Scientific Strategy Director

Job Title:                   Scientific Strategy Director                                                                                                                       

JOB PURPOSE            

Support organic growth and new business development by providing strategic scientific leadership on aligned accounts and serve as the scientific strategy expert for new business opportunities across the growing Fishawack Group, while also developing key therapy area expertise and providing training/mentoring for senior scientific team members.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

The Scientific Strategy Director is a scientific expert who has three key areas of responsibilities:

1) provides scientific and strategic expertise to new business development activities, researching and developing content for proposal/pitch presentation (e.g. landscape and competitor analyses, SWOT, differentiated positioning, scientific narrative), and proactively identifies new business opportunities aligned with FW areas of expertise and client relationships through pipeline analysis, networking opportunities etc

2) supports organic growth on allocated accounts, working with CDs/CSDs/ALs to identify opportunities for expanded service offerings and ensuring key strategic deliverables are aligned to client’s business needs and objectives

3) facilitates the integration of the creative and medical communication business by participating in the Strategic Planning Team and other relevant forum, and works with commercial leads to identify business opportunities for greater shared service offering combining creative and medical expertise

RESPONSIBILITY

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

New Business Development

Lead business development efforts from the scientific perspective

·     Work collaboratively with the commercial team to provide strategic scientific support for the development of proposals/pitches and participate in new business pitch presentations (landscape and competitor analysis, SWOT, positioning and differentiation, scientific narrative)

·     Proactively identify new business opportunities by researching therapy area developments and product pipelines, and working with Business Unit Heads to create opportunities to share insights with prospective clients  

·     Identify and advise on requirements for an up-to-date resource library to repurpose recent examples of best practice slides/tools that are ready to customize in a timely manner for proposals/pitches, and review and share key learnings from recent pitches

·     Liaise regularly with Business Unit Heads, account and commercial teams to understand and ensure consistent communication of current service offerings across the Group

·     Regularly research and communicate to the CLT updates on innovative medical communications initiatives, trends in the pharmaceutical market, and new developments in medicine, and leverage these insights to develop new business opportunities in collaboration with the commercial team

·     Participate in relevant professional society and industry meetings to develop client networks and demonstrate the Group’s capabilities and expertise

·     Participate in the Commercial Leadership Team to establish the short- and long-term business development strategy for the organization

Scientific Leadership on New Accounts

Lead the onboarding of new account teams following business wins

·     During the start-up phase of a new account, work with Client Services Director/Account Lead to identify scope of work and the profile of scientific resource needed to support the account

·     Provide senior scientific review of initial deliverables (for a limited period while the account is established e.g. 6 months) for strategic alignment, scientific accuracy, appropriate tone, story flow,

·     Once identified, integrate new account team members, specifically from scientific and commercial strategy perspectives

·     Provide feedback and support to the lead medical writers to ensure they are able to perform a scientific, strategic review of deliverables on an ongoing basis

Scientific Leadership to Drive Organic Growth on Existing Accounts

Collaborate with account team leads to identify opportunities for new service offerings

·     For accounts to which the Scientific Strategy Director has been aligned, work with the scientific team on more complex projects and those with a more strategic focus (e.g. publication/communication plans, client and key expert meetings, workshop activities)

·     Support the lead medical writer with senior review of deliverables at times of peak workload, if requested

·     Participate in client planning meetings to provide expert insights to scientific and communications strategy

·     Work with Business Unit Heads to perform cross-account reviews to ensure that innovative tactics/learnings from one account are communicated and proposed to other relevant accounts within the unit

·     Support the SA/SD to keep abreast of the scientific developments and the competitive landscape relevant to the account, disseminating information to the broader account team in a regular and timely manner, and to clients as appropriate

·     Provide coaching and mentoring for senior medical writers

·     Work with the account team to identify areas of growth and assist with implementation of innovative, novel tactics and account planning

Facilitates the integration of the creative and medical communication business

·     Lead cross-functional teams to develop in-house Knowledge Centers of disease expertise in critical therapy areas e.g. oncology, immunology

·     Support Professional Development/HR in identifying individuals within the organization who are potentially on the SSD career pathway and provide mentoring/training

·     Input through activities as part of the Consulting Leadership Team as appropriate

CORE COMPETENCIES FOR THIS POSITION

(The behaviors, skills and practices required to accomplish the objectives of this position and in the daily conduct of business.)

·        Innovation Management

Is good at bringing the creative ideas of others to market; has good judgment about which ideas and suggestions will work; has a sense about managing the creative process of others; can facilitate effective brainstorming; can project how potential ideas may play out in the marketplace

·        Strategic Agility

Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans

• Business Acumen

Able to make good decisions based on a mixture of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment; able to make a quick decision, sometimes with incomplete information and under tight deadlines and pressure; understands the business and is knowledgeable about current and possible future policies, practices, trends, and information that could affect the organization

·        Informing

Provides the information people need to know to do their jobs and to feel good about being a member of the team, unit and/or organization; provides individuals information so that they can make accurate decisions; is timely with information.

·        Intellectual Horsepower

Is bright and intelligent; deals with concepts and complexity comfortably; described as intellectually sharp, capable, and agile

·        Independently Responsible

Doesn't shirk personal responsibility; functions well independently; can be counted on when times are tough; is comfortable working alone on a tough assignment

CORE COMPETENCIES FOR ALL FISHAWACK POSITIONS

·        Client Focus

Is dedicated to meeting and exceeding the expectations and requirements of clients; gets first-hand client information and uses it for improvements in services; acts with clients in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with clients and gains their trust and respect

·        Functional/Technical Skills

Has the functional and technical knowledge, skills, and creativity to do the job at an extremely high level of accomplishment

·        Ethics /Values/Integrity/Trust

Adheres to an appropriate and effective set of core values and beliefs during both good and bad times; acts in line with those values; acts in a direct and truthful way; can present the unvarnished truth in an appropriate and helpful manner; admits mistakes; doesn’t misrepresent him/herself for personal gain

INTERACTIONS (EXTERNAL)

INTERACTIONS (INTERNAL DEPARTMENTS)

·        Clients

·        Authors/Thought Leaders/Experts

·        Vendors

·        Contract or Freelance Employees

·        Management Team

·        All Employees

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES

(To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and ability required.)

Education

Masters or doctoral degree in the life sciences (e. g. PharmD, MD, or PhD)

Experience

10+ years of medical writing experience in a medical communications agency that includes experience working on a broad variety of project types and participation in new business opportunities

Special

Knowledge/

Skills

·        Proficiency in the use of MS Office, specifically Word, PowerPoint, and Excel

·        Proficiency in Internet and PubMed searches

·        Ability to work independently and as part of a team