Medical Advisor

Division

Medical Affairs

Department

Medical Affairs

Sub Department 1

Medical Affairs

Job Purpose

Provide strategic medical leadership and scientific support to cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment with business objectives and regulatory standards, and enhance patient outcomes

Key Accountabilities (1/5)

1. Stakeholder Engagement:

• Manage engagement with external stakeholders relating to Medical Intelligence to understand current clinical practices, obtain medical guidance and maintain up-to-date knowledge in respective therapy areas, in order to provide valuable insights and medical support to the business
• Build and maintain relationships with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), medical associations, and healthcare professionals.
• Respond promptly to medical inquiries from stakeholders, ensuring accurate and timely information sharing.
• Organize and facilitate advisory boards, expert panels, and scientific events.
• Leverage KOLs for strategy development, training and understanding therapy landscape.

Key Accountabilities (2/5)

1. Knowledge and Development

• Ensure the medical team stays current with evolving standards to support informed decisions, regulatory compliance, and business growth through proactive, expert-driven knowledge management
• Maintain up-to-date expertise in therapeutic areas by monitoring legislative, regulatory, and industry changes.
• Attend CPD events and track emerging medical trends to inform strategy and innovation.
• Provide expert input for special projects and ensure regulatory updates (indications, dosage, safety) are implemented promptly and accurately.

Key Accountabilities (3/5)

1. Compliance

• Ensure all medical activities meet current legal, regulatory, and ethical standards, supporting business objectives and safeguarding patient safety.
• Review and approve promotional, educational, and training materials.
• Oversee Patient Support Programmes (PSPs) to ensure regulatory compliance.
• Approve regulatory documents (e.g., package inserts).
• Participate in audits and ensure corrective actions are implemented.
• Manage medical budget and ensure alignment with approved allocations.
• Oversight of Pharmacovigilance activities conducted by the Qualified Person for Pharmacovigilance (QPPV) or deputy QPPV.

Key Accountabilities (4/5)

Medical Strategy Input

• Contribute to medical affairs plans and help clarify business opportunities
• Develop and execute medical affairs plans aligned with business objectives.
• Analyse and interpret clinical data to inform product positioning and strategy.
• Prepare and review scientific and promotional materials for accuracy and compliance.
• Deliver medical training to internal teams and healthcare professionals.
• Identify therapeutic gaps and recommend new molecules, devices, or incremental innovations to strengthen the product portfolio, using market analysis

Key Accountabilities (5/5)

1. Team Capability

• Develop people capabilities to build a goal oriented team
• Develop content and material for medical trainings of internal team and sales team
• Develop induction training program with content for new team members
• Track effectiveness of trainings regularly by means of feedback from the team as well as ROI achieved from them

Key Decisions

1. Strategic & Scientific Decisions
   1. Approval of medical content for promotional, educational, and training materials.
   2. Planning and endorsement of Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities.
   3. Scientific input into product positioning, lifecycle management, and launch strategies.
   4. Evaluation and recommendation of new products or therapeutic innovations.
2. Compliance & Regulatory Decisions
   1. Final sign-off on materials to ensure alignment with regulatory and ethical standards.
   2. Oversight of Patient Support Programmes (PSPs) to ensure legal compliance.
   3. Approval of responses to regulatory queries and updates to product documentation.
3. Operational & Budgetary Decisions
   1. Allocation of medical budget and resources to support strategic priorities.
   2. Recommendations on portfolio development and commercial alignment.

Education Qualification

• MBChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) – Preferred and commonly required.
• PhD or MPharm – Accepted with relevant experience.
• Postgraduate qualification in medicine, pharmacy, or healthcare management.
• Registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) – Essential for medical professionals

Relevant Work Experience

1. I.          5–7 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry or related healthcare sectors.

   II.        2–3 years for candidates with an MD.

   III.       7–8 years for candidates with a PhD or MPharm.

   IV.       Experience in managed care, medical insurance, or clinical research is highly valued

   The successful candidate will possess demonstrable field  experience across a prioritized infectious diseases portfolio, with HIV as the primary therapeutic focus, supported by established expertise in vaccines and anti-infective therapies.

   Beyond robust product and disease-area knowledge, the role requires a strong and proven track record in key opinion leader (KOL) engagement. This includes the ability to identify, establish, and maintain strategic relationships with leading clinicians, academic thought leaders, and public health stakeholders at both national and regional levels within the HIV, vaccine, and anti-infective domains. Clinical experience in the therapeutic area  would be a benefit.