Medical Advisor

Job description

JOB DESCRIPTION:

OVERALL MISSION:

Reporting to the Head of Medical Affairs/ Manager-Medical Affairs of Abbott India Limited, this position represents the affiliate's medical/scientific voice of expertise for assigned product(s) and relevant therapeutic areas. The position provides medical / scientific expert advice / guidance to key customers for assigned products and relevant therapeutic areas, including scientific exchange and professional relationship development with key opinion leaders. It provides medical / scientific input into marketing strategy and key commercial initiatives, as required, and medical / scientific support for medical department activities under the direction of the Head/ Manager of the affiliate medical affairs.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop and maintain in depth knowledge for assigned product(s) / relevant therapeutic area(s) through attendance/ participation at key internal meetings/training sessions, relevant congresses, and seminars and by regular self-study of the national/international literature.
• Provide expert medical/scientific advice for assigned products and related therapeutic areas, including responding to requests for scientific/technical information; contribute to the development and medical and scientific accuracy of core dossiers generated by the medical department (i.e. medical information packs, clinical expert reviews etc).
• Establish and maintain professional and credible relationships with key opinion leaders and academic centers; this will involve participating in scientific congresses, coordinating advisory boards, round-table meetings, discussion fora etc.
• Deliver scientific presentations and medical education programs to healthcare professionals individually or in groups (meetings, clinical sessions, etc.), where requested.
• Screen relevant literature and other information from relevant scientific societies meetings and conferences and develop summaries of key messages for use within the Company (e.g. key areas of scientific/company interest, new trends in diagnosis, monitoring and treatments in the therapeutic area, etc.)
• Deliver training to sales forces and other departments; develop and update relevant training materials.
• Clinical Research Activities:
  • Design and implement clinical research projects within defined standards and budgets (e.g. Phase IV, post marketing clinical activities such as registry/database projects, epidemiological surveys, and PMOS studies).
  • Provide the required oversight to manage review, approval and conduct of IIS studies.
  • Support the affiliate Clinical Research Department in the management of clinical studies, as appropriate (e.g. review new clinical study protocols, identifying potential investigators/sites, conducting feasibility surveys).
• Review and preparation of promotional material. Ensure the medical/scientific content is correct and fully compliant with Abbott's internal policies and guidelines.
• Provide medical/scientific input into marketing strategy and key commercial initiatives, as required. Monitor the environment for competitive intelligence (e.g. product strategies, studies, commercial messages, positioning, etc.) and communicate, where appropriate, within the Company.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable national laws and regulations, guidelines, codes of conduct, Abbott's policies and procedures and accepted standards of best practice.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES:

• Management Skills
• Communication Skills
• Compliance & Process Improvement Skills
• Problem/Conflict Solving Ability
• Priority Setting

REQUIRED CORE COMPETENCIES / ATTRIBUTES:

• Adaptability:
  Maintain effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work tasks or the work environment; adjust effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements, or cultures. Consider change or new situations as opportunities for learning and growth. Persevere when encountering adversity. When confronted with a problem or crisis consider alternatives and then take timely action. Effectively prioritize work tasks.
• Initiative:
  Take prompt action to accomplish objectives; is proactive. Maintain a strong focus on internal and/or external customers. Continuously monitor relevant information, key issues and/or trends. Proactively seek feedback and adapts behavior to improve performance. Demonstrate a willingness to learn new aspects of the business.
• Innovation:
  Generate innovative solutions in work situations; try different and novel ways to deal with work problems and opportunities. Use best practice and benchmark data to increase organizational performance. Identify opportunities to improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
• Integrity:
  Firmly adhere to codes of conduct and ethical principles. Exhibit honesty. Present information accurately and completely. Keep commitments to work colleagues and customers. Acknowledge and respond constructively to failure and mistakes.
• Teamwork & Collaboration:
  Work effectively and cooperatively with others; establish and maintain good working relationships with internal and external partners to facilitate the accomplishment of work goals. Help others achieve shared goals. Demonstrate a willingness to listen without interrupting. Open to diverse and different ideas.
  

Competencies

Links to job responsibilities

ADAPTABILITY

• Responds to changes in the business and clinical practice within the country; considers the impact of these changes on the assigned product(s) and therapeutic area(s) and recommends ways to take advantage of new opportunities or counter threats to the business.

