Job Description

The Company Burna AI is building the safety and data quality platform for oncology drug development. We start with the single most painful workflow in drug safety: adverse event grading. Our CTCAE AI platform automates what takes trained coordinators 15 to 20 minutes per adverse event, with strong agreement with expert clinicians, zero hallucinations by design, and human in-the-loop always. Multi-drug causality attribution using validated algorithms. Batch clinical note processing. Comorbidity-aware grading. Real-time architecture built from the ground up. We are a CancerX member (HHS Cancer Moonshot Initiative), have been accepted into a top-tier cancer center accelerator program with access to 1,200+ patient charts, and are closing a $3M SAFE seed round. Our advisory board includes 20+ members spanning clinical oncology, pharma clinical development, federal health IT, and enterprise strategy. The Role We are looking for a Chief Medical Officer to lead clinical validation, regulatory strategy, and pharma relationships as we move from early traction to first commercial deployments and Series A. This is a full-time, hands-on leadership role. Not advisory. Not governance. Execution. You will be the clinical face of the company in conversations with cancer center research leadership, pharma VP/Heads of Patient Safety and Pharmacovigilance, CRO medical directors, and FDA. You will own our publication strategy, design validation studies rigorous enough for JCO, and translate clinical complexity into language that resonates with investors, engineers, and non-clinical partners. You report directly to the CEO. What You Own Clinical validation and publication. Own validation study execution across partnered NCI designated cancer centers. Design and execute additional validation studies. Drive publication strategy targeting JCO, JAMIA, and JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics. Manage relationships with clinical graders, adjudicators, and site PIs. Regulatory and compliance strategy. Lead our FDA EDSTP application. Own CTCAE v6.0 positioning (837+ criteria, mandatory industry transition). Ensure 21 CFR Part 11 alignment. Navigate regulatory positioning: we are clinical decision support with human-in-the-loop, not a Software as a Medical Device. Pharma and CRO relationships. Be the clinical voice in conversations with pharma sponsors and CROs. Translate clinical trial pain points into product requirements. Support commercial positioning for pharma data quality services and safety data workflows. Clinical advisory board. Manage and expand our 20+ member advisory board and Champions program. Run structured advisor engagement that extracts actionable intelligence, not just meetings. Product clinical direction. Serve as the clinical voice in product decisions. Review and validate grading outputs against clinical standards. Guide development of expanded safety data capabilities across the drug lifecycle. Thought leadership. Present at ASCO, SCOPE X, ViVE, DIA. Co-author publications with cancer center partners. Build the company's reputation in oncology clinical research and safety data communities. Who You Are Required: MD or MD/PhD Board-certified or board-eligible in oncology, hematology-oncology, or a relevant subspecialty 10+ years of experience in clinical development, medical affairs, or pharmacovigilance at a pharma company, biotech, or CRO Ready to commit full-time. No active clinical practice. No dual employment. Full-time from start date Direct experience with oncology clinical trials (Phase 1 through 3) Understanding of CTCAE grading, adverse event reporting, and safety data workflows Comfortable at seed stage: ambiguity, speed, wearing multiple hats, limited resources Willingness to travel 30 to 40% (cancer center meetings, conferences, investor meetings, FDA engagement) Strong communicator who makes clinical complexity accessible Strongly preferred: VP Clinical Development, Medical Director, or Head of Patient Safety experience at a pharma/biotech company Published in peer-reviewed oncology or clinical informatics journals Existing relationships at NCI-designated cancer centers Experience with FDA regulatory interactions (IND safety reports, BLA/NDA safety sections, EDSTP or similar) Understanding of pharmacovigilance workflows (MedDRA, E2B(R3), CIOMS, DSUR) Prior startup or early-stage experience Nice to have: CRO ecosystem network EHR/EDC platform experience (Epic, Oracle Health, Medidata, Veeva) GI oncology, immuno-oncology, or hematologic malignancy expertise AI/ML experience in clinical settings Compensation We believe in being direct about where we are. Burna AI is closing a $3M seed round. Cash compensation for this role is contingent on the close of the round. Equity: Meaningful equity participation with standard 4-year vesting and 1-year cliff. Specific terms discussed with qualified candidates. Base salary: $175,000 to $225,000, contingent on round close. Below market for a CMO at an established company, offset by equity upside in a company building in a large, unaddressed market with no dominant incumbent. Milestone bonuses: Up to $50,000 in Year 1, tied to specific deliverables (validation study published, cancer center studies initiated, FDA EDSTP submitted, pharma sponsor pilot signed). If you are looking for market-rate CMO compensation at a large company, this is not the right role. If you are looking for an opportunity to build the clinical foundation of a category-defining platform in a market that does not yet have a software incumbent, keep reading. Why This Role Matters The clinical stakes are real. 11% of deaths in oncology are attributable to poor adverse event management. Denis et al. (JAMA 2019) demonstrated that systematic symptom monitoring extends median overall survival from 14.9 to 22.5 months. Every adverse event graded manually today takes 15 to 20 minutes, with 20 to 30% inter-rater variability. At a single major NCI cancer center, the AE workflow costs $40 to $60 million annually across coordinators, PIs, and supporting roles. There is no purpose-built software solution addressing this today. The CMO who joins now will co-author the validation studies that prove this technology works. Will present the data at ASCO. Will be in the room when the first pharma sponsor signs. Will help build the clinical narrative that raises our Series A. This is not a job where you advise from a distance. This is a job where you build. The Team Nnenna John, Founder and CEO. 20 years in software engineering. 6 years at Airbnb building infrastructure for 150M+ users across 220+ countries. Pascal Ezeugwu, Lead Engineer and Co-Founder. Fullstack engineer with deep EHR expertise. Owns the real-time architecture, integration layer, and zero-hallucination design. Advisory board of 20+ members including former pharma Principal Medical Directors, NIH Division Directors, NCI cancer center leadership, and oncology CRO executives. Equal Opportunity Statement Burna AI is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds. Burna AI,Inc. | Member, CancerX (HHS Cancer Moonshot Initiative)

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