Executive Medical Director, Global Medical Lead; Pain

General Summary

The Executive Medical Director, Global Medical Lead (GML), Pain is a critical leadership role in Global Medical, responsible for the global medical strategy and implementation and tracking of global activities for a designated disease area(s). The GML leads disease area specific integrated medical plan development including publication plan, global launch strategy and execution, scientific leadership, external medical expert engagement, and strategic alignment with commercial and cross‑functional partners.

This leader also drives post‑approval evidence generation strategy and reports to the VP, Global Medical.

• Lead development, implementation, execution, and communication of Integrated Medical Plans, including medical strategy, global tactical plan, publication plan, congress and post‑approval evidence generation plan.
• Ensure alignment of medical strategy with organizational objectives by integrating individual and disease‑area team goals with Vertex and DST priorities.
• Distill insights and actionable outcomes that inform strategy and drive impact for Medical Affairs.
• Establish and track medical KPIs that demonstrate impact on business and patient outcomes.
• Apply structured problem‑solving and root cause analysis to identify solutions and make decisions that maximize medical and business impact.
• Prioritize competing demands and communicate to key stakeholders.
• Accountable for development of the global DA budget, management of funds allocation, and tracking to align with Medical Affairs priorities and efficient resource allocation.

• Serve as product and disease‑area expert and primary contact for external community and internal stakeholders.
• Lead development of peer‑reviewed publications, congress presentations, and evidence generation to shape clinical practice.
• Follow medical developments within disease area and disseminate new information to transform clinical trends.
• Lead development of global scientific communications and materials, including for symposia, advisory boards, and training.
• Provide medical review of brand‑related content and global medical content aligned with Vertex SOPs.

• Represent Vertex at scientific and medical forums, including education forums, scientific societies, patient advocacy groups, and congresses.
• Engage and cultivate relationships with leading global key thought leaders to understand unmet patient needs.

• Tailor communication to stakeholder needs, building trust and understanding across diverse audiences.
• Deliver external presentations (advisory board meetings, symposia, medical education meetings) in accordance with regulations.
• Support disease area training across the company.
• Responsibly interpret data (clinical trials, registries, literature) for pipeline therapies and marketed medicines.

• Accountable for go‑to‑market model and medical partnership in commercialization with global cross‑functional colleagues.
• Support regional Medical Affairs and Medical Excellence teams from launch through lifecycle via timely delivery of fit‑for‑purpose training and core materials.
• Drive alignment on medical content/messaging within the organization.
• Lead key global cross‑functional product and development teams, including DST and sub‑teams.
• Adapt communication of DST priorities to medical function and proactively represent medical needs to DST.
• Chair the Global Medical Area Team (GMAT) for the disease area and accountable for deliverables.
• Provide strategic Medical Affairs leadership on launch teams and global brand teams.
• Represent Medical Affairs in label discussions.
• Support Access, Patient Advocacy, Policy, and…