Job Description
Are you a Medical Affairs leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy, operational excellence, digital innovation and capability building? This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of Medical Excellence across Australia and New Zealand, leading a team that enables smarter ways of working, stronger scientific engagement and measurable business impact. As Senior Manager, Medical & Operational Excellence, you will partner with senior Medical, Technology, Customer Excellence and cross-functional leaders to improve how Medical Affairs plans, executes, measures and evolves — helping build a more connected, insight-led and future-ready Medical organisation.
KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Lead the Medical & Operational Excellence function and translate affiliate, Area and Global Medical Excellence priorities into a clear, practical and measurable functional roadmap.
- Provide line management, coaching, development and performance support to the Medical Excellence Manager and Medical Innovation & Capability Manager, while establishing clear accountabilities and effective collaboration across the function.
- Prioritise work across Field Medical Excellence, Head Office Medical Excellence, medical planning and execution, digital and omnichannel enablement, systems, capability, training governance, process improvement and innovation.
- Advise the Head of Medical Operations & Excellence and Medical Leadership Team on Medical Excellence opportunities, risks, capability gaps and operational priorities.
- Shape the detailed operating model, role boundaries, services and ways of working of the Medical Excellence function as business needs evolve.
- Establish fit-for-purpose governance, service standards, decision rights, portfolio reviews and escalation pathways for the Medical Excellence function.
- Monitor capacity, workload, risks, dependencies, delivery status and benefits across the functional portfolio and recommend adjustments to priorities or resourcing.
- Embed a culture of accountability, experimentation, learning, simplification and continuous improvement.
- Provide strategic oversight of Medical Excellence across both Field and Head Office Medical teams,
ensuring strong alignment between capability development, scientific planning, customer engagement and execution.
- Lead or sponsor initiatives supporting Field Medical Excellence, including capability priorities, onboarding, coaching excellence, IFT Fundamentals, scientific engagement, insights, metrics and dashboards.
- Lead or sponsor initiatives supporting Medical Managers and Senior Medical Managers, including medical planning, scientific communications planning, content use, tactical execution, insight integration and cross-functional ways of working.
- Establish meaningful measures and dashboards that demonstrate execution quality, adoption, efficiency, outcomes and the value delivered by Medical Affairs.
- Maintain a strong customer orientation and direct understanding of Field Medical execution through appropriate engagement with field teams and, where relevant, occasional co-visits with healthcare professionals. Use these insights to ensure Medical Excellence strategy, capability priorities, systems and processes remain practical, customer-focused and grounded in the realities of scientific engagement.
- Promote consistent, customer-focused and compliant Medical Affairs practices while allowing fit-for-purpose approaches across different teams and therapeutic areas.
- Provide strategic direction for Medical digital, omnichannel, systems, workflow, automation and responsible artificial intelligence initiatives in partnership with Medical Leadership, Business Technology Solutions, Customer Excellence, Compliance, Quality and other stakeholders.
- Oversee a coherent approach to Medical process architecture, SOP governance, document lifecycle governance and training governance, ensuring transparent ownership, appropriate controls, relevant curricula and sustainable adoption.
- Guide development of materials-review capability, content and approval workflows,
reviewer and material-owner capability, and compliant adoption of emerging technologies across the affiliate, while maintaining a strong operating partnership with the Therapy Area Specialist Manager and Materials Review team.
- Champion compliance-by-design, user-centered process improvement and scalable capability solutions that improve quality, efficiency and consistency.
- Ensure appropriate monitoring, issue identification, feedback loops and continuous improvement across systems, processes, training and capability programmes.
- Personally manage selected Medical Excellence, operational excellence, capability, planning, insights, governance, change or transformation initiatives where additional delivery capacity is required.
- Provide hands-on subject-matter input, facilitation, project leadership, analysis, problem solving and stakeholder engagement in areas aligned to the role holder’s expertise and business need.
- Support delivery activities that might otherwise sit within the Medical Excellence Manager portfolio when priorities, vacancies, transition arrangements or workload require senior-manager contribution.
- Maintain sufficient flexibility to rebalance individual-contributor responsibilities as the team structure, capability and portfolio mature.
- Contribute to Medical planning, operational planning, resource modelling and budget-related activities as agreed with the Head of Medical Operations & Excellence.
- Lead change using structured change-management approaches, with clear sponsorship, stakeholder engagement, communication, capability building, reinforcement and adoption measures.
- Represent, or ensure representation of, ANZ Medical Excellence in relevant affiliate, Area, Intercontinental and Global forums and bring external best practices into the affiliate.
- Report any adverse event within 24 hours as per AbbVie’s policies and procedures.
- Proactively participate in AbbVie’s WHS programs, adhere to policies and promote a safe work environment at all times.
- Adhere to AbbVie’s internal codes of conduct and compliance processes.
- Other ad hoc duties such as administrative duties, as requested.
📌 Senior Manager, Medical & Operational Excellence (Sydney)
🏢 Abbvie
📍 Sydney