Medical Science Liaison, Nephrology (Iowa, Southern Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota)

About the role

The Medical Science Liaison (MSL) contributes to the development of the ecosystem strategic business plan and identifies key stakeholders that are vital to the ecosystem. This field-based position engages with Key Influencers (KIs), Local Practice Leaders (LPLs), healthcare providers, and patient groups within their ecosystem to further patient outcomes aligned with Otsuka’s overarching objectives.

Responsibilities

• Contributes a clinical and scientific perspective to the local execution plan addressing customer challenges, issues, and opportunities to improve patient care and outcomes.
• Builds, cultivates, and leverages external relationships with key scientific and medical customers and organizations to understand evolving healthcare trends, disease states, Otsuka products, systems, and services across the ecosystem landscape.
• Delivers on business objectives that extend beyond the territory and impact the Medical Affairs organization.
• Maintains a deep and comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem to ensure alignment with Otsuka’s patient-centric strategy and priorities.
• Engages stakeholders at the local level with significant influence across the region.
• Builds and cultivates important internal working relationships across the matrix team to ensure an enterprise approach when working with customers.
• Leads special projects as requested by management and takes on incremental point roles within FMA.
• Disseminates disease state and healthcare landscape information to customers in the field as defined by priorities.
• Responsible for clinical and data-focused training of promotional and disease state speakers.
• May serve as part of Otsuka’s speaker bureau in support of product educational needs across the territory.
• Collects and submits medical insights that drive decision-making and prioritize evidence generation efforts and healthcare solutions, including sharing at the local ecosystem level.
• Assists with Otsuka’s clinical trials program, including registrational, post-marketing, and Investigator-Sponsored Trials (ISTs), health economic outcomes research, and other specific medical collaborations; provides clinical expertise and feedback regarding operational management of clinical trials to ensure optimal site selection and performance.
• Supports other areas of the organization including Safety & Pharmacovigilance for investigation of safety-related issues, Sales Training medical education on an ongoing basis including new hires, and the Field Medical Center of Excellence for mentoring and sharing of best practices.

Qualifications

• MD/DO, PharmD or PhD in life sciences required.
• Minimum 3 years relevant experience as a Medical Science Liaison or comparable clinical or research experience required.
• Previous training or experience in immune-mediated kidney disease is preferred.
• Outstanding business acumen; knowledge of the industry, Otsuka’s business model and value proposition, key competitors, and other marketplace factors/dynamics.
• Able to identify solutions with the overall goal of improved patient outcomes.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills; exhibits professional maturity, confidence, and competence.
• Strong conflict resolution skills: proven ability to achieve conflict resolution effectively and quickly with affected parties and work in a cross-functional environment.
• Ability to lead others and project teams strategically.
• Knowledgeable in summarizing and communicating complex information and business objectives in a concise and effective way during presentations and other interactions.
• Strong understanding of industry legal, regulatory, and compliance landscape.
• Ability to work in an ambiguous environment undergoing transformation.
• Demonstrates behaviors aligned with the Otsuka Corporate Brand including Perseverance, Unconventional Thinking, and Humility.