Senior Director Medical Affairs

Senior Medical Director, Medical Affairs

Confidential Search | Boston, MA | 4 days/week in office

Our client is a commercial-stage rare disease therapeutics company entering an important phase of growth. The organization is focused on bringing meaningful therapies to patients with significant unmet needs, while building a broader rare disease platform through disciplined growth, patient-centered strategy, and future business development opportunities.

This is a highly collaborative, mission-driven environment where Medical Affairs is viewed as a strategic pillar of the company, not a downstream support function. The leadership team values scientific rigor, creative problem-solving, direct communication, and close cross-functional partnership across Medical Affairs, Commercial, Market Access, Advocacy, Regulatory, and Clinical Development.

This role is based in Boston and requires office presence four days per week.

About the Role

The Senior Medical Director, Medical Affairs will serve as a key leader within the Medical Affairs organization, helping shape and execute the U.S. medical strategy for a commercial rare disease product while supporting future assets as the company grows.

This is a true builder role. The right person will not simply inherit a mature structure; they will help define how Medical Affairs operates, how the field medical team engages externally, how evidence is generated, and how scientific insights inform broader business stra

tegy.The role will report to the Head of Medical Affairs and will act as a senior strategic partner across the organization. Over time, this individual is expected to become a core leader for U.S. Medical Affairs, with potential exposure to global expansion and business development/due diligence activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and evolve the U.S. Medical Affairs strategy for a commercial rare disease product and future portfolio assets.
• Translate scientific and clinical data into clear, actionable medical strategy.
• Partner closely with Commercial, Market Access, Patient Advocacy, Regulatory, Clinical Development, and Medical Excelence.
• Lead medical communications, publications, congress strategy, scientific content, and external engagement planning.
• Drive evidence generation strategy, including Phase IV studies, registries, real-world evidence, investigator-initiated research, and expanded access-related activities.
• Serve as a key medical resource for internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Build, lead, coach, and develop a field-based Medical Science Liaison team.
• Shape MSL engagement strategy, field insights generation, performance metrics, and development pathways for the team.
• Engage with KOLs, healthcare providers, advocacy groups, and other external stakeholders in a highly specialized rare disease ecosystem.
• Support payer and access-related medical activities in a compliant manner.
• Provide medical review for scientific, promotional, non-promotional, payer, and disease education materials.
• Help build scalable Medical Affairs infrastructure in a lean, fast-moving environment.
• Contribute to future business development and due diligence activities as the company evaluates additional rare disease assets.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a scientifically strong, hands-on Medical Affairs leader who can operate with both strategy and urgency. This person should be comfortable in a smaller company environment where priorities evolve, structure is still being built, and leaders are expected to solve problems directly.

Strong candidates will bring:

• MD or PhD degree
• 7 years of Medical Affairs experience.
• Significant U.S. Medical Affairs experience required.
• Rare disease experience strongly preferred; specialty disease experience may also be considered.
• Experience leading or building Medical Affairs plans for commercial-stage or launch-stage products.
• Field Medical/MSL leadership experience, including coaching, developing, and measuring field impact.
• Strong external engagement experience with KOLs, HCPs, advocacy groups, and scientific experts.
• Experience with evidence generation, publications, medical communications, congress strategy, and medical review.
• Ability to work effectively across Commercial, Market Access, Regulatory, Clinical Development, Advocacy, and Medical Excellence.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and building systems, processes, and strategy from the ground up.
• Strong scientific communication skills, including the ability to discuss data in real time and adapt quickly.
• High ownership, sound judgment, and a calm, practical approach to problem-solving.
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to challenge ideas constructively and build strong working relationships.