VML HEALTH is a global healthcare agency that partners with healthcare clients across a broad definition of health, from high science to wellness and everything in between. It operates fluidly within the VML agency, as a core group of health specialists (a ‘vertical’) that has the benefit of autonomy in management, but with support of non-health expertise. 

At the heart of health is the story of life – all the highs and lows, ambitions, and possibilities. But facing a health challenge can suddenly pull people away from these stories, knocking them off course.

Our purpose is to bridge this gap, bringing people closer to life and all its meaning. We gain a deeper understanding of Healthcare Professionals’ and patients’ needs, behaviors and lived experiences through what we call ‘radical empathy’.

VML Health creates connected brands that get to the heart, bringing people closer to the lives they want to live. 

Get to the heart. Connect for life.

Position Summary

As Managing Director, Medical Strategy, you will lead a therapeutic category, provide senior leadership and strategic direction with a clinical lens across multiple major client accounts, driving significant growth and innovation. You will cultivate and maintain high-level client relationships, acting as a trusted advisor and ensuring exceptional client satisfaction. You will also play a key role in new business development, leading pitches and shaping agency-wide medical strategy initiatives. The Managing Director will oversee a team of medical strategists, providing mentorship and fostering their professional development. Collaboration with cross-functional teams (account, creative, engagement, brand strategy, and medical affairs) is essential to ensure a holistic and integrated approach that achieves client business objectives.

You have an insatiable curiosity, are an innate problem-solver, welcome multiple perspectives, and have a passion for driving growth. You are team-oriented and lead by example, bringing energy, initiative, and a collaborative mindset not only to delivering for clients but in becoming a thought leader within the agency and a mentor to your team.

What you'll do:

• Serves as the lead on scientific/medical for a portfolio of client brands, collaborating closely with medical and commercial stakeholders.
• Provides senior-level strategic counsel to clients, anticipating their needs and proactively identifying opportunities to enhance their business.
• Clinical subject matter expertise and strategic leadership within a therapeutic category contributing to the development of thought leadership content for internal and external dissemination.
• Drives innovation in medical strategy, exploring new approaches and methodologies to enhance client offerings.
• Oversees all medical strategy deliverables, ensuring the highest quality, scientific rigor, and alignment with client goals.
• Guides development of the overarching narrative and key message pillars in partnership with brand strategy and creative, guides junior strategists in developing supporting message points with required evidence, and ensures clarity on messages and medical strategy for the project with medical and regulatory accuracy of content/copy.
• Collaborates closely with brand strategy to develop the strategy and the creative briefing documents for pitches and project briefs.
• Defines the competitive set with key areas of interest, conducts/supervises research of junior strategists, and develops a strategic framework to present the comparative analysis with a POV to internal teams and clients.
• Establishes relationships with top KOLs beyond projects, following KOL/DOL activity through social media, publications, and congress activity.
• Trains junior level strategist to develop research stimuli, including TPPs and product summaries, attends research, and develops POV on key findings and impact on brand (e.g., messaging strategy, creative concepts, positioning).
• Provides input to workshop content in discussion with clients, and collaborates with other strategists and creatives in the development, execution, and follow-up related to the workshop.
• Supports development of patient and HCP journeys via primary and secondary research and helps define key medical needs at each milestone as well as functional and emotional experiences across touchpoints.
• Leads new business pitches, developing compelling medical strategies and presenting to prospective clients.
• Directs and supervises junior strategists on development of the medical (pitch) briefing, ensuring alignment with the ask, brand & category, supervises their work, and ensures that it serves the brief, brand and category.
• Creates content guided by desk research and IDIs with KOLs and HCPs, presents at pitch meetings, and answers medical questions.

What you’ll need:

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree, advanced degreed preferred (Masters, PhD, PharmD, MD)
• 10+ years of healthcare communication experience
• HCP and DTC marketing agency experience
• Critical and analytical thinker, innovator and visionary that inspires creativity
• Highly collaborative and able to work effectively across internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience using Excel, Word, PowerPoint
• Based in NY

What we offer: 

• Passionate, driven people | We champion a culture of people that do extraordinary work.
• Consciously cultivated culture | We aim to embody the behaviors to build an inclusive community that is in it together, bringing both positivity and active listening into the workplace as we simultaneously strive to empower creative bravery.
• Competitive benefits | What we offer full time hires ranges from the full spectrum of group health coverage options (medical, dental, vision) to a generous 401k match (100% dollar-for-dollar match, up to 5% of salary contribution), and a variety of paid time off offerings that reflect our investment in all aspects of your overall life balance and wellness.
• Growth-minded opportunities | We aim to nurture a culture of real-time feedback, growth-oriented mindset, and plenty of training opportunities through VML and WPP, so you can continue to grow personally and professionally.

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VML is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, military/veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or other protected group status. We believe in creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion and strives to recruit a diverse slate of candidates to help us achieve that