Director, Medical Strategy and Operations

GSK•Philadelphia, PA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Medical Strategy and Operations is accountable for driving operational excellence across the US Vaccines Medical team. This role serves as a strategic partner to the Vaccines Medical Team, enabling high-quality execution of medical strategy through strong planning, governance, resourcing, budgeting, execution tracking, and performance management. The role ensures that medical activities are delivered efficiently, compliantly, and with measurable impact, while continuously improving ways of working across headquarters medical teams and advancing adoption of AI-enabled and data-driven operational capabilities. This leader operates with high autonomy and is accountable for shaping and integrating portfolio-level strategies and tactics as needed, enabling seamless cross-functional alignment and serving as a conduit between Leadership and the matrix teams to enhance goal clarity, communication, and delivery. Through leadership of TA-specific meetings, planning processes, and continuous improvement initiatives, this leader will strengthen decision-making, elevate operational rigor, support organizational evolution, and accelerate delivery of high-impact medical strategies that position Medical as a trusted strategic partner.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Life Sciences, Public Health or related field
8+ years of experience in Medical Affairs operations, business operations, or PMO within pharma/biotech.
3+ years of experience owning annual planning and budgeting processes for a Medical or cross-functional organization, including tracking against plan.
3+ years of experience establishing and running execution tracking and performance management, including KPIs, dashboards, or operating reviews.
3+ years of direct management experience of teams and/or proven stakeholder management and matrix leadership experience, including of vendors or outsourced project management support.
Experience leading change initiatives in a matrixed environment with a high degree of autonomy and ambiguity.
Experience performing strategic level business operations focused work and developing long term planning strategies and programs.
Project management skills with the ability to manage multiple large projects simultaneously.
Experience operating effectively in a multicultural, matrix organization.
Experience using negotiation and change management skills.
Demonstrated skills using data, dashboards, digital and AI-enabled tools to improve operational efficiency, insight generation, and impact measurement.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (MBA, PharmD, PhD, or equivalent) or formal training in strategy, transformation, or project management.
Four or more years of experience supporting Vaccines Medical Affairs or other complex, multi-asset therapeutic areas.
Track record of driving operating model, process, or organizational transformation across HQ and field medical teams.
Strong reputation as a trusted strategic partner to senior medical leaders, with the ability to influence without authority.
Ability to build strong business relationships across various departments within GSK.
Deep understanding of strategy development and execution and operations management.
Ability to make informed strategic decisions and have foresight to predict/anticipate future scenarios.
Excellent organizational, planning and business acumen skills.
Strong analytical, collaborative, and problem-solving skills in a matrix environment with willingness and ability to detect process gaps, challenge assumptions, and drive change and improvement.
Ability to simplify complex concepts and communicate to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

Lead and oversee core medical operations processes for the US Vaccines Medical team, including medical planning, execution tracking, governance, and performance monitoring.
Shape and integrate portfolio-level strategies and tactics as needed
Own and coordinate annual medical planning and budgeting, ensuring alignment to enterprise requirements, therapeutic area priorities, and Global and Commercial where needed.
Support resource planning, capacity assessments, and prioritization across the US Vaccines medical organization.
Monitor execution against plans and budgets, proactively identifying risks, trade-offs, and optimization opportunities, and escalating recommendations to senior leadership as needed.
Shape and evolve the medical operating model, including governance, decision-making forums, and ways of working that improve clarity, speed, accountability, and collaboration across the matrix.
Lead roll-out and embedding of change initiatives, helping teams navigate ambiguity and adopt new processes, tools, and behaviors with agility and sustained engagement.
Drive consistency, rigor, and best practices across Medical Affairs operations, while identifying, sharing across the enterprise, and implementing process improvements that simplify workflows and improve speed and quality of execution.
Advance the use of AI and other digital tools to improve operational efficiency, insight generation, planning quality, and team effectiveness.
Establish and refine impact measurement frameworks, including KPIs, dashboards, operating reviews, and other mechanisms to assess performance and inform data-driven decisions.
As needed, lead the development of the TA’s communication plan inclusive of Townhalls, live meetings, and other connections with staff to enhance culture.
May manage Medical Operations team members, offshore project management support, and third-party vendors as applicable.
Partner with senior medical leaders and cross-functional stakeholders to lead strategic initiatives, support launch readiness where relevant, and ensure adherence to established policies and SOPs.