North America Head of Scientific Communications

Summary of Job

The North America Head of Scientific Communications is a senior leadership role within NA Medical Affairs responsible for setting the strategic direction, oversight, and governance of scientific communications across the regional portfolio. This role ensures the delivery of high-quality, compliant, and impactful scientific communications that support evidence dissemination, medical education, and scientific exchange throughout the product lifecycle.

Essential Functions

• Future Pipeline Expansion & Capability Building

• Proactively prepare NA Scientific Communications to support future pipeline expansion, including new therapeutic areas, indications, modalities, and lifecycle stages.
• Anticipate scientific communications needs associated with pipeline progress and evolving portfolio complexity, including early asset planning, launch readiness, and post-launch evidence dissemination.
• Design scalable scientific communications approaches, processes, and resourcing models that can flex with portfolio expansion.
• Partner with Global Medical Affairs and Clinical Development to ensure early alignment of scientific narratives, data generation plans, and publication strategy for pipeline assets.
• Identify capability gaps and lead continuous improvement initiatives across scientific communications, including talent development, vendor partnerships, and operational excellence.

• Strategic Leadership & Governance

• Develop and own the regional scientific communications strategy across multiple products, aligned with global medical strategy, portfolio priorities, and North America Medical Affairs objectives.
• Establish and maintain regional governance frameworks, standards, and best practices for scientific communications across channels and formats.
• Serve as a senior scientific communications advisor to North America Medical Affairs leadership and therapeutic area leads.
• Ensure compliance with internal SOPs, Good Publication Practice (GPP), ICMJE guidelines, and all applicable regulatory, legal, and compliance requirements.

• Publications & Evidence Dissemination

• Oversee regional publication planning and execution, including abstracts, manuscripts, posters, oral presentations, and plain language summaries.
• Ensure timely, high-quality execution of regional publication plans in collaboration with global partners, investigators, and external authors.
• Provide strategic oversight of publication vendors and agencies, including scope, budgeting, and performance management.

• Scientific Content & Medical Materials

• Lead development and lifecycle management of regional scientific narratives, lexicons, and key data-driven messages.
• Oversee creation, approval, and maintenance of regional field medical materials, including slide decks, FAQs, disease education materials, and data summaries.
• Ensure all materials are scientifically accurate, strategically aligned, audience-appropriate, and tailored to regional needs.

• Medical Education & Congress

• Oversee scientific content for regional medical education, insight generation initiatives, advisory boards, and peer-to-peer scientific exchange.
• Provide scientific communications leadership for regional congress strategy and execution, including content development, scientific booth materials, and symposia support.
• Partner closely with Field Medical and Medical Education teams to align content with scientific objectives and stakeholder insights.

• Digital Scientific Communications

• Provide strategic oversight of regional digital scientific assets, including modular and omnichannel-ready content, congress digital materials, and online educational resources.
• Partner with digital and omnichannel teams to ensure scientific rigor, consistency, and effective data visualization across platforms.

• Medical Review & Compliance Oversight

• Lead and oversee regional medical review processes to ensure efficient, compliant, and high-quality review of scientific communications materials.
• Serve as a senior medical/scientific reviewer and escalation point for complex scientific, regulatory, or compliance-related issues.
• Drive continuous improvement of review workflows and cross-functional collaboration.

• People Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of scientific communications professionals, fostering a culture of scientific excellence, accountability, and collaboration.
• Set clear objectives, provide ongoing performance feedback, and support professional development for direct reports.
• Build and sustain a high-performing scientific communications function capable of supporting a growing and evolving portfolio.
• Anticipate future portfolio and pipeline needs to inform thoughtful expansion of the scientific communications team over time.
• Define future role profiles and succession plans to ensure the organization scales effectively as new assets and therapeutic areas are added to the portfolio.

Job Requirements

• Education

• An earned Ph.D., Pharm.D., or M.D. in a relevant life sciences, biomedical, or clinical discipline is strictly required.

• Experience

• Minimum 12+ years of experience in Medical Affairs, or related roles within pharmaceutical or biotechnology organizations, at least 6 years in Scientific/Medical Communication.
• Senior leadership experience managing scientific communications teams and leading complex, cross-functional, matrixed initiatives at regional or global scale.
• Extensive oversight of end-to-end scientific communications activities, including publications, medical education, field medical materials, congress strategy, and digital scientific content.
• Strong understanding of publication planning standards, medical governance, and regulatory and compliance requirements within a highly regulated environment.
• Experience serving as a strategic partner to Medical Affairs leadership, with ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and align scientific communication strategies with enterprise objectives.
• Background contributing to transformation initiatives in Medical Affairs, including modernization of scientific communications and evolution toward digital and omnichannel engagement models.
• History of building, leading, and developing high-performing, multidisciplinary teams, including mentorship of managers and senior scientific communications professionals.
• Experience operating within global or regional matrix organizations, ensuring alignment between regional execution and global scientific communications strategy.

• Technical Skills & Competencies

• Deep understanding of Medical Affairs operating models, governance structures, and the role of Medical Affairs across the product lifecycle, including its interface with Clinical Development, Regulatory, and Commercial functions.
• Strong expertise in strategic planning, portfolio prioritization, and resource allocation within complex, global matrix organizations.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Medical Affairs planning and execution, including scientific communications, publication planning, medical education, field medical strategy, evidence generation, and investigator-sponsored research activities.
• Solid understanding of clinical development processes, regulatory requirements, compliance standards, and industry guidelines governing Medical Affairs operations.
• Experience establishing and optimizing governance frameworks, operational processes, and performance metrics that enhance effectiveness, consistency, and scalability of Medical Affairs activities.
• Ability to influence and align senior stakeholders across global and regional organizations without direct authority, driving consensus in highly matrixed environments.
• Strong strategic acumen and business orientation, with the ability to translate enterprise priorities into actionable plans, clear governance structures, and measurable outcomes.
• Advanced communication and executive presentation skills, with the ability to engage senior leadership and support informed, cross-functional decision-making.
• Strong analytical capability, leveraging data, insights, and performance indicators to support prioritization, resource decisions, and continuous improvement.
• Proficiency in business planning, portfolio tracking, and collaboration tools, with strong command of Microsoft Office applications (PowerPoint, Excel, and related tools).

• Non-Technical Skills

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment while managing ambiguity effectively.
• Strong work ethics are required.
• Passion for personal learning and professional development.
• Cultural sensitivity and adaptability.