Job Vacancy - Medical Science Liaison

Applications open - Jan 1st 2030

Location:?Flexible (Hybrid Global Model) Type:?Full-time if you want

Industry:?Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/HealthTech/CRO/Medical Devices

Reports To:?Medical Strategy Director (the new breed of Medical Director who could have come from a variety of professional backgrounds and is a true organisational leader)

Job Summary:

As an?MSL in 2030, your role focuses on driving?quality scientific exchanges?that influence key stakeholders across the?multidisciplinary team (MDT), which includes not only doctors but also nurse specialists, key pharmacists, allied health professionals, and healthcare administrators. Your mission is to shape clinical practice, improve patient outcomes, and optimise?quality use of medicines (QUM).

Working?cross-functionally?within your organisation, you will collaborate closely with?clinical, commercial/sales, MI, PV, regulatory, and health economics?teams to integrate scientific insights into broader business strategies. You will be the key conduit for?scientific exchange, ensuring that real-world data (RWD) and innovative insights inform strategic decisions, evidence generation, and true patient engagement.

As the?MSL title?is now harmonised across the industry, it ensures?clarity and consistency?in how healthcare professionals (HCPs) engage with MSLs across organisations. We've learned that when companies attempt to?individually brand their field medical teams?with differentiated titles, it only serves to?confuse HCPs, aspiring medical affairs professionals, and the industry. By standardising the MSL title, we reinforce?professional identity and foster better engagement across the healthcare ecosystem, eliminating the ambiguity caused by unnecessary differentiation.

Global Harmonisation of the MSL Role: The MSL role is now a?global standard?with?unified capability frameworks?across healthcare systems. This standardisation means every MSL works with a common set of values, objectives, and capabilities, ensuring consistency in interactions with HCPs and stakeholders across borders.

You will also work directly with patient groups, patients and HCP's to ensure that feedback and insights collected from the 'field' are used to improve organisational strategy and product development.

A?deep scientific knowledge base*, spanning the entire drug development lifecycle, combined with a?scientific curiosity?to uncover and address gaps in medical science, will differentiate you from someone with basic product knowledge, ensuring you bring cutting-edge, evidence-based insights (and VALUE) to all interactions.

*This is a 'Licence To Operate' and a given - again, don't lead with this during an interview which will be done face to face despite hologram technology (because we are humans).

Key Responsibilities:

1. Redefine Stakeholder Engagement in a Digital World: Drive?data-powered scientific conversations?with the expanded MDT, which includes not only HCPs but also?AI-driven health platforms,?public health officials,?digital therapeutics specialists, and?patient advocacy leaders. Influence?health system leaders?and policymakers by providing?real-time, predictive insights?on therapeutic efficacy, patient outcomes, and system-wide healthcare economics. Guide?cross-border healthcare collaborations, integrating diverse global perspectives into healthcare solutions that adapt to varying regulations and patient needs. Lead Public-Private Partnerships.
2. AI & Data-Driven Decision Making: Leverage?predictive AI models?to interpret and synthesize complex clinical data,?identifying early trends in therapeutic outcomes that can reshape clinical guidelines and improve real-time decision-making. Collaborate with?data scientists?to mine RWD, generating?evidence in real-time?that continuously evolves the value proposition of therapies. Utilise?machine learning algorithms?to proactively identify?knowledge gaps?in therapeutic areas, ensuring continuous scientific advancement and gap-filling with robust, evidence-based solutions.
3. Champion Personalised Medicine & Predictive Healthcare: Shape clinical trials and therapeutic strategies?that reflect the evolution of?personalised medicine, ensuring that?biomarker-driven treatments?and?precision therapies?are at the forefront of every engagement. Collaborate with genomic and AI teams?to co-create personalised treatment protocols that account for real-world genetic, environmental, and social data, influencing global regulatory frameworks and future clinical trials.
4. Sustainability & Ethics in Health: Ensure that?sustainability principles?are embedded into healthcare innovations, from clinical trials to patient access, addressing the global need for environmentally sustainable medical practices. Act as an?ethical advisor, guiding the integration of?AI and data-driven healthcare?within a framework of equity, fairness, and patient empowerment.
5. Real-Time Actionable Insight Generation: Proactively collect?real-time insights?from stakeholders through?dynamic health platforms,?virtual trials, and?AI-powered interactions. Influence?strategic business decisions?by generating?predictive insights?that forecast changes in health systems, patient and HCP behaviours, and global therapeutic trends. Ensure that?actionable insights?are rapidly disseminated to internal teams (local to global), directly shaping?brand strategy, regulatory submissions,?market access strategies, and?patient engagement initiatives.

