Medical Advisor – Cardiometabolic (JHB North) at Aspen Pharma Group

OBJECTIVE OF ROLE

• This position is a strategic position for the CardioMetabolic within the Medical Affairs organization. The Medical Advisor will provide strategic input into the different phases of a products lifecycle to maximize Aspen’s value proposition through the delivery of medical and scientific expertise. The Medical Advisor will collaborate with the Head of Medical Affairs, Brand Managers as well as Market Access Managers. You will be responsible for ensuring that medical and scientific knowledge is effectively communicated both internally and externally ultimately contributing to the success of our products and services.

KEY RESPONSIBILIES

• Product(s) lifecycle management in collaboration with the Brand Manager and cross-functional teams.
• Leading and developing the Local Medical strategy and medical activities for the product(s) in accordance with internal and external regulations in close collaboration with the Head of Medical Affairs.
• Work closely with cross- functional teams to support the development and execution of medical strategies and plans.
• Stay up to date with current medical and scientific developments in assigned therapeutic area (TA) and provide training to internal and external customers.
• In-depth therapy area expertise and product knowledge including competitor data.
• Lead and drive rapid integrated evidence planning and execution through deep understanding of internal and external stakeholder evidence needs and robust data gaps analysis.
• Visits selected KOL’s and study groups for strategic discussions on evidence generation.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with external experts.
• Management of internal and external relationships within area of responsibility.
• Ensuring consistency and accuracy of medical content and scientific messages across various tools and materials.
• Provides medical insights and expertise to support the marketing and commercialization of TA products from a scientific perspective.
• Oversees in-sourced/outsourced medical programs and logistics.
• Conducts Local Advisory Board Meetings, Expert Panels and scientific engagement meetings SEM/CMEs.
• Develop and deliver scientific presentations and materials for internal and external conferences and meetings.
• Provides Medical expertise for pipeline products.
• Provides Medical expertise for Health Technology Assessment (HTA) submissions.
• Utilise strong business acumen, acting as a key strategic business partner to the organisation.
• Initiate and drive projects to raise standards of care and change clinical practice.
• Ability to work independently with a solutions-oriented and balanced approach to ambiguity
• Drive strong collaborative relationships with commercial and cross-functional teams, including marketing, value & access, health economics, regulatory and clinical
• Drive collaborative relationships with Alliance partner to ensure the country involvement and strategic input into global and regional plans.
• Ability to rapidly assimilate new data and integrate into new therapy area.
• Create industry leading digital educational and scientific content that is timely, relevant, interactive and innovative.
• Champion the patient voice when developing and implementing medical strategies.
• Demonstrate strong leadership influencing across networks and by coaching and mentoring members of the team.
• Act as a medical resource for internal teams, including Marketing, Regulatory Affairs and Market Access.
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulations, guidelines and company policies in all medical communications and activities.

Authority

• Signs off medical plans for area of responsibility.
• Approves scientific content of Local symposia/workshops/publications/ promotional materials/medical section of reimbursement files.
• Approval of slide decks and resources and scientific speaker presentations.

Outputs

• Brand/disease specific parts of medical plan.
• Local support for medical questions, feasibility and trial strategy.
• Local Product Lifecycle Plan.
• Protocols and other study documents for local studies.
• Medical expertise for the review of promotional and scientific documents (e.g. symposia, publications etc.).
• Local R&D brand/disease related results according to goals and metrics.
• Provide relevant training to internal and external stakeholders.
• Develop a good understanding of HCP communication preferences to adapt communication style and optimise use of relevant channels to suit.
• Implement true scientific engagement journeys by bridging channel disconnect to drive ongoing engagement and grow collaborative opportunities and meaningful scientific exchange.

Requirements
EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Matric
• Medical qualification (MBChB), or equivalent life science qualification of at least Masters’ level.

KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Minimum of 2 years in pharmaceutical industry, or proven industry collaboration in academia.
• Experience in affiliate Medical Department or Clinical Development.
• Experience with clinical study management and conduct.
• Knowledge of commercialization and business practices.
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical product development, product lifecycle and commercialization process with advanced understanding of other functions; including, but not limited to, Clinical Operations, Commercial, Regulatory, and Medical Affairs.
• Experience in the CardioMetabolic therapeutic area will be advantageous.
• Experience with KOL’s in the relevant therapeutic area.

SOFT SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

• Medical strategy and scientific expertise in the therapeutic area.​
• Good understanding of the impact and evolution of healthcare systems.  
• Fluency in English, both oral and written communications​
• Strong communication skills including driving challenging discussions with the ability to effectively communicate complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences.
• Excellent presentation skills​
• Continuously expanding medical and scientific knowledge as well as market knowledge​
• Strong clinical research knowledge (study design, study evaluation, medical writing skills, expert panel conduct, symposium and workshop management, KOL management)​
• Strong customer orientation; science-based ​
• Ability to work in cross-functional teams. 
• Role model for others in line with Aspen Values​
• Demonstrates leadership skills​
• Ability to act independently with a solutions-oriented and balanced approach to the grey areas
• Be confident in the use of Omnichannel tools and ability to adapt to new channels / technologies
• Effectively and compliantly share unmet needs of HCPs and their centres with cross-functional teams to inform patient-centric strategy.
• Strong project management skills.
• Willingness to continuously expand medical, scientific, market, and industry knowledge.