Global Medical Affairs Head, Neuro/Other Rare

About The Role

The Global Medical Affairs Head, Neuro/Other Rare is a senior medical leader responsible for defining and executing the integrated medical strategy for the Neuro/Other Rare Therapeutic Area (TA) to maximize scientific leadership and support Program success. This role provides enterprise-level medical leadership across the product lifecycle and oversees a global organization comprising Medical Directors, Medical Communications, U.S. Field Medical (MSL) teams, and Integrated Evidence generation and ensures coordinated external engagements across functions and geographies. Reporting to the SVP, General Manager, of the Neuro/Other Rare TA, the Global Medical Affairs Head will serve as a strategic partner to Commercial, Global Program Teams, Clinical Development, Market Access, and other cross-functional stakeholders to ensure scientific integrity, patient-centricity, and alignment with business objectives. The Global Medical Affairs Head is expected to be a recognized scientific and clinical authority in the therapeutic area and to represent the company with external stakeholders globally.

Key Responsibilities

• Drives execution of the medical strategy, ensuring timely delivery of key milestones and outcomes
• Drives the synthesis and translation of scientific data/clinical situations into strategy and solutions, appreciating and navigating trade-offs within and beyond medical
• Oversees therapeutic level Integrated Evidence Planning (IEP) including data generation priorities (e.g., Phase IV, RWE), serving as the executive sponsor
• Oversees Field Medical, including ownership of the therapeutic area-level engagement plan for KOLs and scientific experts
• Acts as medical interface to Commercial counterparts to align on scientific priorities & ensure compliant collaboration
• Defines and reinforces the scientific narrative and key messages across data generation, publications, & field engagement
• Partners with central Medical capabilities (e.g., Medical Information, Medical Excellence, HEOR) to ensure consistent, high-quality execution
• Identifies and escalates cross-asset or systemic risks within Medical to the therapeutic area and enterprise leadership
• Provide strategic direction for Field Medical activities, ensuring high-quality, compliant scientific exchange with healthcare professionals, key opinion leaders, and external experts
• Personally engage with top-tier global and U.S. KOLs, academic leaders, and professional societies as a scientific ambassador for the organization
• Ensure insights from the field are systematically captured and inform strategy across Medical, Commercial, and Development functions
• Proactively bring feasible options for evidence generation, medical communications, and customer engagement, with an understanding of unmet medical needs, and ensure execution aligned with the shared disease area strategy, TA priorities, and integrated customer plan

Medical Strategy & Leadership

• Define and lead the global medical strategy for the therapeutic area, aligned with corporate and franchise objectives
• Provide strategic medical input across the full product lifecycle, including early development, launch, lifecycle management, and post-marketing activities
• Serve as the senior medical voice for the therapeutic area, ensuring scientific rigor, ethical conduct, and compliance with regulatory standards
• Act as a trusted advisor to the General Manager and executive leadership on clinical, scientific, and medical matters

Global Medical Organization Oversight

• Lead and develop a high-performing global Medical Affairs organization, including: Global and Regional Medical Directors; Medical Communications; U.S. Field Medical Liaison (MSL) organization; Integrated Evidence Planning
• Foster a culture of collaboration, scientific excellence, accountability, and talent development
• Ensure clear governance, prioritization, and alignment across global and regional medical teams
• Collaborate across therapeutic areas and with the functional Medical Affairs teams to drive strategic and operational excellence

Evidence Generation & Scientific Communication

• Oversee the development and execution of integrated evidence plans, including clinical data dissemination, RWE, HEOR, and investigator-initiated research
• Ensure timely, accurate, and impactful scientific communications, including publications, medical education, congress presence, and scientific exchange
• Guide medical input into label strategy, study design, and post-marketing commitments in partnership with Development and Global Program Teams

Field Medical & External Engagement

• Provide strategic direction for Field Medical activities, ensuring high-quality, compliant scientific exchange with healthcare professionals, key opinion leaders, and external experts
• Personally engage with top-tier global and U.S. KOLs, academic leaders, and professional societies as a scientific ambassador for the organization and set the expectation of pro-active effective external engagement for the Medical Affairs team
• Ensure insights from the field are systematically captured and inform strategy across Medical, Commercial, and Development functions

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner closely with Commercial leadership to ensure strong medical-commercial collaboration while maintaining appropriate scientific independence and compliance
• Collaborate with Global Program Teams, Regulatory, Market Access, Pharmacovigilance, and R&D to support asset strategy and execution
• Provide medical leadership in governance forums, brand teams, and portfolio discussions

Compliance & Governance

• Ensure all Medical Affairs activities adhere to global regulations, company policies, and industry standards
• Champion ethical conduct, patient safety, and data integrity across all medical activities

Qualifications

• MD (required); board certification or clinical practice experience strongly preferred. Ideal candidate has sub-specialty training in Neurology
• Minimum of 15+ years of combined clinical, academic, and/or pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry experience
• Significant senior leadership experience in Medical Affairs, preferably at the global or franchise level
• Drug development experience – Understanding of research and drug development and the ability to communicate data in an impactful way. The ability to connect the "internal" science to the "external" unmet medical need and communicate complex clinical data in a user-friendly way is critical. Functional understanding of drug development with hands-on experience designing and executing clinical trials would be considered a plus
• Demonstrated experience leading large, multidisciplinary global medical organizations
• Deep expertise within the relevant therapeutic area
• Proven leadership of large medical affairs teams inclusive of field based MSL teams
• Deep understanding of Medical Affairs strategy, evidence generation, and lifecycle management
• Experience leading national or regional medical strategy and executing on evidence generation, KOL engagement, and medical governance
• Strong understanding of FDA and other U.S. regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and ethical standards
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate medical insight into actionable business plans
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration, executive communication, and external stakeholder engagement skills
• Recognized as a medical thought leader with a proven track record of influencing both internal and external stakeholders
• Strong strategic thinking, influencing, and decision-making abilities

Pay

$365,000.00-497,000.00 Annual

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage and mental health support, annual wellbeing reimbursement, and access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Generous paid time off policies, fertility and family-forming benefits, caregiver support, and flexible work schedules with purposeful in-person collaboration
• 401(k) plan with a competitive company match, annual equity awards, and participation in our Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), and company-paid life and disability insurance
• Company Learning Institute providing access to LinkedIn Learning, skill building workshops, leadership programs, mentorship connections, and networking opportunities
• Employee resource groups, service and recognition programs, and meaningful opportunities to connect, volunteer, and give back