US Medical Head, Liver Cancer

At AstraZeneca, we put patients first and strive to meet their unmet needs worldwide. Working here means being entrepreneurial, thinking big, and working together to make the impossible a reality. If you are swift to action, confident to lead, willing to collaborate, and curious about what science can do, then you’re our kind of person.

Our Gaithersburg, Maryland facility crafts life-changing medicines for people around the world. This campus employs more than 3,500 specialists in our field and is only a short drive from Washington, DC. This modern and vibrant scientific campus is the home of R&D and Oncology in the US. Here, we play host to some of the most groundbreaking technology and lab spaces, all designed to encourage collaboration and cross-functional science. We believe employees benefit from being challenged and inspired at work. We are dedicated to fostering a culture of inclusion and collaboration. The Gaithersburg site offers various amenities to help boost efficiency and help keep our employees happy and healthy. This includes a fitness center, employee healthcare clinic, electric vehicle charging stations, dry cleaning, full-service cafeteria, and copy center. This is where you’ll find newly designed, activity-based workspaces to suit a variety of working styles while strengthening collaboration between teams.

Accountabilities

The US Oncology Medical Head, Liver is accountable for the strategic direction of the assigned scientific and/or sub-disease areas including hepatocellular, biliary tract, and pancreas cancers, within the US Medical Affairs Franchise. Responsible for owning the above indication strategies and initiatives, this role, reporting directly to the Franchise Head GI will also be a key member of a focused strategic leadership team driving medical excellence across the whole Franchise.

The Medical Head will manage a team of Medical professionals who are responsible for developing and delivering the integrated Medical Affairs Plan (iMAP) and will have full accountability for leading all aspects of the medical team to ensure strategic priorities and initiatives are met.

The Medical Head will work in a matrix environment with other network colleagues including Field Medical, US Commercial, Medical Excellence, Medical Evidence & Generation, and Global Franchises.

What You'll Do:

• Accountable for the disease area medical strategy and coordinates creation and delivery of the medical plan, within a particular indication
• Lead and encourage a team of Medical professionals and cultivate an environment of inclusion, shared goals, clear responsibilities, and continuous improvement. Lead all aspects of the talent management lifecycle striven to attract, develop, and retain the best Medical talent.
• Supervise process & execution of the iMAP Strategy & financial planning across all assets and indications within the designated franchise
• Develop the iMAP across assets/therapeutic area-wide strategic priorities and initiatives and provide strategic priorities and cross-functional support
• Oversee the launch readiness timelines and ensure USMA is on track to deliver and own the Launch Readiness Reviews in conjunction with US Commercial
• Oversee the delivery of the aligned Evidence Generation Plan, lead asset Evidence Generation strategy for TA, and integration with the franchise (other assets). Represent USMA with Global in establishing evidence-generation priorities for their franchise.
• Oversee the asset/tumor strategy for Real World Evidence (RWE) and work with Oncology Outcomes Research (O²R) leadership to set priorities for USMA HEOR/RWE projects
• Review GPT topics/outputs and prioritize and identify items to be trickled to CMT
• Support Medical Leads as the Product Label Team (PLT) Core Member
• Provide updates from MALT to the franchise and ensure all MALT directives are cascaded promptly
• Ensure quarterly iMAP reviews are occurring at CMT, including project & budget status. Conduct a quarterly Pan-tumor review and a quarterly franchise priority review
• Main point of contact for Sr. Global Medical Alignment Leaders (GMAL) to ensure US strategy is aligned with global strategy/requirements and to provide USMA inputs to Global strategy direction
• Represent USMA on aligned upon IBT
• Responsible for the oversight of the business plan, budget planning, and execution. Ensure the oversight of the justification of budget allocation and partner with finance and business planning to rationalize and explain variances to phased budget and budget spend
• Oversee the development of a comprehensive engagement strategy with customers and key stakeholders, e.g., Managed Care Organizations, ESEs, Key Institutions, Hospital Systems, Professional Societies, and collaborative networks
• Prioritize key congresses and ensure adequate support in place for congress activities; collaborate on the overall congress Pan Tumor narrative with GMA
• Represent AZ on joint alliance meetings

Essential Skills/Experience

• Sophisticated Scientific Degree (MBBS, PharmD, PhD, or MD) or equivalent education
• 10+ years of Oncology therapeutic area experience, including 5+ years in an HQ Medical Affairs role
• 4+ years in a Medical Affairs strategy setting role
• 3+ years of line management experience
• Extensive experience in Medical Affairs function within the pharmaceutical industry
• Extensive experience in relationship and stakeholder management (3P’s: Payer, Provider and Patients)
• Effective matrix leadership experience
• Experience working at the medical marketing interface
• Experience in Evidence-generation planning and clinical trial design
• Fluency in spoken and written English
• A track record of building and maintaining a deep continued connection to medical practice/healthcare delivery
• Collaborative/matrix leadership skills with a focus on leading diverse groups (e.g., cultural, geographical, functional) to achieve excellent results in shared goals
• Strong communication skills with the ability to distill complexity down to what matters to our collaborators
• Strong Financial/Budget Management and Project Management skills
• Experience working in the US market
• Strong intuition for business

Desirable Skills/Experience

• Doctorate degree (MD or equivalent) with Oncology specialization or PhD in Sciences preferred
• Extensive knowledge of the latest technical, regulatory, policy, and patient-centric developments
• Experience delivering country medical affairs plans
• Board Certification, experience/certification in oncology
• Experience developing and/or launching a new pharmaceutical product
• Global experience within the pharmaceutical industry
• Validated understanding of FDA requirements

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

AstraZeneca is where you can be brave by confidently communicating and expressing ideas. An open environment where everyone can share their views with purpose. We are empowered to be brave thinkers who freely express ideas knowing it's a safe space to learn from failures. Here we change the practice of medicine by ensuring our medical evidence helps save lives. We leverage partnerships with experts across the industry to create evidence that transforms patient treatment.

Ready to make an impact? Apply now!

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.