| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Pharma |
| Level | Senior management |
| Reports to | Managing Director |
| Direct reports | Medical Advisor, Medical Affairs Executive |
| Experience | 12+ years in medical affairs or clinical roles, with 4 or more years leading teams |
Head of Medical Affairs job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Head of Medical Affairs
Department: Pharma
Reports to: Managing Director
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Head of Medical Affairs leads the medical function of a pharmaceutical company. They own scientific and medical strategy, medical information, safety oversight support, KOL and specialist engagement, and the medical accuracy of everything the company communicates. The role sits in senior management and leads medical advisors and the medical affairs team. A good one keeps the company scientifically credible and compliant, builds trust with doctors and specialists, supports products with sound clinical evidence, and makes sure medical and commercial teams work within ethical and regulatory lines.
Key responsibilities
- Set the medical affairs strategy and align it with the company's product and commercial plans.
- Lead engagement with key opinion leaders, specialists and medical societies across therapy areas.
- Oversee medical information, ensuring accurate, evidence-based responses to doctors and teams.
- Review promotional and scientific material for medical accuracy and regulatory compliance.
- Support pharmacovigilance and product safety with medical review and guidance.
- Design and oversee medical education programmes, advisory boards and scientific meetings.
- Guide clinical study support, publications and real-world evidence generation.
- Advise commercial and marketing teams on the science behind products and positioning.
- Build and lead the medical affairs team, and set standards and training.
- Keep the medical function within ethical, legal and regulatory guidelines.
Requirements
- MBBS with MD, or a doctoral degree in a life science
- Significant experience in medical affairs in pharma
- Strong knowledge of Indian and global medical regulations
- 12+ years in medical affairs or clinical roles, with 4 or more years leading teams
KRAs and KPIs for a Head of Medical Affairs
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Medical strategy | Medical affairs plans in place and delivered for each priority therapy area |
| KOL engagement | Meet engagement targets with key opinion leaders and specialists each year |
| Scientific accuracy | Reviewed material accurate and compliant, with zero major medical or regulatory findings |
| Medical information | Medical queries answered accurately within the agreed time |
| Compliance | Medical activities stay within ethical and regulatory guidelines, with clean audits |
| Team capability | Medical team trained and performing to standard across therapy areas |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Medical literature databases, Medical information systems, MS Office, Publication tools, Pharmacovigilance systems.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Medical Director, Chief Medical Officer
Interview questions for a Head of Medical Affairs
- How would you build a medical affairs strategy for a new therapy area launch?
- How do you keep medical and commercial teams aligned without crossing ethical lines?
- How do you engage key opinion leaders in a credible, non-promotional way?
- How do you handle a promotional claim the commercial team wants but the evidence does not support?
- How do you build and develop a strong medical affairs team?
- How do you stay current with evidence across several therapy areas?
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What does a head of medical affairs do?
A head of medical affairs leads the medical function of a pharma company. They own scientific and medical strategy, medical information, KOL engagement, and the medical accuracy of company communication. They support products with clinical evidence, guide safety and compliance, lead the medical team, and keep medical and commercial work within ethical and regulatory lines.
What qualifications do you need to be a head of medical affairs?
Most heads of medical affairs in India are doctors with an MBBS and MD, or hold a doctoral degree in a life science, plus many years in medical affairs. Deep clinical and scientific knowledge, understanding of medical regulations, and leadership experience are essential, since the role sets medical strategy and answers for scientific credibility.
What is the difference between medical affairs and regulatory affairs?
Medical affairs owns the scientific and medical side: evidence, KOL engagement, medical information and medical accuracy. Regulatory affairs owns product approvals and compliance with drug regulations: dossiers, submissions and licences. Medical affairs makes sure the science is sound and communicated properly; regulatory affairs makes sure the product is legally approved and compliant.