Therapy Area Lead Oncology

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Therapeutic Area Lead (TA Lead) to lead the Oncology Medical Advisor team across the Baltic countries. In this role, you will provide scientific and medical leadership for the local Medical Affairs Oncology organization, ensuring the development and execution of a clear strategy that is aligned with global and local priorities.

You will act as a key medical leader within the country organization, collaborate closely with cross-functional partners, and support external engagement with scientific and healthcare stakeholders. This position will have up to five direct reports and plays a critical role in strengthening our oncology presence, scientific credibility, and compliance excellence across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership and Team Management

• Lead, coach, and develop the Oncology Medical Advisor team across the Baltic countries

• Recruit, onboard, manage, and retain high-performing talent

• Identify capability gaps and emerging needs, and address them through training, workforce planning, or recruitment

• Foster an empowering, compliant, collaborative, and innovation-driven environment

• Build and sustain a strong culture of quality, accountability, and compliance

• Ensure individual priorities and development plans are established, tracked, and supported

Country Medical Affairs Planning

• Develop, execute, and deliver the local Medical Affairs strategy for Oncology

• Oversee oncology strategy implementation across each country

• Create and maintain Country Snapshots and tactical plans for Oncology, including:

  • Post-licensure research

  • Publication plans

  • Investigator-initiated studies

  • Knowledge transfer activities

• Ensure alignment with global strategy and compliance with all relevant policies, SOPs, and regulations

• Drive scientific insight generation to inform strategic decision-making

Internal Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with internal stakeholders including:

  • Center for Observational and Real-World Evidence (CORE)

  • Value & Patient Access

  • Regulatory Affairs

  • Policy

  • Global Medical Scientific Affairs (GMSA)

  • Commercial teams

• Support observational, real-world evidence, and epidemiologic research activities

• Contribute medical and scientific expertise to reimbursement, regulatory, and tender submissions

• Provide strategic input to GCTO on site and investigator opportunities

• Support review of Compassionate Use Requests and Pre-License Patient Access programs

• Share medical insights with commercial product teams while maintaining scientific integrity

• Bring local scientific and healthcare environment perspectives to the regional Medical Affairs team

External Stakeholder Engagement

• Support the Country Medical Director in external scientific and medical engagement

• Build and maintain relationships with key national and regional stakeholders, including:

  • Scientific leaders

  • Professional societies

  • Medical-scientific institutions

  • Government and payer stakeholders

  • Insurers and policymakers

• Ensure medical community engagement through scientific advisory boards, scientific leader meetings, webinars, and presentations

• Collaborate with CORE, Value & Patient Access, and Commercial colleagues in payer and policy engagement

• Develop a strong network of oncology scientific leaders and foster meaningful external relationships

• Support outcomes research and health economics discussions with HTA bodies, payers, and regulatory agencies

Inclusive Leadership

• Contribute to a culture of belonging, inclusion, equity, and empowerment

• Lead by example and role model inclusive leadership behaviors

• Help build and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce

Required Qualifications and Experience:

• MD, PhD, or PharmD

• At least 5 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry in clinical development and/or medical affairs

• People management experience preferred

• Proven leadership and organizational skills with the ability to set goals, communicate vision, and align teams

• Experience in Oncology or the relevant therapeutic area

• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills

• Strong personal integrity, teamwork, and business acumen

• Solid understanding of local and regional regulatory requirements, ethical guidelines, laws, and industry standards

• Strong prioritization skills and the ability to make decisions in the context of broader corporate strategy

• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain a network of scientific leaders and key external stakeholders

• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, changing environment and motivate others to do the same

• Proven ability to communicate effectively at country management level

• Strong collaboration skills in a matrix organization

What We Offer?

• The opportunity to shape oncology medical strategy across the Baltic region

• A leadership role with meaningful impact on patient care and scientific engagement

• A collaborative, cross-functional environment

• The chance to work at the intersection of science, strategy, and external stakeholder engagement

If you are a medically trained leader with a passion for oncology, team leadership, and strategic medical affairs, we invite you to apply.

Required Skills:

Biopharmaceutical Industry, Medical Affairs, Medical Marketing Strategy, Motivating Teams, People Leadership, Stakeholder Engagement

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

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Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.  No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. 

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

25%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

Yes

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

08/31/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.