Director, Medical Affairs Strategy & Education

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals•Irvine, CA

11h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Medical Affairs Strategy and Education provides medical leadership and owns the development, execution, and evolution of U.S. medical strategy. This role is accountable for transforming multi-source medical insights into actionable strategies that inform scientific engagement, medical education, evidence generation, and cross-functional decision-making. The Director, Medical Affairs Strategy and Education serves as the Medical Affairs lead for KOL engagement and congress strategy, directing scientific exchange, advisory boards, and high-impact congress presence. This role leads insight synthesis, interpretation, and downstream action across Medical Affairs initiatives and will directly manage an Associate Director responsible for operational execution, integration, and analytical support. This position is a senior strategic partner across Medical Affairs, Commercial, Market Access, Regulatory, Legal, Compliance, and Clinical Development.

Requirements

Advanced degree required (OD, PhD, PharmD)
Minimum of 10+ years of relevant experience
5+ years of experience as a medical science liaison or within medical affairs in eye care, OR 5+ years of clinical experience in eyecare with at least one year of industry experience OR 5+ years of clinical practice in eyecare
Strong verbal and written communication skills to convey technical and clinical information
Strong emotional intelligence, excellent analytical skills, demonstrated ability to identify and understand complex issues and identify and query key findings from study data and publications
Ability to work independently and be self-motivated while able to influence and collaborate with peers (lead without authority)
Ability to collect actionable insights and critically analyze data
Develop effective working relationships and coordinate the work with internal departments, including the clinical development team
Experience working with third party vendors, contracts, compliance, and governance boards

Nice To Haves

Industry experience with strong knowledge of FDA and Pharmaceutical regulatory and legal guidelines on advertising and promotion is preferred

Responsibilities

Own U.S. Medical Affairs strategy informed by multi-source insights, including MSL field insights, scientific engagements, advisory boards, congresses, and cross-functional inputs
Lead monthly and quarterly insight synthesis and strategic interpretation to identify knowledge gaps, refine KITs/KIQs, and evolve scientific messaging
Translate insights into actionable recommendations across education strategy, evidence needs, and scientific engagement priorities
Provide executive-facing insight summaries and strategic updates to senior leadership
Define and lead KOL engagement strategy across Medical Affairs
Set objectives and scientific priorities for Medical Advisory Boards and other scientific engagement forums
Own final interpretation of insights and development of cross-functional action plans
Provide strategic oversight of HCP consultant engagement across Medical Affairs
Lead strategy for our HCP consultants
Define annual medical congress strategy, objectives, and engagement models across Ophthalmology and Optometry meetings
Lead high-impact scientific exchange, including KOL discussions and 1:1 medical meeting at priority congresses
Oversee post-congress insight synthesis and translation into medical strategy updates
Define Medical Affairs education strategy aligned with insight-driven priorities
Oversee practice-based and field-based education initiatives executed in partnership with the MSL team
Ensure education initiatives are aligned to medical strategy and generate actionable insights
Directly manage and develop the Associate Director, Medical Affairs
Provide strategic direction and prioritization to enable effective execution and scalability
Serve as a senior medical partner across Commercial, Market Access, Regulatory, Compliance, and Clinical Development