Who We Are
BioMarin is a global biotechnology company that relentlessly pursues bold science to translate genetic discoveries into new medicines that advance the future of human health.
Since our founding in 1997, we have applied our scientific expertise in understanding the underlying causes of genetic conditions to create transformative medicines, using a number of treatment modalities.
Using our unparalleled expertise in genetics and molecular biology, we develop medicines for patients with significant unmet medical need. We enlist the best of the best – people with the right technical expertise and a relentless drive to solve real problems – and create an environment that empowers our teams to pursue bold, innovative science. With this distinctive approach to drug discovery, we’ve produced a diverse pipeline of commercial, clinical and preclinical candidates that have well-understood biology and provide an opportunity to be first-to-market or offer a substantial benefit over existing therapeutic options.
About Research and Development
From research and discovery to post-market clinical development, our WWRD engine involves all bench and clinical research and the associated groups that support those endeavors. Our teams work on developing first-in-class and best-in-class therapeutics that provide meaningful advances to patients who live with genetic diseases.
Role
Reporting to the Executive Vice President, Chief Research & Development Officer, Greg Friberg MD, the Head of Global Medical Affairs will be responsible for leading an organization of global cross-functional Medical Affairs colleagues responsible for generating BioMarin’s enterprise medical strategy. This role will form part of both the R&D leadership team, and the commercial leadership team. The Head of Global Medical Affairs will continue to transform the Medical Affairs function to industry-leading standards. They will ensure the medical function is a strategic partner to the broader business, particularly with the clinical development and commercial teams as well as supporting the early pipeline. They will build and maintain critical relationships in the medical and scientific communities, including through the engagement of KOLs. BioMarin is deeply committed to the patient journey and views its marketed products as the beginning of a lifetime of care offered patient communities with rare and ultra-rare disease.
Key Accountabilities
The SVP and Head, Global Medical Affairs will be responsible for the following:
- Maintain momentum following the global transformation supporting the evolution of the medical organization and its role as a key partner in evidence generation, brand planning and insights generation.
- Position the Medical Affairs organization to drive value in our medicines for patients and providers.
- Lead the Medical Affairs organization in ensuring market readiness and driving the importance of the role of Medical in answering key scientific questions related to the transformational nature of our therapies.
- Foster productive working relationships across the company in particularly close alignment with Clinical Development and Commercial teams, as well as Research, Regulatory, Safety, Compliance, Legal, Human Resources, Finance and Business Development.
- Manage and guide the existing team within Medical Affairs and position the team as key influencers and sought-after experts to stakeholders and partners.
- Ensure high quality and meaningful medical input for medical, scientific, and promotional documents, and in support of business development activities.
- Proactively seek and create relationships with key opinion leaders, prominent clinical investigators, and scientific advisory groups.
- Oversee medical and scientific communications including ensuring strong publication plans of clinical and real-world data to contribute to the scientific literature and support the commercialization and access of our medicines.
- Drive cutting edge medical capabilities, including use of digital medical channels, and a track record of organizational and process innovation.
- Provide a governance framework and oversight of all Global Medical Affairs activities. Orchestrate departmental training and development, maintaining quality standards and a high culture of compliance.
- Develop direct reports and be responsible for their performance including active participation in applicable global functional talent discussions, succession planning sessions and global medical talent reviews.
Location and Team
Ideally, the new Head of Global Medical Affairs will be located at the company’s headquarters in San Rafael, California, however this executive could also be based elsewhere in the US, providing they are able to be on site ~50% of the time. The SVP and Head, Global Medical Affairs will oversee a multi-functional team of ~140 employees, including a global insights and strategy group (i.e., global medical leads by product/program, real-world data and epidemiology) regional medical heads, and centers of excellence responsible for evidence generation, scientific communications, and operations excellence.
Key Experiences
- 15+ years’ experience and success within large pharma/biotech, with meaningful time in an executive leadership role
- Expertise across multiple therapeutic areas and drug modalities
· Prior product launch experience in new and competitive markets with broad geographic scope
- Experience across multiple biopharma functions, e.g., clinical development, market access, government affairs, evidence generation/RWE or commercial
- Broad knowledge of regulations and codes of practice governing information provision to customers within the pharmaceutical industry
- Strong understanding of international medical compliance guidelines and regulations and familiarity with country-specific differences regarding medical practice, the medical system, pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement
- Applies scientific rigor to understand and debate detailed scientific and clinical aspects of disease areas; ability to approach scientific and clinical discussions with confidence and curiosity, both internally and externally
- Ability to work across functions and foster strong partnerships to ensure trust, collaboration and solution-oriented alignment
- Track record of outstanding leadership of teams through organizational change and growth.
- Record of successful creation and development of Medical Affairs teams through training, coaching and mentorship
Effectively articulates a compelling vision of a successful and modern, Global Medical Affairs organization
Fosters confidence with internal and external stakeholders, including the senior leadership team, KOLs, and board regulators
Physician or physician-scientist background (MD or MD/PhD)
Leadership Competencies
Medical Credibility
The candidate will have a strong reputation in the biopharma industry, internally and externally. This individual will have relevant experience in medical affairs within rare diseases or related therapeutic areas. The candidate will also have a proven record of significant accomplishments from prior roles and experience leading end-to-end medical affairs programs, which ideally have produced commercialized drugs.Shaping StrategyThe successful candidate will have a proven record of inspiring others in the pursuit of new ideas in the search for transformative medicines in relevant complex areas of science. This individual will be comfortable dealing with strategic issues that involve medical affairs and be able to articulate evolving priorities for the pipeline in the long term. The candidate will be able to find new ways to maximize profitability from existing and new lines of products. This person not only provides medical expertise, but also a robust commercial awareness. Strong patient outcome orientation and the ability to influence regulatory agencies and payers are equally key to effective leadership. Collaboration and Influencing The successful candidate is highly collaborative with internal stakeholders and external partners and can work effectively with multiple departments. For this role, the candidate needs to have the gravitas to influence the strategic direction of the organization. Effective presentation and written/oral communication with the organization, the Board and external stakeholders are critical. This leader will have the ability to inspire and build trust and collaboration, leading to higher performance.Leading teamsThe successful candidate has built and led high-performing teams while having a thorough appreciation of each team member’s capabilities. This individual will creatively establish an ecosystem to attract, retain and develop top talent. As a motivator of teams, this person will be expected to foster collaboration, respect, and entrepreneurship, as well as create opportunities for the clinical development teams to grow their professional careers, facilitating effective succession planning
Note: This description is not intended to be all-inclusive, or a limitation of the duties of the position. It is intended to describe the general nature of the job that may include other duties as assumed or assigned.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled
An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
