Job Detail

 Position Overview

Reporting to the Head of Product Development/Chief Medical Officer, the Global Head of Product Development Medical Affairs (PDMA) will be responsible for providing leadership and oversight of the development and execution of the Global PDMA strategy.  This strategy encompases all of Roche’s therapeutic disciplines; Oncology, Immunology/Infectious Disease, Neuroscience & Rare Disease and Established Brands; as well as oversight or critical interfaces with overarching frameworks e.g. Personalized Healthcare (PHC), Customer Engagement and Patient Partnerships.  

This role will provide agile leadership, guidance, direction and framing as a Visionary, Architect, Catalyst and Coach (VACC).  S/he will lead and empower their team to achieve their objectives in a culture of curiosity, accountability, innovation and co-creation. S/he will act as a key integrator, approaching work from an outcome-based rather than a functional perspective. S/he will display strong transformational and mobilizing leadership skills to inspire people to do their best work, constructively challenge the status quo and be committed to our cultural evolution.   Lastly, s/he will relentlessly focus on meaningful outcomes for patients and societies, putting the patient first in all arenas. 

This role acts as a strategic partner to the Global Commercial franchises, providing high-quality medical expertise  with the objective of meeting Roche’s scientific, ethical, regulatory, compliance and business objectives. This leader will also drive medical excellence globally and ensure Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and Good Pharmacovigilance Practices (GVP) compliance. The Global Head of PDMA will serve as a company ambassador to global scientific & medical communities and key decision makers worldwide.

S/he oversees a leadership team of ~10 Medical Affairs leaders within a total organization that is greater than 350.  Oversight includes all aspects of Global Medical Affairs  with a patient-centric focus on medical advancements and general healthcare ecosystem evolution.

S/he is responsible for external medical relations and develops and executes strategies to ensure Roche’s scientific voice is heard in key external professional, scientific, governmental, industry and patient advocacy forums, as well as develops scientific and medical alliances strategies for Roche globally. 

The Global Head of PDMA also collaborates with Legal, Compliance, Regulatory, Pharmacovigilance and the Commercial leadership to ensure proper conduct of patient-oriented activities ex-US, with particular attention to ensure patient support programs, scientific publications, to navigate product issues and mitigate risk.

This is a key role in the company, based in Basel, Switzerland. The role is a member of the Roche Global Pharma Development Leadership Team, as well as a member of Roche Global Product Strategy Leadership Team.

Primary Responsibilities

• Builds, develops and leads the global Product Development Medical Affairs organization


• Partners with early development (Genentech Research & Early Development [gRED], Pharmaceutical Research & Early Development [pRED]), ex-US Commercial, Global Product Strategy, Pharma International (affiliates worldwide) Real-World Evidence, US Medical Affairs and other cross-functional partners within the organization to define global development plans, integrated evidence approaches,  and commercialization strategies for all therapeutic areas.


• Leads and is accountable for next level data generation with a specific appreciation of clinical practice data, real world data and HTA-enabling data.


• Provides strong clinical, scientific and healthcare ecosystem experience for key cross functional stakeholders.


• Acts as a key ambassador, connector and credible partner for the broad range of external medical partners, customers and stakeholders.


• Leads the global PDMA team in the development of a categorical medical affairs vision that communicates the clinical and value proposition for programs, addresses insights from affiliates and regions, and identifies both clinical and value-based evidence gaps.  This includes, but is not limited to, identifying unmet needs/data gaps, facilitation of appropriate approaches to address them (including scientific evidence generation) and planning scientific information exchange with all key stakeholders.


• Accountable for substantial budgets, embracing a mindset of meaningful enterprise investment versus a mindset of functional spend.


• Provides executive input, structure and oversight to ensure that PDMA optimally integrates the objectives of Affiliates and Global Life Cycle teams. 


• Uses innovative approaches and novel technology to translate medical affairs plans into research, data analysis, scientific communication, educational, and other solutions that inform clinical practice, improve patient outcomes and enhance access.


• Builds strong relationships and communicate both scientific and business needs credibly and effectively across a variety of internal and external stakeholders at all levels.


• Demonstrates influence in the external scientific community, be it through peer-to-peer interactions, research and educational collaborations, publications, or others.


• Participates in and contributes significantly to professional organizations, academic or regulatory working teams as appropriate.


• Successfully collaborates and provides medical input into regulatory, reputational (ie. public relations), compliance and other issues management.


• Coordinates across therapeutic areas within global PDMA to leverage synergies and maximize efficiency.


• Acts as an inspiring and visionary leader, living up to highest ethical standards, Roche Values, Leadership Commitments and Core Competencies


• Manages the team of PDMA leaders across therapeutic areas; participate in regular management reviews of the teams’ activity and progress, escalate issues and approach risks and challenges with a solution oriented mindset.


• Drives the scouting and recruitment of internal and external talent and is accountable for people development, management as well as all other people leader’s responsibilities.


• Enables and implement new ways of working / agile methodology as seen fit for purpose.


• Engages actively in the constant evolution of the Global Medical function as well as the enterprise.

Professional Experience and Requirements

• Education and Technical Expertise-  holds an MD degree with significant experience in the pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical industry.  Has notable clinical practice and demonstrated experience across major activities of the medical function, including clinical development, medical affairs, and pharmacovigilance.


• Scientific Credibility– brings an impeccable reputation and recognition in at least one disease area and is recognized by relevant thought leader communities.


• Results Orientation– has a proven record of inspiring others in the pursuit of innovative medical strategies and leading projects that bring considerable impact and value to medical affairs.


• Team Leadership, Attracting Talent and Developing People– brings a track record of establishing an environment and reputation that attracts, develops, and inspires talent. S/he is able to develop a clear team spirit and to instill a culture of success in the PDMA organization. Shows the ability to resolve conflicts and adapt to change.


• Collaboration and Influencing– has a strong desire to work with peers, partners and other key stakeholders who are not in the line-of-command in order to improve performance and meet goals. Also has a track record of encouraging and overseeing multiple successful relationships both across functions internally and with external KOL and Advisory Board relationships. 


• Strategic / Innovative Thinking– demonstrates the ability to articulate evolving priorities, technologies and strategies for medical affairs plans, integrated evidence plans and generation of medical insights across the entire portfolio worldwide.


• Effective Leader in a matrix environment– presents as a successful decisive leader in a strategic multi-functional environment. S/he has very strong influence management skills and is able to impact decisions positively in a matrix environment.


• General Management skills– has a proven track record in holistic management of a company unit or a department of significant magnitude and complexity. S/he has excellent communication skills and an advanced financial and business acumen.