Vice President, Medical Affairs Rare Diseases

Job Purpose

The VP, Medical Affairs, Rare Diseases BU will provide strategic medical leadership and oversight to support the continued growth of the Rare Diseases (RRD) portfolio. S/he will champion patient centricity as key driver of business decisions. Also, this executive will be a spokesperson for Recordati within the scientific community. S/he will collaborate closely with cross-functional colleagues globally, namely clinical development, regulatory, commercial and business development.

Collaborative, fast-paced and interculturally agile, this executive will be a role model of Recordati’s values and a champion of ethics and integrity.

Overall objectives

• Provide strategic medical leadership and oversight across Rare Diseases to shape and execute global medical affairs strategies, working closely with commercial and business development colleagues.
• Ensure proactive, timely and highly qualified medical input is provided within cross functional teams.
• Ensure RRD Medical Affairs Teams adopt consistent and efficient processes across geographies (e.g. in terms of systems, tools, KPIs) and foster best practices sharing.
• Ensure the effective and compliant communication of scientific and medical information while generating robust evidence to enhance product value and safety, ultimately contributing to the Rare Diseases portfolio growth.
• Ensure all medical activities adhere to ethical standards, corporate governance, and international regulatory frameworks.
• Provide strategic medical leadership across the Rare Diseases BU, ensuring robust, patient-centric medical affairs strategies that support the BU’s growth and innovation goals.

Key Responsibilities

Medical Affairs Strategy and Execution:

• Develop and implement integrated Medical Affairs strategies and plans for rare diseases products
• Lead the creation of Integrated Evidence Plans (IEPs) and ensure alignment with clinical development, regulatory, market access, and commercial.

Medical Leadership and Lifecycle management:

• Provide medical leadership and expertise to guide medical across the Business Unit
• Provide medical input into BD assessments and lifecycle management strategies for rare disease assets.
• Support post-marketing studies aligned with unmet medical needs.
• As a member of the BU Leadership Team, provide expert guidance, and facilitate the generation and publications of robust medical evidence to support the value of our brands

Evidence generation and Publications: 

• Collaborate with the Group Medical Evidence Generation Lead, to design and execute global evidence generation plans, including RWE, ISS.

Medical Affairs Community and Talent development: 

• Build and nurture a high-performing Medical Affairs community across the BU, fostering continuous learning and talent development.
• Ensure medical personnel at both global and affiliate levels are properly trained, equipped, and aligned with consistent, efficient operational approaches.

Cross-functional Collaboration:

• Support early development and launch readiness for new indications and assets.
• Ensure proactive and qualified medical input to Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, Market Access, Pharmacovigilance, and Commercial teams.

External engagement and Scientific Societies partnership: 

• Work with affiliates to build and maintain strong relationships with KOLs, Scientific Societies, healthcare professionals relevant to the therapeutic areas, and patient advocacy groups in rare disease domains.
• Lead the development of medical education programs tailored to rare disease stakeholders, including KOLs, HCPs, and patient organizations.
• Represent the company’s medical perspective externally in partnership with the Patient Partnership team, strengthening scientific dialogue and advancing patient-centered advocacy.

Performance and Budget Management:

• Define and monitor KPIs for Medical Affairs initiatives, ensuring tools and systems are in place to measure success.
• Manage Medical Affairs budget, ensuring efficient resource allocation

Medical governance and Compliance:

• Ensure compliance with SOPs, ethical standards, and regulatory requirements across all medical activities.
• Collaborate with QA and Regulatory Affairs to maintain governance frameworks for rare disease products, including medicinal products, devices, and compassionate use programs.

Required Skills and Experience

The successful candidate will be an experienced, credible, and influential medical affairs executive who thrives in a fast-paced, science‑driven, and growth‑oriented environment. They will bring deep medical and scientific expertise in rare diseases and/or specialty pharmaceuticals, coupled with the strategic acumen to shape global medical agendas. They will be a decisive, forward‑looking leader who inspires teams through clear direction, scientific rigor, cross‑functional collaboration, and a strong commitment to patient impact, and highest ethical standards.

• 20+ years in the pharmaceutical industry, including experience in global or regional Medical Affairs leadership roles; M.D. degree required. Board certification in a relevant specialty preferred.
• Proven ability to define and execute medical strategies that advance product value, differentiation, and lifecycle management in rare diseases.
• Strong scientific and analytical capability, with the ability to interpret complex data and translate it into impactful medical insights and strategic recommendations.
• Established credibility in engaging with Key Opinion Leaders, scientific societies, regulatory bodies, and external partners.
• Deep understanding of global medical governance, compliance, pharmacovigilance, and the regulatory frameworks guiding medical activities.
• Track record of building high‑performing medical teams, mentoring medical talent, and creating a culture of scientific excellence and ethical decision‑making.
• Experience operating in multicultural, matrixed environments, influencing without authority and orchestrating cross‑functional alignment.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to convey complex scientific concepts clearly and persuasively to diverse internal and external audiences.
• Demonstrated high levels of integrity, sound judgment, and commitment to patient-centric decision‑making.

Required Behaviours and Competencies

• Builds effective collaboration across Medical, Integrated Operations, Commercial, Market Access, Regulatory, Patient Safety, affiliates and local/regional medical affairs teams.
• Creates trust and psychological safety by actively listening, inviting feedback and valuing different perspectives.
• Shares information and medical insights proactively to enable timely, informed decisions and ensure insights are acted upon.• Looks for better ways for the global medical affairs function to strategically contribute to RRD priorities.
• Challenges current practices when improvement is needed, managing risks responsibly
• Prioritizes what matters most for patients, scientific credibility and RRD business priorities, keeping work focused and execution lean.
• Produces clear, structured, compliant and actionable work, holding self and others to the highest standards.

Required Languages

Fluency in English is required for this role. Knowledge of any additional language will be considered an advantage

Travel required in %

20-30%