Virta communicates its evidence base externally, ensuring our science not only supports commercial conversations but helps shape the broader market conversation around metabolic health, outcomes, and economic impact.

4. Leading and implementing a coordinated KOL strategy in collaboration with the commercial team.

• Lead and nurture Virta’s team of experienced clinical researchers who have decades of combined experience developing, implementing, and publishing data from pivotal clinical trials in metabolic health, as well as presenting and publishing on analyses from our own registry data.

• Build a network of key investigators who are interested in collaborating with Virta researchers on trials that extend the impact of the Virta program.

• Partner closely with Commercial Marketing and Sales to define the evidence, proof points, claims, stories, and external-facing assets needed to educate the market, support enterprise growth, and position Virta as the evidence-based leader in metabolic health.

• Strategically align Virta’s scientific work with key national and international conferences, meetings, and symposia.

• Represent Virta’s science on the podium at scientific meetings, in calls and presentations with Virta’s clients and sales prospects, and at internal meetings.

• Participate as an active member of the Virta Medical Group leadership team, representing the scientific point of view and leading/collaborating on evidence-based clinical initiatives that advance the quality and efficiency of the care Virta provides to thousands of patients suffering from metabolic health adversity.

• Develop and advance a real world evidence program, leveraging source of data both within and outside of Virta.

• Work cross functionally to inject evidence into Virta processes - from clinical care to coaching to product development.

• A doctoral degree (PhD, DrPH, MD, PharmD, or equivalent research doctorate) in HEOR, clinical outcomes research, health economics, health services research, pharmacoepidemiology, epidemiology, biostatistics, public health, quantitative social sciences, clinical research methodology, or a related quantitative health research discipline is required.

• At least two years of experience working with patients directly in a clinical or research setting. Virta succeeds through behavior change, and thus experience working with patients to make healthy choices in their lives is essential. Experience in metabolic health is highly desirable.

• A strong point of view on how to communicate science to different audiences outside of the typical presentation/publication pathway.

• Demonstrated experience partnering with commercial, marketing, or go-to-market teams to translate clinical evidence, outcomes research, or HEOR findings into market-facing narratives, thought leadership, sales enablement, and executive/customer communications.

• Experience developing and executing KOL engagement strategies, including formal KOL mapping, identification and prioritization of key stakeholders, advisory board planning, scientific communications, and ongoing external relationship management.

• Familiarity with the process of generating real-world evidence leveraging multiple data sources. Experience with health economics (HEOR) is highly desirable.

• Demonstrated people leadership with at least five years of experience building, mentoring, and developing high-performing teams. Proven ability to support team members’ technical growth and career advancement, and cultivate a collaborative, inclusive, and engaging team culture

• At least five years of business experience working in a start-up or related high-growth organization in order to translate Virta science for the marketplace. (Clinical researchers who have not worked for an early- or growth-stage company will not have the requisite business skills to translate Virta science for the marketplace.)

• Outstanding scientific writing skills. The successful candidate will have drafted, edited, and published multiple peer-reviewed publications both as first and as senior author.

• A firm, innate, understanding of trial design.

• Direct experience working with IRBs and the compliance side of research.

• Poise. We are looking for a leader who is comfortable in front of an audience, presents naturally and with authority, and will help build the Virta brand.

Virta’s company values drive our culture, so you’ll do well if:

• You put people first and take care of yourself, your peers, and our patients equally

• You have a strong sense of ownership and take initiative while empowering others to do the same

• You prioritize positive impact over busy work

• You have no ego and understand that everyone has something to bring to the table regardless of experience

• You appreciate transparency and promote trust and empowerment through open access of information

• You are evidence-based and prioritize data and science over seniority or dogma

• You take risks and rapidly iterate

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Virta has a location based compensation structure. Starting pay will be based on a number of factors and commensurate with qualifications & experience. For this role, the compensation range is $156,367 - $183,961 per year. Information about Virta’s benefits is on our Careers page at: https://www.virtahealth.com/careers.

As part of your duties at Virta, you may come in contact with sensitive patient information that is governed by HIPAA. Throughout your career at Virta, you will be expected to follow Virta's security and privacy procedures to ensure our patients' information remains strictly confidential. Security and privacy training will be provided.

As a remote-first company, our team is spread across various locations with office hubs in Denver and San Francisco.

Clinical roles: We currently do not hire in the following states: AK, HI, RI

Corporate roles: We currently do not hire in the following states: AK, AR, DE, HI, ME, MS, NM, OK, SD, VT, WI.

Virta uses Ashby as its applicant tracking system, which incorporates AI-powered tools (provided by OpenAI, AWS, and Google Gemini) in certain aspects of the recruiting process, including application review, candidate screening, and interview note taking; your data is not used to train AI models, and all final hiring decisions are made by Virta Health personnel. For more information, see Ashby's AI Terms at https://www.ashbyhq.com/resources/terms-ai-features

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