Senior Director, Head of Strategic Initiatives, NA Medical Affairs

Kyowa Kirin is a fast-growing global specialty pharmaceutical company that applies state-of-the-art biotechnologies to discover and deliver novel medicines in four disease areas: bone and mineral; intractable hematologic; hematology oncology; and rare disease.  A Japan-based company, our goal is to translate science into smiles by delivering therapies where no adequate treatments currently exist, working from drug discovery to product development and commercialization. In North America, we are headquartered in Princeton, NJ, with offices in California, North Carolina, and Mississauga, Ontario.

Summary of Job:

The Senior Director, Head of Strategic Initiatives, NA Medical Affairs, serves as a key partner to the Chief Medical Officer and Head of NA Medical Affairs, leading in- and cross-functional initiatives that drive strategic alignment and operational excellence across the organization. Responsibilities include workforce planning, capability development, and coordination of Medical Affairs input into business development and enterprise activities. The role also shapes and implements frameworks for launch readiness, insight generation, and impact reporting, while providing oversight for programs such as CRM strategy, sponsored testing, compassionate use, and expanded access. The incumbent works closely with the NA Medical Affairs Leadership Team and cross-functional partners, including Global Medical Affairs, Commercial, Patient Services, Legal, and Compliance.

Essential Functions:

• Lead the design and execution of TA agnostic key medical affairs initiatives and programs that the achievement of medical objectives with strategic and executional excellence.
• Partner with therapeutic area leads to develop and launch readiness framework and track execution. Facilitate launch readiness reviews with leadership, highlight areas of concern/opportunity, and ensure action plans pull through accordingly.
• Shape and support executive-level communications by overseeing the development of MA presentations to the NAEC and the Board, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and organizational goals.
• Continuously assess and align resource deployment across medical teams to evolving alliance frameworks and shifts in the NA healthcare landscape, ensuring responsiveness and agility.
• Drive process innovation and operating models that promote regional success, operational excellence, and fiscal responsibility.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners (regulatory, legal, finance, compliance, and HR) to update policies governing KKNA alliance integration, as required, and oversee the implementation of updated processes or supporting documentation.
• Foster enterprise-wide collaboration and role clarity by building strong partnerships across KKNA functions, ensuring streamlined communication, shared accountability, and strategic alignment.

Job Requirements:

Education

Advanced degree required (Master’s, PhD, PharmD, or equivalent) and prior Medical Affairs experience, preferably in hematology or rare disease area.

Experience

Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical industry with strong focus in Medical Affairs. Rare Disease and/or Hemato-Oncology experience strongly preferred. Strong knowledge of MA best practices, compliance framework, business operations and customer engagement systems required. Insightful understanding of regulatory, legal, and requirements for pharmaceutical marketing. Proven success in leading business process transformation, organizational development, and upskilling initiatives. Demonstrated ability to lead through influence in a complex matrix environment, fostering cross-functional collaboration and alignment to deliver innovative, enterprise-wide solutions. Experience in people management, including building and leading high-performing teams.

 Technical Skills

Solid Proficiency in MS Office Suite, and Veeva/Salesforce CRM Systems. Strong interpersonal and communication skills (both oral and written.

Non-Technical Skills

Demonstrated ability to organize, prioritize, meet deadlines, make decisions, and change course of action quickly. Strong work ethic is required. Detail oriented and excellent follow through. Has the ability to flex and deal with ambiguity in a dynamic, fast-paced, high growth environment. Has a passion for personal learning and development to be able to grow with the company. Cultural sensitivity and ability to develop consensus within a multinational organization.

Physical Demands: Normal office environment with prolonged sitting and extensive computer work

 

The anticipated salary for this position will be $250,200 to $326,800.  The