Required Skills & Attributes (you need all of these by the way)

1. Emotional Intelligence (EI): Emotional Intelligence?is key to this role. You must possess empathy, self-awareness, and strong interpersonal skills to effectively engage with stakeholders across the MDT. High EI allows you to manage relationships, navigate sensitive healthcare conversations, and drive collaboration within cross-functional teams.
2. Deep Scientific Knowledge Base: A comprehensive understanding of the?drug development lifecycle, including early-stage research, clinical trials, regulatory approvals, and post-marketing surveillance.Your knowledge extends beyond simple product information, encompassing a wide array of therapeutic areas and medical disciplines.
3. Scientific Curiosity & Gap Identification: Demonstrate a?scientific curiosity?that drives you to seek out and address gaps in medical science, contributing to both internal R&D efforts and external healthcare improvements.Ability to constantly explore new research, emerging trends, and innovations that can influence product strategy and healthcare decisions.
4. Strategic Insight Gathering: Ability to gather?actionable insights?from HCPs and patients that influence organisational strategy, clinical trial designs, and patient care initiatives.Strong focus on transforming these insights into meaningful actions through collaboration with internal teams.
5. Business Acumen & Strategic Thinking: Deep understanding of the?business landscape?within healthcare, with the ability to align Medical Affairs activities with broader organisational goals. A strategic mindset, ensuring that insights from the field influence both?clinical, medical and commercial strategies (which should be fully integrated)
6. Interpersonal & Engagement Skills:Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with diverse HCPs across the MDT, including those beyond traditional prescribers.Proven experience in driving?scientific exchanges?that lead to significant changes in clinical practice and healthcare decision-making.
7. Patient-partnered Approach: A deep understanding of the?patient journey (you will need to talk to patients to truly understand this), ensuring that patient needs and outcomes are central to all interactions and insights. Proven ability to integrate patient insights into product development and healthcare strategies.
8. Digital Literacy & Data Proficiency: Proficiency in utilising?AI-driven tools?and real-world data to generate actionable insights from scientific exchanges.Comfortable working with data scientists and turning complex datasets into practical applications that influence clinical and strategic decisions. Also we can reduce medical affairs churn with AI.

Qualifications (only relevant if you have the skills and attributes above)

• Advanced degree in life sciences is preferred or equivalent experience in?data science,?AI healthcare applications, or?digital therapeutics. To note, don't use your primary qualification as a shield or crutch - the stuff above is what really matters.
• A?postgraduate degree in Medical Affairs??is highly desirable, reflecting the evolving standards in the industry and ensuring strategic capability in this role.
• An MBA may give you a bit of a super-power
• Familiarity with?peak body endorsed medical affairs capability frameworks?and experience with?cross-border health system collaborations.

KPIs - how you will be measured (and you will be measured !)

1. Quality of Multi-Stakeholder Engagements: Measuring your ability to engage and influence across the?MDT, digital health platforms, policymakers, and global health organisations, focusing on?value-driven exchanges not volume driven. Outcomes not outputs.
2. Predictive Insight Generation: Predictive power?of insights collected through AI and real-world data, measured by your ability to forecast therapeutic outcomes and shape strategic decisions.
3. Patient-Centric Innovation: Success in delivering?personalised healthcare strategies, with measurable improvements in patient outcomes, satisfaction, and therapeutic efficacy.
4. Stakeholder Engagement: HCP's and other key stakeholders will come to you as much as you go to them and engagement will be reciprocal - no more 'trying to get your foot in the door'.

Closing Statement:

As an?MSL (or any medical affairs role in 2030), you are not just a medical affairs expert; you are a?strategic innovator?driving the future of healthcare. By leveraging?AI, data science, and personalised medicine, you will shape health systems, ensure sustainable practices, and pioneer therapeutic advancements that define the future of patient care.

Join us in this transformative journey, where?human-centric healthcare?meets?technological evolution, and you will be at the forefront of delivering better health to patient - and all with a solid business acumen as your professional DNA.

Applications open in 274 weeks (I know right) - of course, you don't really have to wait and the best way to predict the future is to invent it.

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