Medical Director – Global Medical Affairs & Communications (US/CAN)

Job Summary

As a Medical Director, you should have a strong scientific background and considerable experience in medical communications across both publications and medical affairs deliverables that require sound scientific judgment and excellent writing skills. The Medical Director assumes responsibility for medical content of assigned projects. The Medical Director is expected to clearly communicate content needs to Medical Writers and concept needs to Graphic Designers and review/revise all work throughout the duration of the project. The Medical Director also has responsibility for adhering to medical budgets within a project, escalating resource needs as appropriate, and providing medical strategy to the internal Account Director. The Medical Director works both independently and in a team structure. They must be adept at high-profile client and faculty interactions. 

Essential Duties & Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Scientific Content (Visual and Written)
  • Lead development of high-quality scientific medical communications, including publications (eg, abstracts, posters, primary and review articles, videos, plain language summaries, and slide presentations), and medical affairs materials (eg, communication platforms, medical narratives, and internal training material)
  • Ensure that all deliverables are scientifically accurate, fully referenced, appropriate for the target audience, and meet the clients’ communication objectives and target journal/congress specifications
  • Delegate work and provide clear and actionable feedback
  • Oversee content development on a wide range of complex projects across multiple accounts/therapeutic areas
  • Demonstrate proficiency in review of scientific content
  • Guide the decision-making process in data analysis
• Strategic Perspective and Guidance
  • Offer proactive strategic recommendations to team
  • Participate in strategic planning meetings with clients and offer tactical recommendations based on these activities
  • Contribute to publication planning activities, including workshops, gap analyses and client team meetings
  • Demonstrate knowledge of product scientific communications within competitive space and scientific tactics
  • Demonstrate a working knowledge of pharmaceutical industry standards and compliance
  • Partner with Client Services in strategic planning efforts, and account/issues management
• Client Engagement and Influence
  • Build, maintain, and lead scientific relationships/communications with physicians, and guide others to develop this skill 
  • Effectively lead client meetings for assigned teams, facilitating discussions and providing strategic recommendations
  • Provide input into strategic or tactical planning process with the client
• Internal Team Engagement and Influence
  • Work closely with medical, editorial, and account management personnel in coordinating work to accomplish project goals
  • Escalate need for additional resources; resolve resource needs
  • Mentor and train other Medical Team and Medical Writing Team members; serve as a role model
  • A Medical Director may have direct reports and will be expected to:
    • Monitor their workload and make proactive recommendations to medical Senior Management regarding plans for anticipated temporary/ongoing periods of underutilization or overload
    • Approve and monitor their timesheets, expenses, and PTO requests
    • Meet regularly to assess progress, career development, team dynamics, and interpersonal issues and troubleshoot any problem areas in a timely manner
    • Conduct regular performance evaluations
    • Enforce compliance with all company SOPs
• Business Development
  • Work with team/Client Services to cross sell services, showing an understanding of the business model for COE
  • Participate in business development initiatives with existing and new clients
• Fiscal Responsibility
  • Provide feedback on scientific aspects of budget development
  • Manage >$1M in revenue with a goal of maintaining or expanding revenue across accounts
    
    

Experience, Skills, and Qualifications

• MD, PharmD, or PhD degree
• 3+ years of experience with a medical communications agency, education company, pharmaceutical company, or clinical equivalent
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills
• Experience in developing medical and marketing concepts through critical analysis of data, distilling complex technical information for a variety of medical audiences, and medical editing
• Understanding of industry guidelines and standards governing dissemination of scientific data
• Ability to meet deadlines while working on multiple, parallel projects
• Advanced knowledge of program features used in professional content development including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Adobe Acrobat
• Strong leadership and decision-making skills and competencies
• Forward-thinking mindset that embraces change and strives to enhance the reach and impact of our work

Travel Requirements

• Up to 20% potential travel