JOB POSITION PURPOSE

• Acts as a line manager leading a team of MAS. Shapes the local strategy and ensures the delivery of scientific-medical expertise and exchange with KOLs in the assigned therapeutic area, with a particular focus on the designated products, through a team of MAS.
• Lead the Pfizer Japan medical scientific point of contact for HCPs, medical societies, regulators, academia and other external stakeholders.
• Play a central role as a scientific and medical leader who can identify unmet medical needs(UMRs), drive the building and executing medical plans and oversee establishment of clinical evidence.

MAIN REPONSIBILITIES:

Demonstrate medical and scientific leadership and expertise

• Ensure and oversee the highest scientific standards during in / external activities to provide deep medical and scientific expertise.
• Lead development of local medical plan aligned with global medical plan to address local UMRs and fill data gaps, and manage implementation of local medical strategies and life cycle clinical plans for inline and pipeline medicines / vaccines.
• Direct and supervise providing and exchanging medical/scientific information for/from medical facilities in the assigned area and external stakeholders and make strategic decisions on medical strategies for assigned products, to ensure safe, proper, and effective uses of assigned products. These activities contribute to patients and healthcare professionals from medical, pharmaceutical, and clinical study’s perspective.
• Drive and monitor heightened understanding of the burden of disease in the assigned therapeutic area and medical attributes of our products to enhance the safe and efficacious use.
• Lead achievement of department/team goals, and/or manage cross-organizational projects, providing guidance and accountability for results.

Develop and Execute Medical Plan aligned with medical strategy to meet UMRs in the assigned product(s) and therapeutic area(s)

• Oversee identification of UMRs and healthcare disparities in the assigned asset(s) and therapeutic area(s), and manage execution of customer facing medical activities including unbiased medical and scientific communication with HCPs and other relevant individuals and organizations, medical advisory board meetings, educational seminars, and data generation initiatives, medical materials creation and necessary scientific input.
• Approve and guide medical activity plans to address unmet needs and data gaps.
• Lead creation of Customer Facing part of Medical Plan in the therapeutic area(s) and asset(s), and ensure strategic alignment with stakeholders.
• Provide subject matter expertise and high-quality scientific exchange, bringing insights (formally and informally) into the organization to shape strategy.

Collaborate with medical stakeholders as a scientific expert for HCPs, medical societies, academia, etc.

• Lead establishment of strong collaborative scientific relationship through non-promotional activities such as scientific exchanges (e.g., discussion using the latest research papers and follow-up of contents of academic conference presentations) with relevant stakeholders in the assigned area.
• Direct maintenance of a comprehensive stakeholder map to identify relevant HCPs, medical societies, and other relevant external stakeholders, and ensure effective communication strategies.
• Oversee compliance in clinical investigator-sponsored research and medical grants compliant with Pfizer policies.
• Acquire and maintain extensive, up-to-date medical and pharmaceutical information in the assigned area to identify unmet needs and support medical strategy.
• Deliver key medical and scientific activities within the medical plan, e.g., high-quality educational materials, generation of real-world evidence, non-interventional studies, database studies and registries (in collaboration with the Health & Value team) and ensure timely publication of data.

Establish a highly reliable, long-term relationship with stakeholders

• Drive opportunities for evidence creation by leading internal/external stakeholders and cross-functional partnership.
• Ensure optimization of patient centricity of medical communications and deliverables, incorporating Health Literacy and cultural awareness principles to ensure that patients remain the ultimate focus.
• Build and maintain deep and enduring peer-to-peer scientific relationships with leading HCPs and specialists, including non-traditional partners and key decision makers.
• Maintain and enhance the cross-BU alignment on metrics.
• Ensure to collect necessary information and analyze insights prior to the meetings to provide deep medicala nd scientific expertise to stakeholders and HCPs.

Aligns, contributes, and collaborates with Relevant internal stakeholders

• Lead provision of expert / HCP / relevant others feedback on product life cycle strategies to related divisions/department in the company.
• Ensure strategic sharing of medical/scientific information & insights within appropriate limits/ways for Marketing colleagues to develop brand plan(s).
• Provide scientific support for the development of promotional materials and review/approve them.
• Oversee development of medical education programs with medical societies or relevant stakeholders.
• Contribute scientifically to early benefit assessments, pricing and reimbursement strategies, dossiers, and negotiations.
• Point of contact for medical and product-related inquiries from both external and internal customers
• Active member of regional/global disease area strategy teams and provides input and insights based on expert medical and scientific knowledge from local perspective.
• Proactively seeks opportunities to leverage scientific and clinical knowledge to bring new ideas and thinking to strategic decisions.

Collaboration in clinical development

• Provide strategic medical/scientific input into protocol feasibility assessments for clinical trial proposals.
• Lead collaboration with Development Japan (DJ)/global development to support appropriate investigators / sites identification for Pfizer-sponsored clinical trials.
• Work together with clinical research/DJ colleagues and in collaboration with above-country and global BU colleagues to drive the timely completion of Pfizer-sponsored clinical trials.
• Demonstrate scientific / medical leadership and provide input into the global clinical teams and DJ to ensure design and selection of trials relevant to Japan’s needs, leveraging customer and patient insights Supporting DJ on clinical development program as well as regulatory interactions from early development phase.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of product(s)/therapeutic area(s) medical strategy and delivering medical and scientific advice both internally and externally to assure appropriate use of product(s) and patient’s safety aligned with the short- and long-term business goals of assigned product (s)/therapeutic area(s)

Data communication and customer insights

• Oversee provision of accurate, high-quality, and unbiased medical information to HCPs and external experts, including managing unsolicited medical requests (UMRs).
• Provide scientific insight and support to field- and head office based commercial colleagues.
• Collaborate with the cross functional team in-country and above-country to develop impactful and compliant promotional and non-promotional materials of value to customers.
• Lead collection and strategic use of insights from HCPs and stakeholders to inform medical strategy and business opportunities.
• Manage local advisory boards to gain customer insights.
• If media-trained, present the scientific perspective on selected topics during media-briefings.

