Director, External Expert Strategy & Engagement

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

8d

About The Position

The Director, External Expert Strategy & Engagement is a critical role responsible for defining, standardizing, and overseeing the company’s global strategy for engaging a broad spectrum of external stakeholders. This includes Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), Digital Opinion Leaders (DOLs), Payers/Access Stakeholders, Academic/Integrated Health Systems, Patients/Caregivers, and Patient Advocacy Groups. The role is accountable for establishing the governance, process clarity, and technological infrastructure necessary to ensure coordinated, high-value, and non-transactional interactions across all functional areas, distinguishing tactics based on the asset lifecycle stage (Early vs. In-line). This position reports directly to the Executive Director of External Engagement and Field Excellence.

Requirements

• Advanced scientific or clinical degree is required (PharmD, MD, PhD, or equivalent).
• Minimum of 8 - 10 years of progressive experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, with at least 5 years in Global Medical Affairs, Strategic Operations, or an equivalent function focused on External Expert/KOL Engagement.
• Proven experience in designing, implementing, and managing global engagement processes across multiple therapeutic areas and across different asset lifecycle stages.
• Demonstrated success in leading a complex cross-functional project (e.g., system migration, process standardization) involving IT and multiple business units.
• Exceptional ability to drive process governance and change management across a global matrix organization.
• Superior Stakeholder Management and influencing skills, capable of gaining consensus and driving compliance among diverse functional leaders (Commercial, Clinical, Global Medical Affairs).
• Strong technological acumen with proven experience working with Veeva or similar management platforms for centralized data management.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate the strategic value of coordinated external engagement to senior executive leadership.
• Motivated and solution-oriented, with a clear focus on simplifying complex processes for end-users.
• Accountability for Results - Stay focused on key strategic objectives, be accountable for high standards of performance, and take an active role in leading change.
• Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving - Make decisions considering the long-term impact to customers, patients, employees, and the business.
• Patient & Customer Centricity - Maintain an ongoing focus on the needs of our customers and/or key stakeholders.
• Impactful Communication - Communicate with logic, clarity, and respect. Influence at all levels to achieve the best results for Otsuka.
• Respectful Collaboration - Seek and value others’ perspectives and strive for diverse partnerships to enhance work toward common goals.
• Empowered Development - Play an active role in professional development as a business imperative.

Responsibilities

• Establish clear accountability and process ownership for all external expert engagement activities, defining roles and responsibilities across the Medical Affairs (GMA) function to address the current pain point of limited clarity on accountabilities and responsibilities.
• Develop and implement a standardized global strategy for external engagement that distinctly tailors objectives based on asset lifecycle (e.g., Early Asset engagement must focus on obtaining input from KOLs and Payers on trial design and clinical/economic value).
• Coordinate with stakeholder engagement liaisons (from GMA, Commercial, Clinical Development, Market Access, Patient Advocacy and Stakeholder Management, Corporate Communications, and Government Affairs) and IT to migrate multiple, overlapping stakeholder lists.
• Drive process adherence for the consistent upkeep and governance of the centralized external stakeholder list, ensuring the database accurately tracks engagement across all categories of stakeholders (e.g., Patients/Caregivers, Academic Systems, Digital Opinion Leaders).
• Champion the use of the centralized system to track all medical expert interactions, contact attempts, and strategic insights captured.
• Facilitate connections between the designated primary stakeholder lead contact and any internal team member seeking subsequent outreach to prevent multiple concurrent communications and requests.
• Encourage and mandate best practices for GMA preparation before any stakeholder outreach, ensuring all engagement is high-quality and strategically aligned.
• Partner with the Training team to develop standardized training and resources for internal teams on proper engagement protocols, compliance guidelines, and use of the centralized Veeva system, highlighting the specific goals for engaging each stakeholder group.
• Collaborate with Global Training Lead to coordinate any needed training on external engagement processes and/or capabilities.
• Consider technology and AI to support workflow improvement.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage
• Company provided basic life, accidental death & dismemberment, short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Tuition reimbursement
• Student loan assistance
• A generous 401(k) match
• Flexible time off
• Paid holidays
• Paid leave programs as well as other company provided benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees