Associate Director, Medical Strategy & Operations Lead - Rare Disease (US Medical Affairs)
About The Position
The Associate Director, Medical Strategy & Operations (S&O) Lead is a strategic operations leader within North America (NA) Medical Affairs and a core member of the Rare Disease Leadership Team (LT). This role drives strategy-to-execution integration, enterprise alignment, and coordination of governance processes and operating rhythm across Biogen North America. The role partners closely with the Head of Rare Disease and the Medical leadership team to advance strategic integration across Medical leadership, Field teams, Medical Excellence, Operations, Global Medical, and Biogen North America stakeholders. It identifies opportunities and supports alignment between BNA enterprise priorities and NA Medical strategy, ensuring clarity, coordinated execution, and effective flow of information and decisions across functions. The S&O Lead supports the design and maintenance of governance, alignment, and operating structures that pull through strategy to enable coordinated execution across functions. This includes clarifying decision rights, ensuring appropriate ownership, and maintaining visibility of priorities and performance across the Therapeutic Area. The role plays an important part in advancing the Medical S&O function’s strategic integrator model, helping connect strategy, governance, and execution across the Therapeutic Area while building toward broader enterprise leadership responsibilities.
Requirements
- BA/BS required; advanced degree (MBA, MS, PhD) preferred.
- 7+ years of pharmaceutical/biotech industry experience required.
- 7+ years of relevant experience in biopharma strategy, operations, consulting, Medical Affairs, or related enterprise-facing roles required.
- Experience supporting cross-functional planning, governance processes, or program management required.
- Demonstrated business and financial acumen.
- Strong organizational and problem-solving skills.
- Strong communication and presentation skills.
- Ability to influence across a matrixed organization without direct authority.
- Strong command of core business tools (Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
Nice To Haves
- Experience working in alliance or cross-enterprise environments.
- Global Medical or affiliate experience.
- Experience in financial planning.
- Change management experience.
Responsibilities
- Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Head of Rare Disease and Medical leadership team, supporting the identification of execution risks, operational challenges, and opportunities for alignment.
- Drive and facilitate the integration of strategy-to-execution planning across planning cycles (AOP, ICP, long-range planning), helping translate strategic priorities into coordinated execution plans and measurable milestones.
- Drive and coordinate the operating rhythm for the Rare Disease Medical team, including milestone tracking, governance forums, KPI integration, and preparation for leadership reviews.
- Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure Medical priorities and activities are appropriately represented within the broader BNA operating cadence.
- Facilitate effective information flow and strategic communication across Medical leadership, enterprise partners, and key governance forums.
- Develop and support preparation of executive materials and strategic narratives that communicate Medical priorities, progress, risks, and key decisions for leadership audiences.
- Partner with Finance and medical Rare Disease LT to lead budget planning, monitoring, and performance tracking for the Therapeutic Area.
- Help identify execution risks, structural barriers, and cross-functional dependencies, facilitating alignment and resolution with appropriate stakeholders.
- Support coordination between NA Medical and Global Medical teams to ensure alignment across strategic initiatives and key workstreams.
- Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives that enhance operating clarity, governance effectiveness, and enterprise collaboration.
- Promote a culture of accountability, transparency, and cross-functional partnership within the Therapeutic Area and broader Medical organization.
Benefits
- Medical, Dental, Vision, & Life insurances
- Fitness & Wellness programs including a fitness reimbursement
- Short- and Long-Term Disability insurance
- A minimum of 15 days of paid vacation and an additional end-of-year shutdown time off (Dec 26-Dec 31)
- Up to 12 company paid holidays + 3 paid days off for Personal Significance
- 80 hours of sick time per calendar year
- Paid Maternity and Parental Leave benefit
- 401(k) program participation with company matched contributions
- Employee stock purchase plan
- Tuition reimbursement of up to $10,000 per calendar year
- Employee Resource Groups participation
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
