Country Medical Director, UK

Job Description

Country Medical Director, UK
Medical & Scientific Affairs
London, UK
Competitive Salary & Benefits

Do you have expertise in, and passion for, Medical Leadership? Would you like to apply your expertise to impact the lives of patients, in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life changing medicines? Then AstraZeneca might be the one for you!

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-focused biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.

We are on a journey to bring life-saving medicines to patients. Our role in contributing to decreasing mortality rates globally is clear – shaping the future by spotting a scientifically-led commercial opportunity and acting now to operationalise and scale it. Driven by the solutions we bring to the healthcare ecosystem. It powers us to make an impact at every step of the patient journey – to improve their experience and outcome.

At AstraZeneca UK, we bring life-changing medicines to patients across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. As a member of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), all of our sales, marketing and communications activities are subject to the ABPI Code of Practice. If you’re inspired by the possibilities of science to make a difference and ready to discover what you can do – join us!

It has been agreed that our AstraZeneca UK Commercial head office will move from Luton to Pancras Square, London in early 2022. This role will be initially based in our Luton office, until this move takes place.

Our move to Pancras Square offers us the strongest possible platform to transform the lives of patients in the UK, as the country’s leading biopharmaceutical company. It will bring AstraZeneca UK closer to our customers, partners and stakeholders in the UK’s healthcare environment, as well as foster greater collaboration with the wider AstraZeneca footprint.

What you’ll do

• In this role of Head of the Medical & Scientific organisation and core member of the AZ UK Senior Leadership Team, you will be accountable for:
• Establishing the UK as a leading launch market within AstraZeneca through world-class medical strategy and launch planning, delivering practice-changing real world evidence to differentiate brands and shape future guidelines, and rewiring integrated patient care pathways to improve clinical outcomes and reduce geographical variations in care
• Accelerating delivery of the AstraZeneca pipeline to UK patients, working with MHRA (and NICE) to identify opportunities for UK patients to have first access to innovative medicines
• AstraZeneca’s compliance to the UK Code of Practice (AZ UK and Global) and obligations to pharmacovigilance and UK patient safety
• Creating a ‘performance culture’ in medical, mobilising field medical teams against our priorities, developing/recruiting talent with a view to building the next generation of medical ‘business’ leader that takes accountability for strategic leadership and company performance

MEDICAL & LAUNCH STRATEGY: Lead the UK Medical & Scientific Affairs organisation, defining the medical strategy to support new product launches and developing the market, collaborating with Business Unit Directors to deliver on business priorities, including customer segmentation/coverage, product awareness, building clinical capability and comfort to use innovative medicines, omnichannel experiences, scientific comms, digital & media presence
LEADERSHIP IN REAL WORLD EVIDENCE: Maintain AZ UK’s position as the global leader in Real World Evidence: build new partnerships and capabilities to demonstrate the effectiveness of our medicines, differentiate brands, expand market access
REGULATORY & LICENCE TO OPERATE: Lead AZ UK’s Regulatory Affairs strategy and LTO agenda across AZ UK (BBU and OBU), execute on opportunities for acceleration (or differentiation), working with MHRA and the market access team (+NICE) to ensure UK patients have access to UK-based innovation; ensure that all internal and external standards are met (medical governance/duty of care, pharmacovigilance, GCP, Statutory Requirements of the Medicines Act, ABPI Code of Practice etc.)
PERFORMANCE CULTURE: Develop the ‘performance culture’ mindset across the M&SA organisation, with ability to communicate impact to Senior Leaders and the external scientific community, attract and develop the next generation of medical leader, taking ownership of business strategy across the enterprise and mobilising field teams to execute against priorities
TEAM & CULTURE: Build a culture where our Medical teams are really proud of our science and are energised by it
EXTERNAL SCIENTIFIC ENGAGEMENT: Regular engagement with UK Government, Key External Experts, senior NHS decision makers (clinical and financial), MHRA, NICE, professional societies and other UK policy makers, establishing new partnerships, working with the AZ UK policy and market access teams to create a positive environment for guideline change, market access & adoption of innovative medicines for the treatment of long-term conditions
ANNUAL BUSINESS PLANNING CYCLE AND BUDGET MANAGEMENT: plan manpower and activity budget requirements and define future organisational requirements for annual business planning cycles; deliver M&SA budget to +/- 2%

Essential for the role

• TA specialist qualification, PhD, MBA
• At least 10+ years relevant experience in the pharmaceutical/ biotechnology/medical device or health care delivery industry required
• Senior Leader experience with track-record leading large teams (50+ people, more than 2 years)
• Strong network in the UK healthcare environment (KEEs, policy makers, NHS decision makers)
• Experience in a senior leadership role in Medical Affairs
• Technical expertise in several disease/therapy areas (Respiratory and Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic)
• Experience and success in launching medicines in challenging markets, developing product strategies, business planning, enhanced field medical performance
• Track record of implementing innovative market development and policy reform initiatives
• Demonstrated success in building and leading large teams and executing multi-year strategic roadmaps
• Experience of people/performance management & development
• Proven expertise in the ABPI Code of Practice

Desirable for the role

• MD (or equivalent) with deep clinical expertise in relevant TAs required; in exceptional circumstances, a PhD/PharmD qualification without a medical qualification may be acceptable
• Higher Medical Qualification ( e.g. MRCP, MRCGP, FRCS) or other ( e.g. MBA)
• State of the art knowledge of how the NHS works, including key decision makers, incentive mechanisms, money flows, ICS plans, AHSNs, NHSx and NHS Digital agendas etc.
• Proven track-record working with the NHS to develop world class integrated care pathways and medical services
• Extensive experience using real world evidence to demonstrate quality improvement
• Experience building and implementing Innovative Value Strategy constructs

Why AstraZeneca?

At AstraZeneca we’re dedicated to being a Great Place to Work. Where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to medicine, patients and society. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration, and always committed to lifelong learning, growth and development. We’re on an exciting journey to pioneer the future of healthcare.

So, what’s next?

Are you ready to bring new ideas and fresh thinking to the table? Brilliant! We have one seat available and we hope it’s yours.