Medical Affairs Therapy Area Lead, R&I

JOB TITLE

Medical Affairs Therapy Area Lead – R&I  

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.

ROLE SUMMARY

• This role is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of the Medical Affairs R&I Therapy Area team to ensure company business goals are achieved. The role requires leading a team to enhance healthcare systems, improve patient outcomes, and ensure compliance with medical governance, all while fostering innovation and achieving a sustainable impact in clinical practices.

What you’ll do

• Responsible for strategic R&I direction, establishing standards of medical capability, business/resource planning, and scientific leadership within the Medical Affairs Team.
• As a medical expert, provide medical leadership, expertise, and strategic input to ensure Medical Affairs therapy area plans are aligned with the broader business objectives.
• Drive examples of Medically led/co-led, based initiatives on an identified gap in collaboration with CFTs that contributes to an overarching plan mapped to drive positive patient outcomes.
• Leverage medical expertise to design, implement, and oversee real-world evidence (RWE) projects. Identifies reliable, suitable data sources and ensures the scientific rigor and integrity of real-world studies.
• Responsible for interpreting and communicating the findings from RWE projects with a strong focus on translating RWE into actionable insights that can internally inform medical and commercial strategies and externally ultimately improve patient outcomes and inform healthcare decision-making.
• Collaborate with leaders from relevant cross-functional teams to identify, activate, and measure scalable healthcare practice-shaping initiatives with integrated partnership engagement plans composed of key traditional (e.g. HCPs) and non-traditional (e.g., policy and decision-makers, PAGs, government, innovative solution providers) stakeholders.
• Establish AstraZeneca as a scientific leader through proactive medical inputs.
• Lead educational initiatives, developing clinical support tools, and providing scientific expertise to support the integration of new medical advancements into clinical practice.
• Put in place measures to showcase the impact of initiatives.
• Agile innovation adoption through win-win partnerships within the healthcare ecosystem that are scalable and can enable sustainable patient outcomes.
• Lead a team that ensures all product materials for a specific therapy area are kept up to date and accurate.
• Personally provide expert scientific support and approval on product materials involving large or more complex drugs or documents and reports for more important conferences/symposiums.
• Has signatory authority on outgoing therapy area materials.
• Advise the marketing team as a medical healthcare expert, ensuring the medical and scientific accuracy of outgoing marketing materials.
• Ensure that all branding work is carried out in accordance with AstraZeneca standards and external regulations.
• Governance and overall adherence to processes and regulations, including but not limited to clinical trials, promotional activity (e.g., Local Country Code of Conduct), patient safety (ensure that pharmacovigilance activities meet internal SOP and local regulations, e.g., PI updates, oversight of safety profile of products registered in the local country)
• Enhance medical effectiveness by building a performance-driven team with robust systems and processes with the right capabilities in place to meet the current and future needs of the AZ Medical Affairs team.
• Foster a collaborative and inclusive team environment where individuals are supported in their professional development and empowered to contribute their expertise to the broader goals of the organization.
• Responsible for setting clear expectations, goals, and priorities for the team and ensuring alignment with the overall medical and business strategies.
• Promote a culture of scientific excellence, integrity, and continuous learning within the team.
• Organize and deliver education and training to cross-functional employees to ensure scientific knowledge is kept up to date within the local organization.
• Guide and mentor junior Medical Affairs colleagues by providing ongoing coaching and feedback to team members to support their career growth and skills development.

Only Applications in UAE will be considered.

Essential for the role

• Science degree and or master’s degree in a scientific discipline
• Extensive experience in Medical Affairs function within a pharmaceutical industry
• Strong understanding of medical, clinical development, and regulatory requirements
• Extensive experience in stakeholder management
• Strong cross-functional project management and organizational skills
• Excellent oral and written communication
• Extensive team management experience
• Ability to work effectively in a matrix cross-functional environment

Desirable for the role

• Doctoral degree in a scientific discipline (e.g. M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D.)
• Previous R&I experience
• Extensive knowledge of the latest technical and regulatory developments
• Innovative and solution-oriented mindset
• Experience with fundamental research, drug discovery and development, and drug lifecycle management.
• Ecosystem-scaled project experience

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 already imagining yourself joining our team? Good, because we can’t wait to hear from you.
• 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.

Where can I find out more?

Our Social Media, Follow AstraZeneca on LinkedIn

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Date Posted

15-أكتوبر-2025

Closing Date

24-أكتوبر-2025

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.

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 authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.