INITIATIVE

• Develops awareness and understanding of competitor issues/intelligence and communicates this information, where appropriate, within the affiliate.
• Applies therapeutic area knowledge to recommend clinical studies and other medical projects that will strengthen the position of assigned product(s).

INNOVATION

• Helps develop Affiliate strategy by identifying future opportunities for the assigned product(s) and therapeutic areas(s) and works with HQ, Area and Affiliate colleagues to take advantage of those opportunities.

INTEGRITY

• Ensures that all activities and interactions are conducted in accordance with all applicable local, global and national laws, regulations, guidelines, codes of conduct, company policies and accepted standards of best practice.

TEAMWORK & COLLABORATION

• Actively participates in Affiliate Brand teams, and helps develop Affiliate strategy in coordination with key stakeholders in the affiliate and Area HQ as appropriate.
• Supports sales/marketing/internal Affiliate teams to develop their scientific and technical expertise.
• Participates in the selection process to identify appropriately qualified physicians the Company would wish to engage in collaborative efforts.

Technical Competencies

Links to job responsibilities

THERAPEUTIC AREA EXPERTISE

• Maintains an up-to-date scientific knowledge of assigned product(s) uses and key external data; develops core medical/scientific dossiers.
• Provides scientific support for, and helps maintain professional and credible relationships with, key opinion leaders and academic centers to ensure access to current medical and scientific information on the assigned products and areas of therapeutic responsibility.
• Supports sales/marketing/internal Area teams to develop their scientific and technical expertise through the delivery of scientific update presentations, and periodic training as required.

MANAGEMENT SKILLS

• Uses resources effectively and efficiently.
• Able to plan, prioritize and delegate tasks to project team as needed to ensure timely completion of projects.
• Maintain and operate within budget.
• Capable of analyzing and investigating issues and problem solving.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

• Effectively practices listening skills before responding to issues.
• Effectively writes, presents and communicates information to internal and external clients, including divisional management.
• Effective negotiation skills.

COMPLIANCE & PROCESS IMPROVEMENT SKILLS

• Demonstrates good judgment on compliance issues.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable national laws and regulations, guidelines, codes of conduct, Abbott's policies and procedures and accepted standards of best practice

PROBLEM /CONFLICT SOLVING

• Able to analyze situations and conflicts without pre-judgments and assumptions
• Listens carefully and with an open mind
• Provides direct, complete, corrective and actionable feedback
• Reads situations quickly

PRIORITY SETTING

• Prioritizes activities and projects, in order to better spend own time and others for what would provide the optimum return to the organization.
• Quickly senses what will help or hinder accomplishing a goal
• Eliminates roadblocks

KEY INTERFACES:

• Affiliate medical personnel: Clinical Research Manager, Clinical Operations Manager, Medical Advisers; Medical Information team / specialists; Affiliate Pharmacovigilance / drug safety personnel; Scientific Project Managers
• Marketing and Sales of assigned product and therapeutic area; Market access teams
• Affiliate Government Affairs; Affiliate Public Affairs
• Global Medical Information; Global HEOR
• Library Information Resources
• International Medical Development / Global Project Team (GPT) / GSMS (Global Strategic Marketing and Services) personnel
• AI finance and Legal groups
• Healthcare personnel, Investigators, Opinion Leaders
• Institutions and Scientific or Medical Societies
• Hospitals and Local Regulatory Authorities

AUTHORITY AND REPORTING LINES:

• This position reports into the Head – Medical Affairs/ Manager-Medical Affairs, Abbott India Limited.

LOCATION:

Mumbai, India

IDEAL CANDIDATE CRITERIA:

• Medical Degree or Bachelor's degree in a scientific discipline or higher
• Experience working in a pharmaceutical industry and general knowledge on drug development and clinical research an advantage
• Keen interest in developing and maintaining expert knowledge for assigned therapeutic area/product and in medical research in general
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including strong presentation skills
• High customer orientation
• Excellent skills to set stake-holders relationship, networking, tact and diplomacy
• Strong commitment to compliance with the relevant rules and procedures, and to scientific quality and integrity
• A good understanding of written English
• Willingness to travel

CAREER DEVELOPMENT:

Possible career development roles:

• Head of Affiliate Medical
• Area Medical Adviser
• EPD Strategic Medical Affairs
• Clinical development, GPRD

JOB FAMILY:

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