Global Medical Excellence Lead

Job Description

At our heart we are committed colleagues. We offer interested people numerous opportunities and strongly believe in, and promote, diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a company we offer roles based on merit, welcoming candidates of any gender, age, religious belief, sexual orientation, race, color, ethnic or social origin,or disability.

Our team is growing and for this we need bright minds with creativity and flexibility – what talent do you have?

Join Takeda as a Global Medical Excellence Lead
, an Associate Director-level role that sits at the intersection of global strategy and local execution. Based in the UK, one of Takeda’s key strategic markets, you will play a central role in strengthening Medical Affairs capabilities and ensuring Medical teams are equipped to deliver impact today and prepare for the future.

Acting as a trusted partner to country and global leaders, you will drive medical excellence initiatives, field medical effectiveness, onboarding, launch readiness, and capability development. You will also bring valuable market insights back to the global organisation, helping shape future Medical Excellence programmes and standards.

This is an influential role for someone who enjoys working across global and local environments, building strong partnerships, and driving meaningful change through collaboration rather than formal authority.

• Serve as the primary Global Medical Excellence partner for the UK Medical organisation, translating global strategies, frameworks, and programmes into impactful local initiatives.
• Assess organisational and field medical capabilities, identify development opportunities, and help shape capability-building priorities.
• Contribute strategic insights from a core market perspective to global Medical Excellence initiatives and programme design.
• Lead and continuously improve onboarding experiences for new Medical Affairs colleagues, ensuring alignment with global standards and local needs.
• Drive the field medical effectiveness agenda, partnering with Medical leaders to define, measure, and continuously improve performance and engagement quality.
• Support capability development and certification programmes for Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs), ensuring readiness before deployment and ongoing professional growth.
• Monitor field medical performance metrics, identify capability gaps, and implement targeted improvement plans.
• Partner with Medical, Commercial, and Training teams to align field medical activities with strategic business priorities and launch objectives.
• Ensure Medical teams are prepared for upcoming launches through effective capability planning, scientific training, and readiness assessments.
• Provide market insights to governance and compliance discussions and support the implementation of compliant ways of working.
• Build trusted partnerships with senior stakeholders, including Country Medical Directors, General Managers, and global functional teams.
• Represent the UK market within the Global Medical Excellence network, sharing best practices and contributing to continuous improvement across Takeda.

• Advanced degree in a scientific, medical, healthcare, or related discipline; MD, PharmD, PhD, or equivalent preferred.
• 10+ years of experience within the biopharmaceutical industry, including significant experience in Medical Affairs.
• Strong understanding of Medical Affairs operations, field medical excellence, capability development, and pharmaceutical launch readiness.
• Experience in Medical Excellence, learning and development, capability-building, medical education, or related functions.
• Previous experience in a field medical role (e.g., MSL) strongly preferred.
• Proven experience working across local, regional, and global organisations within a complex matrix environment.
• Demonstrated ability to build credibility and influence senior stakeholders across Medical and Commercial functions.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to operate independently and make sound judgements.
• Experience supporting or partnering with Oncology Business Unit (OBU) markets is an…