Country Medical Director, India

Job Description

Country Medical Director, India

THE OPPORTUNITY 

The Country Medical Director (CMD) is the Senior Medical Leader for Our Company in a country and serves as the leader of the medical affairs organization in their geography

Based in Mumbai, named one of the Best Companies for Women in India by Avatar, 2019.

Join the premier biopharmaceutical company that has been in Asia Pacific for over 60 years

We are a research-driven biopharmaceutical company. Our mission is built on the simple premise that if we “follow the science” and that great medicines can make a significant impact to our world. And we believe that a research-driven enterprise dedicated to world-class science can succeed by inventing medicine and vaccine innovations that make a difference for patients across the globe.

Our Medical Affairs team advances patient care by engaging in scientific exchange with external medical experts and industry leaders ensuring the scientific value of our products is understood. We connect, communicate and train internal employees to ensure a thorough understanding of the science behind the medicine and review further unmet medical needs to support collaboration to further differentiate our portfolio.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

CMD is the primary country level contact for Medical Affairs (MA) and has the following key responsibilities:

• Develops and executes the MA strategy for the country
• Creates and maintains a high-performing, highly compliant MA organization for the country
• Manages the entire portfolio for Our Company allocates resources balancing global and local priorities 
• Represents Medical Affairs in the Country Leadership Team and in cross-functional collaborations with other Research & Development functions, Human Health (HH), and others
• Communicates accomplishments, opportunities, and needs of the country/cluster to regional and/or global stakeholders
• Represents Our Company in external activities requiring the leadership and expertise of the country’s Senior Medical Leader

Responsibilities and Primary Activities:

Leadership and Management of the Medical Affairs Organization

People

• Proactively manages and develops talent
• Proactively identifies new opportunities and gaps vs. emerging needs and addresses in a timely manner by reallocating and training of existing staff and/or external recruitment
• Creates an empowering, compliant, collaborative, and innovation-focused work environment
• Builds a culture of quality and compliance through training, oversight, and collaboration

Country Medical Affairs Plans (CMAPs)

• Strategically develops, executes, and delivers CMAPs, including tactical deliverables for each therapeutic area, such as post-licensure research, publication plans, investigator-initiated studies, and other knowledge transfer activities
• Ensures alignment of the CMAPs with global strategy and adherence to all relevant regulations, Policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Manages the country-developed Protocol Concept Sheets (PCS), obtains regional and global approvals for new local data generation activities , and manages their execution

Medical Affairs Management

• Provides oversight to the country medical information team, establishes processes and systems to ensure that medical information requests (MIRs) from healthcare professionals are addressed in a timely manner and in alignment with the global scientific response documents and training materials
• Manages approved operating administrative (e.g., salaries & travel) and life cycle management budget (e.g., advisory boards, local data generation, etc.)
• Oversees all activities of local medical department employees
• Oversees inspections and inspections audits, answering inquiries by health authorities, ethical committees, and internal auditors in conjunction with Regulatory, Pharmacovigilance (PV) and Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO)

Collaboration with Key Internal Stakeholders

• The CMD represents Medical Affairs in cross-functional leadership teams and collaborations and advocates for the interests of the country (or cluster) with regional and global colleagues

Country (or Cluster) Leadership Team

• Represents Medical Affairs and is the “medical voice” in the country (or cluster) executive management team

Global Clinical Development (GCD), Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO), and Global Clinical Scientific Affairs (GCSA)

• Supports GCTO when requested
• Manages the submission and our Research & Development Division roles in the conduct of investigator-initiated studies.
• Leads country review of Compassionate Use Requests and Pre-License Patient Access (PLPA) programs and facilitates Chief Medical Officer (CMO) approval of these requests                                                                                                                                                                                  

Center for Observational and Real-World Evidence (CORE), Market Access, Regulatory Affairs, HH, and Policy

• Interacts with CORE, Market Access, and Global Medical Affairs experts to develop and manage observational, real-world effectiveness and epidemiologic studies
• Collaborates with CORE, market access, regulatory and commercial colleagues by providing scientific expertise and managing the medical aspects of submissions for regulatory, reimbursement or tenders for Our company's entire portfolio of medicines and vaccines
• Provides medical expertise to the commercial product teams, ensuring the scientific and medical value of Our Company's products across all therapy areas

Engagement with Key External Stakeholders

• The CMD represents Our Company as an executive leader and scientific expert to the external community.
• Serves as external interface with key stakeholders, insurers/government leaders, selected professional societies, medical-scientific institutions, and the broader scientific community to lead and execute the medical research and implementation strategy for Our company’s innovative medicines, ensuring that the medical community is appropriately engaged with the information they need to support patient care needs (e.g., scientific advisory boards, scientific leader (SL) engagements, webinars, and presentations)
• Collaborates with CORE, Market Access, and Commercial colleagues to engage payers, policymakers, and other decision makers in support of Our Company's innovative portfolio of medicines and vaccines
• Builds a network of key scientific leaders in areas of relevance to current and anticipated needs
• Develops and/or fosters relationships with external stakeholders to ensure that robust local insights from health care providers (HCPs) and patients are gathered and integrated into local, regional, and/or global strategies, plans, and tactics, enabling the generation of data needed by payers, physicians, and patients to properly understand and value our innovative medicines and vaccines
• Participates in outcomes research/health economics engagements with national payers, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) or regulatory agencies, in coordination with CORE, Market Access, and Commercial colleagues
• Provides scientific subject matter expertise for media relations and public affairs to country Communications, Corporate/External Affairs, and Public Relations teams and serves as official spokesperson for scientific matters

WHAT YOU MUST HAVE

To be successful in this role, you will have strong marketing skills as well as business capabilities

• MD or equivalent degree
• Global biopharmaceutical industry experience in clinical development and/or medical affairs with demonstrated track record of success: [refer to table below for requirements by type of role]
• People-management experience: [refer to table below for requirements by type of role]
• Demonstrated organizational skills, including ability to set goals and align priorities
• Deep experience in Our company's therapeutic areas of interest (e.g., oncology, infectious diseases treatment, vaccines, or specialty care)
• Budget management experience
• Additional advanced degrees, entry on a specialist register (pharmaceutical medicine or a relevant clinical specialty) and a current ‘license to practice’ (strong plusses)
• Specialty clinical training (e.g., a residency +/- fellowship)

Who we are …

We are known as Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA in the United States and Canada and MSD everywhere else. For more than a century, we have been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases. Today, our company continues to be at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions and advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and animals around the world.

What we look for …

Imagine getting up in the morning for a job as important as helping to save and improve lives around the world. Here, you have that opportunity. You can put your empathy, creativity, digital mastery, or scientific genius to work in collaboration with a diverse group of colleagues who pursue and bring hope to countless people who are battling some of the most challenging diseases of our time. Our team is constantly evolving, so if you are among the intellectually curious, join us—and start making your impact today.

Equal Opportunities

We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing diverse, talented, and committed people together. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when diverse ideas come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace.

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully 
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.  No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. 

Employee Status:

Relocation:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

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