Senior Director, Scientific Affairs

West Pharmaceutical Services•Uwchlan Township, PA

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, Scientific Affairs is responsible for leading the Scientific Affairs and Scientific Communications functions, advancing the organization’s scientific leadership, credibility, and external engagement in support of the Elastomers and Primary Containment (E&PC) business strategy. This role serves as a senior scientific leader across pharmaceutical packaging, containment, elastomers, materials, regulatory expectations, and emerging industry trends, and is charged with delivering scientific insights that inform new product offers, build external KOL credibility, and ensure West’s scientific leadership. The role partners closely with Product Management, Marketing, R&D, Technical Customer Support, Quality, Regulatory, and others to translate scientific insights into actionable business strategy, customer-facing scientific content, technical thought leadership, and evidence-based product positioning. The Senior Director will lead a team focused on scientific excellence, customer impact, cross-functional collaboration, and global consistency in scientific communications and engagement.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry, Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related scientific or technical field (or equivalent experience)
Minimum of 12 years of progressive scientific, technical service, medical affairs, or scientific affairs leadership experience, including leadership of global teams and external scientific engagement in the pharmaceutical packaging, drug delivery, medical device, biotechnology, life sciences, and/or related healthcare industries
Experience leading scientific, technical, or cross-functional teams in a global or matrixed organizations
Experience engaging with customers, industry groups, scientific forums, regulatory stakeholders, or external technical audiences
Proven ability to develop and communicate complex scientific and technical information for internal and external audiences
Scientific and technical expertise relevant to pharmaceutical packaging, containment systems, drug delivery systems, materials, biologics, injectable medicines, or related healthcare technologies.
Demonstrated ability to translate scientific information into business-relevant strategic insights, customer solutions, and portfolio recommendations – driving to elevate the industry standard.
Ability to understand customer needs, market dynamics, regulatory considerations, and quality expectations within pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or medical device environments.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex scientific concepts clearly to executive, commercial, standards organization, and customer audiences.
Experience developing scientific publications, technical presentations, white papers, webinars, conference materials, or customer-facing scientific materials – and coaching teams to develop this content.
Proven ability to influence senior leaders, customers, and cross-functional stakeholders through scientific credibility, data-driven recommendations, and strategic thinking.
Strong leadership skills with the ability to coach, develop, and build high-performing teams in a global, matrixed environment.
Ability to manage multiple priorities, balance strategic and tactical work, and operate effectively in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment.
Strong collaboration skills with experience partnering across Commercial, Product Management, R&D, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Technical Customer Support, and Marketing.
Able to be aware of all relevant standard operating procedures as per company policy as they are related to the position covered by this Job Description.
Able to comply with the company’s safety and quality policies at all times.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree, Ph.D., Pharm.D., or equivalent advanced scientific degree in a relevant discipline
Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, drug delivery, packaging, containment, or life sciences markets
Advanced scientific degree, such as Ph.D., Pharm.D., or equivalent, in a relevant discipline.
Experience supporting product launches, lifecycle management, customer technical strategy, or innovation programs.
Ability to understand evolving global regulatory expectations, quality systems, and industry standards relevant to pharmaceutical packaging, drug delivery, medical devices, or injectable medicines.
Experience representing an organization at external scientific forums, industry associations, standards groups, or customer advisory engagements.
Global mindset with experience working across regions, cultures, customer segments, and healthcare markets.
Customer-first mindset with the ability to connect scientific expertise to customer value, patient impact, and business growth.

Responsibilities

Lead the Scientific Affairs and Scientific Communications functions, establishing scientific strategy, domain science focus areas, priorities, and operating plans – including external engagement plans – aligned with business strategy and objectives, product portfolio roadmap, customer needs, and market opportunities.
Serve as a senior scientific leader and, if and where appropriate, subject matter expert, providing guidance on pharmaceutical packaging, containment, elastomers, materials science, regulatory expectations, and emerging industry trends.
Translate scientific, technical, regulatory, and customer scientific insights into actionable recommendations that support new product innovation, differentiation, and long-term business strategy – establishing West’s scientific leadership and elevating the industry standard.
Partner with Product Management, Marketing, Technical Customer Support, R&D, Quality, and Regulatory Affairs to support strategic customer engagements and communicate the company’s scientific value proposition.
Represent the organization externally – including with scientific staff – through industry conferences, technical forums, publications, webinars, customer engagement, and scientific thought leadership activities.
Build and maintain relationships with key customers, industry and standards organizations, academic partners, and external experts to strengthen scientific credibility, and market and regulatory influence.
Develop and implement strategies to influence standards organizations and the industry, pulling together employees with seats on standards organizations boards/committees through an enterprise “community of practice,” and ensuring a strategic One West approach externally.
Lead the development of scientific materials, technical narratives, publications, presentations, white papers, and training content that support scientific leadership, customer education, product positioning, and market adoption.
Provide scientific input into product claims, technical documentation, launch materials, and commercial enablement resources to ensure accuracy, consistency, and alignment with approved messaging.
Identify opportunities to generate and communicate scientific evidence – through internal and external laboratories – that supports product performance, customer applications, regulatory understanding, and competitive differentiation.
Own the governance and lifecycle management of scientific content and claims to ensure that all scientific communications are accurate, consistent, evidence-based, current, and delivered in formats that meet evolving customer needs.
Collaborate with internal stakeholders to assess customer challenges, market needs, technology trends, and scientific gaps that may influence product strategy, innovation priorities, or lifecycle management.
Provide scientific perspective to support product launches, customer programs, strategic initiatives, issue resolution, and business development opportunities.
Build and maintain close relationship with other internal technical organizations, especially R&D and Technical Customer Service.
Lead, coach, develop, and build a high-performing Scientific Affairs and Scientific Communications team, fostering scientific rigor, collaboration, accountability, external engagement, and customer-focused execution.
Establish goals, priorities, metrics, and processes to ensure effective delivery of Scientific Affairs and Scientific Communications programs, including engagement and positioning within relevant standards-setting organizations.
Ensure activities are conducted in alignment with company policies, quality expectations, compliance requirements, and applicable standard operating procedures.