Associate Scientific Director (Medical Affairs)

Position Overview

The AD Scientific Services is a scientific leader accountable for full strategic ownership of one or more accounts. ADs and Directors lead scientific strategy, oversee content excellence at scale, and manage teams with autonomy. The Director helps sets scientific standards across accounts, leads publication and communication strategies, mentors a team of writers, and helps drives continuous improvement across workflows. Integrates strategic medical leadership, rigorous scientific review, and senior-level client relationship management.

Core Responsibilities

• Scientific & Strategic Leadership
  Lead one or more accounts; help define and drive integrated medical/scientific communication strategies (publication planning, communications tactics). Serve as one of the principal scientific contacts for client stakeholders and clinical leads; align scientific strategy to brand priorities. Establish quality standards and best practices across assigned teams.

• Content Excellence & Review
  Oversee high-quality content across manuscripts, congress materials, training content, digital assets, and MLR-regulated materials. Conduct detailed scientific reviews for accuracy, alignment, and stylistic consistency (AMA, client style guides, journal/congress guidelines). Ensure compliance with relevant industry standards (e.g. Good Publication Practices, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors guidelines, PhRMA guidelines). Lead/defend submissions in MLR systems; resolve scientific issues independently.

• Client Engagement & Growth
  Lead scientific discussions, workshops, speaker trainings, and advisory boards; represent the organization externally. Provide scientific leadership in pitches and proposals; partner with Client Services on resourcing, scoping, and forecasting.

• People Leadership & Capability Development
  Manage 3–5 direct reports (writers/ASDs); conduct performance evaluations, set goals, and guide career development. Identify training needs; create structured development plans to grow capability.

• Operational & Quality Governance
  Contribute to scoping and resource planning for assigned projects; escalate risks proactively. Support recruitment efforts for on-team hires. Maintain strong version control, documentation discipline, and adherence to internal procedures. Optimize scientific workflows and processes to improve consistency and efficiency. Anticipate risks and complex issues; implement mitigation plans; share therapeutic/industry insights to elevate team knowledge.

Qualifications

• Education
  Advanced degree in a scientific or healthcare-related field preferred (eg, MSc, PhD, PharmD, MD). Candidates with a relevant bachelor’s or master’s degree plus extensive experience may be considered.

• Experience
  ~5+ years’ medical communications/medical writing experience, including multi-asset or multi-account leadership and scientific team oversight. ~1+ years’ people management and coaching experience.

• Skills
  Excellence in scientific writing, editing, data interpretation; mastery of publications standards when applicable. Strategic thinking and client leadership; expert facilitation and presentation skills. Strong understanding of clinical research and regulatory landscape; comfortable guiding MLR submissions. Proficiency in Microsoft Office, graphic and image generation software, and collaboration platforms. Strong organization/time-management.