Associate Director, Medical Operational Excellence & Strategic Initiatives - US Medical Affairs

Job Description

About This Role

As the Associate Director, Medical Operational Excellence and Strategic Initiatives, you will lead enterprise level operational initiatives and major cross-functional events across the North American Medical Team at Biogen. This role centers on orchestrating strategic projects and major events that shape how NA Medical operates, while also identifying opportunities to innovate and streamline processes through digital solutions.

You’ll manage high visibility programs such as the National Summit Meeting (NSM), NA Medical annual Plan of Action meetings (POA), field system rollouts, and capability building frameworks. In addition to this core responsibility, you'll also lead the exploration and integration of digital innovations and emerging technologies that can improve field engagement and operational workflows. Reporting to the Head of Medical Strategy, Operations, and Excellence (North America), this role combines operational leadership with strategic execution and innovation support.

What You'll Do:

Enterprise Project & Event Management

• Support enterprise-level system and capability rollouts (e.g. Veeva enhancements, Launch Excellence framework, etc.), collaborating across therapeutic areas and functions.
• Lead the planning and execution of NA Medical’s major cross-functional meetings, including the National Summit Meeting (NSM) and Plan of Action (POA), ensuring alignment across functions and seamless execution.
• Oversee the development of scalable operational frameworks that drive process optimization and enable cross-TA execution.
• Lead the governance of Operational Excellence (OE), aligning internal stakeholders around shared priorities and continuous improvement efforts.
• Manage the monthly agenda planning and speaker coordination for the Extended NA Medical Leadership Team (Extended LT), ensuring strategic content delivery and leadership alignment.

Digital Innovation & Benchmarking Leadership

• Identify, assess, and pilot emerging technologies (e.g., AI, omnichannel, automation) that enhance the impact of NA Medical's operations and external engagement.
• Organize and facilitate monthly “lunch and learn” sessions to explore innovation trends across NA Medical.
• Host quarterly ideation sessions for the Extended LT to drive collaboration and idea generation.
• Serve as a connector with external benchmarking groups (e.g., MAPS, best practices consortiums) and internal partners like EG&I to stay ahead of innovation trends.
• Engage regularly with Field Directors and Medical Directors Office stakeholders to surface opportunities for digital integration into operational workflows.

Medical Strategy, Operations & Excellence (SO&E) Partnership

• Act as a trusted partner to the Head of SO&E, supporting high-priority strategic initiatives and enabling seamless cross-team collaboration.
• Coordinate efforts across teams and support communication, alignment, and execution on special projects.
• Have a high level of agility, providing operational bandwidth when needed, to ensure key NA Medical items are executed rapidly and in alignment with stakeholders.

Who You Are:

You are an accomplished professional with a strategic mindset, strong project management skills, and experience in digital initiatives. You bring energy, structure, and creativity to large-scale programs and thrive in matrixed environments where influence and collaboration are essential. You’re excited by both high impact events and the behind the scenes work that makes strategic execution possible.

Qualifications

Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree is required.  Advanced Scientific or Clinical degree (e.g., MD, PhD, PharmD) is preferred.
• MBA and/or PMP certification (or equivalent e.g., PgMP, Lean/Six Sigma) is required.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical/Biotech industry is required.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in medical affairs, operations, vendor or contract management, research operations, budget management, or related fields is required.
• Demonstrated program/project management expertise in cross-functional and matrixed environments is required.
• Experience executing digital projects (e.g., AI, omnichannel), preferably in medical affairs or life sciences, is required.
• Strong systems thinking and ability to develop scalable frameworks and tools is required.
• Proven ability to create and manage documents such as SOPs, JDs, and training aids to support organizational development and operational improvements is required.

Preferred Skills

• Advanced Scientific or Clinical