Observe the code of conduct, company’s regulations, and compliance, make communication with related departments, and exercise leadership in POJ.

• Exercise leadership in ensuring compliance with code of contact for Medical Affairs (guidance for external medical interactions) and observe it. Give promotional or non-promotional explanations depending on the related departments.
• Conduct activities in compliance with the MHLW Guidelines for Prescription Drug Sales Information Activities.
• Ensure activities and communications are conducted in compliance with all policies, guidelines, and regulations.

Ensure team awareness and adherence to sagety reporting obligations.

• For all Pfizer products, observe applicable laws/regulations and the Pfizer policy, and “Gather and report safety information*.” At an appropriate timing, attend training programs on obligation of assigned safety reporting.

Financial Accountability

• Supports the preparation and management of the medical budget for indication-related activities in accordance with compliance and financial requirements, as part of the local and IDM overall budget. Budget responsibility and planning are carried out in coordination with the CMD and other internal departments. The budget size depends on the current overall medical budget, which is aligned with the Business Unit’s strategic plan.

People management Accountability

• Demonstrates strong leadership to foster team growth and collaboration, ensuring a positive and inclusive work environment.
• Supports career development throug h coaching, guidance, and constructive feedback, while empowering members to take ownership.
• Effectively manages resources and team dynamics to optimize performance and achieve goals. Applies problem-solving skills to address challenges and maintain high engagement and motivation.
• Leads a team of MAS as a direct supervisor. Holds matrix responsibility to coordinate the team’s activities within Medical Affairs at both national and global levels, as well as with other internal departments such as Marketing, Sales, Legal, Compliance, and Finance. Leadership responsibilities may also include overseeing Medical Trainees and/or temporary staff and assistants.
• Confident and competent to speak in small (1:1) or large settings; demonstrated ability to navigate complex conversations with differing opinions in broader teams.

AS NEEDED:

• Lead contribution to Business Development in the assigned area(s): In collaboration with Japan Medical Lead, Japan Medical Product Lead, Global MA members and other members from relevant functions, identify UMR and candidate therapies for potential medical interventions in the assigned therapeutic area(s) in Japan through medical activities such as advisory boards and consultations with medical experts while keeping confidentiality.
• Direct rapid response to critical supply issues from the medical perspective (e.g., rapid communications with academic societies and regulatory authorities)

REQUIRED SKILL SET

Education:

Minimum requirement

• 4-year university undergraduate degree AND master’s degree in life science, or Pharmacists >4-year university graduates with pharmacist license and master’s degree or equivalent life science research experience, or >6–year university graduates with pharmacist license, or Nurses with a master’s degree, or Veterinarians, or Dentists, or MDs

Preferred

• In addition to those who meet the minimum requirements above, the qualifications below are preferred.
• MD (clinical experience, board certification preferred), or PhD in Life Science
• Experience in the pharmaceutical industry, preferably as a Medical/Scientific Advisor, MSL, team lead, and/or clinical experience with direct patient care and/or professional experience in the pharmaceutical industry in relevant areas

General Management Skills:

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to consider the direction of Medical from a mid-to-long-term perspective and formulate strategies as a manager at Pfizer.
• Communication Skills: Ability to conduct clear and efficient communication, including with other departments, and convey information accurately and logically.
• Decision-Making Ability: Ability and responsibility to make quick and effective decisions even in situations where there is no clear answer.
• Leadership: Ability to influence teams and departments and drive them towards achieving organizational goals.
• Financial Skills: Ability to manage budgets and execute actions reliably and on schedule.
• Compliance: Appropriate ethical standards to act in compliance with SOPs and industry rules.

People Management Skills:

• Coaching Skills: Ability to support the growth of subordinates and members and draw out their abilities through activities such as CF.
• Teamwork: Ability to cooperate smoothly with team members and other departments, raise team motivation, and achieve goals.
• Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to derive solutions based on experience, knowledge, and investigation when consulting with team members.
• Resource Management: Ability to efficiently manage the team as a whole, including attendance and resource management, and optimize resource utilization.

Advanced Scientific/Medical Expertise and Industry Knowledge:

• Practical Experience and Expertise in the Relevant Field: Ability to manage KOLs with practical experience and specialized knowledge in the relevant field.
• Medical Strategy Development: Ability to construct and guide specific medical strategies, such as creating medical plans.
• Scientific Paper Writing: Ability to write and guide the creation of scientific papers, with experience as a first author on multiple papers.
• Broad Knowledge and Experience from Drug Development to Post-Marketing: Comprehensive understanding and experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Compliance and SOP Understanding: Thorough understanding and guidance of Pfizer's compliance, SOPs, and related regulations.

Experience:

• MA/DJ experience and / or research experience preferred.
• Scientific publication

Pfizer is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable equal employment opportunity legislation in each jurisdiction in which it operates.