Vice President, Global Medical Affairs

▶︎ Watch a short video overview of this opportunity

1. Company

An established, commercial-stage international biopharmaceutical company with nine approved therapies outside the U.S., a meaningful revenue stream, and roughly 2,000 employees worldwide. Long regarded as a partner of choice by global biopharma, it is now advancing its own internally developed oncology pipeline, led by a potential first-in-class solid tumor asset moving toward its first U.S. regulatory submission. The company has achieved gender base-pay equity at every level, and women hold more than half of its management roles.

2. The Role They Will Play

As the company’s first U.S. Medical Affairs hire, the Vice President, Global Medical Affairs will build the function from the ground up and own the medical strategy for its first global launch, roughly two years out. The role sets the vision, infrastructure, and team for the U.S. and other regions outside the company’s home market, covering KOL strategy, evidence generation, publications, medical information, patient advocacy, and field medical. It is a rare combination: the pace and breadth of a small biotech (about 70 U.S. employees) with the stability of a commercial-stage parent. The leader who builds this function will scale it alongside an expanding oncology and immunology pipeline.

Medical Affairs Strategy & Organizational Leadership

• Define and own the Medical Affairs strategy for the company’s global oncology and immunology portfolio, providing leadership for global medical priorities, scientific engagement, and evidence generation. Foster strong partnership with Medical Affairs leadership at global headquarters to ensure a coordinated and aligned approach to global programs.
• Provide executive-level scientific leadership and represent Medical Affairs across internal governance bodies, executive leadership forums, and cross-functional decision-making processes.
• Ensure all medical affairs activities comply with applicable regulations, industry standards (PhRMA, OIG), and internal policies; lead development and continuous improvement of Medical Affairs SOPs and governance frameworks; oversee Medical Information operations and respond to escalated medical inquiries.

Pre-Launch & Launch Readiness

• Develop and execute comprehensive pre-launch Medical Affairs plans for global pipeline assets in the US and other regions outside the company’s home market, establishing the scientific and clinical foundation ahead of commercial launch.
• Partner with Regulatory Affairs on US label development, lifecycle management, and Health Authority interactions, including FDA advisory committees and scientific advice meetings.
• Lead KOL identification, mapping, and engagement strategies across key oncology centers and academic institutions; establish peer-level relationships with thought leaders in thoracic oncology and other priority solid tumor indications.
• Partner with Commercial and Market Access teams to ensure scientific communication readiness, payer evidence packages, and HEOR alignment as commercial infrastructure is built out.

Evidence Generation & Scientific Communication

• Develop and oversee evidence generation plans across the US and other regions outside the company’s home market, including IIS programs, real-world evidence (RWE) initiatives, and collaborative research studies in partnership with academic and community oncology centers.
• Lead the publication strategy and oversight for global Medical Affairs programs, ensuring high-quality, timely dissemination of clinical data at key oncology congresses (ASCO, AACR, ASH, ESMO) and in peer-reviewed journals.
• Oversee the development of scientific communication materials, medical education content, and advisory board programs that accurately reflect the clinical data and support appropriate use.
• Champion competitive intelligence and landscape analysis, translating insights into actionable medical strategy.

External Stakeholder & Patient Advocacy Engagement

• Engage key oncology cooperative groups, professional societies, and academic networks to advance disease education and support the company’s scientific reputation.
• Own the patient advocacy strategy for the US and other regions outside the company’s home market; build relationships with relevant patient advocacy organizations, integrate patient perspectives into medical strategy, and support disease awareness and education initiatives.
• Represent the company at national and international medical congresses, scientific symposia, and regulatory interactions as appropriate.
• Work effectively across global time zones and travel up to 25%.

People Leadership & Operations

• Build and lead a high-performing Medical Affairs team supporting the US and other regions outside the company’s home market, while partnering closely with Medical Affairs leadership at global headquarters on global programs and cross-regional coordination; recruit, develop, and retain top scientific talent, establishing clear accountability, performance metrics, and development plans while fostering a culture of scientific rigor, patient-centricity, and integrity.
• Oversee departmental budget planning, resource allocation, and agency/vendor governance to ensure operational excellence.

3. Background Profile

The ideal leader is a builder with deep oncology credibility: someone who has launched oncology products, knows the leading lung cancer thought leaders personally, and is equally comfortable setting strategy and rolling up their sleeves in a lean, fast-moving environment.

• Expertise in oncology medical affairs, with a solid tumor / lung cancer background and an established network of leading lung cancer KOLs.
• 12+ years’ progressive experience in medical affairs within the biopharmaceutical industry, spanning both large- and small-pharma settings.
• Exposure to building a medical affairs function from the ground up, ideally as the first or one of the first hires, including hiring MSLs and owning a large budget.
• Working knowledge of oncology pre-launch, launch, and in-line medical support, along with clinical development experience.
• Preferred: experience in precision oncology, ADCs, or immuno-oncology; HEOR and market access integration; and cross-regional collaboration, including Asia-Pacific.
• MD preferred; exceptional non-MD candidates with deep oncology expertise will be considered.

Location & Compensation

• Location: Remote (U.S.); San Francisco Bay Area / West Coast preferred. Travel up to 25%.
• Compensation: Base salary range of $369K–$536K, plus annual bonus, restricted stock units, potential sign-on bonus, and a full benefits package.

About KBIC Life Sciences

Kaye/Bassman’s experienced pharmaceutical and biotechnology executive search team combines managing directors, partners, and tenured consultants who have exceptional industry and functional domain knowledge.

Because we were founded on the concept of Market Mastery™, each of our recruiters works in a specific functional domain that mirrors the departments of your company. Couple that with our Client Focused Search™ approach, the result is that you get the top talent hand delivered to you fast. We work with scaling start-ups looking for cross-functional leadership. We also partner with established organizations focusing on strategic hires. All pharmaceutical, diagnostics, medical device, and related companies can benefit by partnering with Kaye/Bassman’s Pharma & Biotech team.