Medical Science Liaison, Team Lead - Rare Emergency Medicine

Broad Overview

The Medical Science Liaison (MSL) Manager leads and develops a high-performing team of Medical Science Liaisons responsible for scientific exchange and external medical engagement with key opinion leaders (KOLs), healthcare professionals (HCPs), academic institutions, and other stakeholders. This role ensures the field medical organization delivers strategic scientific value, generates actionable medical insights, and supports evidence generation activities in alignment with the company's medical and business objectives. The MSL Manager serves as a key member of the Medical Affairs leadership team and partners cross-functionally with Medical Affairs, Clinical Development, Commercial, Market Access, HEOR, Regulatory, and Compliance to execute the medical strategy while maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity and compliance.

Field Medical Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of MSLs to achieve Medical Affairs objectives.
• Establish clear performance expectations, development plans, and succession strategies.
• Conduct regular field rides, coaching sessions, and performance reviews.
• Foster a culture of scientific excellence, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure consistent execution of field medical activities across assigned regions.

Strategic Medical Affairs Execution

• Translate medical strategy into actionable regional field plans.
• Support implementation of product lifecycle and therapeutic area strategies.
• Guide MSL team engagement with KOLs, investigators, scientific societies, and healthcare systems.
• Ensure field medical activities align with evolving scientific, clinical, and competitive landscapes.
• Contribute to annual medical planning and budget management.

External Scientific Engagement

• Oversee development and maintenance of strategic relationships with national and regional KOLs.
• Support MSL team in conducting scientific exchange on clinical data, disease state education, and emerging evidence.
• Where appropriate, constructively challenge current treatment approaches with scientific/clinical evidence, moving beyond information delivery to peer-to-peer scientific exchange.
• Facilitate identification of clinical research opportunities and investigator-sponsored studies.
• Represent Medical Affairs at scientific congresses, advisory boards, and key medical meetings.

Insight Generation

• Establish processes for collection, analysis, and communication of medical insights.
• Identify emerging trends, unmet needs, treatment barriers, and evidence gaps.
• Communicate field insights into Medical Affairs leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Ensure insights influence strategy, evidence generation, and educational initiatives.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Medical Affairs, Clinical Development, Scientific Communications, Commercial Leadership, Market Access, Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, and HEOR/RWE teams.
• Provide medical leadership during product launches and lifecycle management activities.
• Support training of internal stakeholders on therapeutic area science and clinical data.

Compliance and Governance

• Ensure all field medical activities comply with company policies, industry regulations, and applicable healthcare compliance requirements.
• Maintain high standards of documentation and reporting.
• Serve as a role model for ethical scientific engagement.
• Support inspection and audit readiness when applicable.

To be successful in this role, you should demonstrate:

• Advanced, doctorate-level degree in scientific discipline (i.e., MD, PharmD, PhD).
• Experience in leading and managing MSL Team.
• A minimum of five years of experience in medical affairs within the pharmaceutical or biotech industry is required.
• Strong interpersonal, leadership, management, and strategic thinking skills.
• Experience in rare diseases required.
• Ability to interact and communicate openly and effectively with internal cross-functional stakeholders, Senior Leadership, and external stakeholders, i.e., Key Opinion Leaders.
• Demonstrated self-starter and team player with strong interpersonal skills.
• Thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment with a strong bias for action.
• Strong communication and presentation skills and ability to translate complex clinical data into educational materials.
• Superb organizational skills and business planning, including the development of a budget and adherence to targets.
• Strong business acumen and problem-solving skills.
• Understand clinical development of company-sponsored studies and investigator-initiated processes.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (e.g., Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint) is required.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to lift, carry and otherwise move up to 25 pounds.
• Ability to sit, stand, or walk for various lengths of time throughout the day.
• Approximately 50% overnight travel.