Sector: Nonprofit – public health driven voluntary licensing mechanism
Location: Mumbai, India
Contract type: Full-time employment
Travel: occasional international travel may be required

Background

The Scientific and Medical Affairs (SMA) team at MPP SMA leads the scientific components of the MPP prioritization framework, performing clinical evaluations of medical assets including disease burden, unmet medical needs, treatment guidelines, clinical evidence and product pipelines to identify opportunities where MPP can have the greatest public health impact in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It translates complex scientific information into actionable recommendations that inform MPP’s in-licensing strategy.

SMA is a small team led by the Head of Scientific and Medical Affairs, based within the MPP business development department. The SMA works in a highly cross-functional manner with colleagues in business development, intellectual property, market access, policy, alliance management and technology transfer. The team also engages extensively with external stakeholders, including the Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP), clinicians, researchers, WHO experts, international organisations, generic manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies to ensure assessments are grounded in both scientific evidence and public health realities.

About the Role 

The Scientific and Medical Affairs Manager is responsible for providing scientific assessments, clinical evidence reviews, disease landscape analysis, pipeline intelligence and horizon scanning of existing and emerging medicines, including biologics, long-acting technologies and other health innovations and will translate complex scientific evidence into a clear analysis and recommendations to inform decision making. The role of the selected candidate will be to ensure that the scientific assessments are evidence-based, up-to date, complete, communicated timely and aligned with the MPP’s public health mission.

The role combines scientific rigor with public health insight, translating complex scientific and clinical evidence into practical recommendations that inform MPP’s prioritization, licensing and access strategies.

Key Responsibilities

Scientific Assessment and Product Evaluation

• Conduct structured scientific and clinical assessments of candidate medicines, including biologics for infectious diseases.
• Critically evaluate clinical evidence, including study design, endpoints, efficacy, safety, tolerability, resistance profile, dosing, route of administration, treatment duration and target populations.
• Assess the comparative clinical value of products against current and anticipated standards of care.
• Evaluate advantages, limitations, uncertainties and evidence gaps relevant to LMIC implementation, including in relation to national and international guidelines and essential medicines lists.
• Develop and maintain concise product profiles for prioritised and emerging products.
• Ensure scientific assessments are evidence-based, maintained as living analyses and updated when significant new evidence becomes available.

Disease Landscape and Public Health Assessment

• Monitor epidemiology, disease burden, treatment gaps and unmet medical needs across priority infectious diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis, respiratory syncytial virus, tuberculosis, malaria, and other relevant public health priorities.
• Assess the significance of the products evaluated within the public health context in LMICs, including vulnerable and underserved populations.
• Monitor changes in WHO guidelines, normative recommendations and other recognised public health guidance, including key medical societies.

Pipeline Intelligence and Horizon Scanning

• Monitor pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic pipelines to identify promising assets relevant to MPP’s mandate.

• Track clinical development programs, including trial initiation, study outcomes, regulatory developments and changes in development strategy.
• Monitor scientific literature, congresses, regulatory communications, clinical trial registries, company disclosures and other relevant sources.
• Conduct horizon scanning both within established disease areas and in emerging areas of public-health relevance.

Product Prioritisation Support

• Provide scientific due diligence and product/pipeline intelligence to business development colleagues, including scientific and clinical assessments of individual assets and company pipelines, to support company engagements.
• Identify scientific and clinical factors affecting implementation, manufacturability, regulatory pathways and adoption
• Contribute from scientific and medical perspective to multidisciplinary discussions with MPP colleagues who have expertise in intellectual property, manufacturing, regulatory, policy, market access and business development, shaping collectively a potential MPP intervention to increase access.

Cross-functional scientific coordination

• Work across relevant MPP functions to ensure timely sharing of scientific intelligence as memos or any other clear fit-for-purpose formats
• Support engagement with the MPP Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) and other key opinion leaders, including by contributing scientific information for consultations and discussions.
• Prepare scientific information and actively contribute to Quarterly Review Meetings
• Support engagement with stakeholders as required, including generic manufacturers network.
• Attend relevant conferences and events to gather insights and scientific intelligence and report it to the team with actionable suggestions.
• Provide relevant scientific information for donor reports, advisory groups, external partners and communication material as required.

Requirements 

Essential

• Masters, PhD or other advanced degree in Biology, Medicine, Pharmacology or a related scientific discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant scientific experience in scientific assessment, clinical research, scientific intelligence, access programmes or a related function.
• Demonstrated experience assessing clinical and scientific evidence of pharmaceutical assets
• Strong analytical, scientific writing and information synthesis skills
• Professional fluency in English
• Digital literacy

Desirable

• Relevant experience in HIV, TB, viral hepatitis, respiratory infections, malaria or emerging infectious diseases.
• Experience working with LMIC health systems and global health stakeholders.
• Sound understanding of drug development pathways and regulatory processes.
• Experience working in international and multidisciplinary environments.

Personal Qualities 

MPP’s richness lies in its staff: a small dynamic and multicultural team.

To flourish in our team, you should identify with our values of Respect, Courage, Generosity, and Commitment.

Moreover, as the MPP’s Scientific and Medical Affairs Manager you should demonstrate the following qualities:

• Collaboration and engagement: Builds constructive working relationships across functions and with external scientific stakeholders; listens to different perspectives, shares expertise and contributes effectively to collective decision-making.
• Commitment to equitable access and public health impact: Considers how scientific and clinical developments may affect access to appropriate treatment across different populations and settings and demonstrates an interest in applying scientific expertise to improve health outcomes and equitable access to medicines.
• Curiosity and learning agility: Rapidly develops knowledge of new products, mechanisms and therapeutic areas.
• External engagement: able to establish working relationships with partners including clinicians, scientists, civil society and industry stakeholders.

What we offer

At MPP we are a dedicated team driven by our mission to increase access to, and facilitate the development of, life-saving medicines to those who need them. We are passionate, driven by our values of respect, courage, generosity and commitment.

MPP seeks talent from a variety of areas of expertise and recognises that a diverse workforce and an inclusive cultural environment are critical to the success of our mission. We offer attractive working conditions and a supportive and inclusive work environment designed to help employees thrive. Our staff benefit from 30 days of paid annual leave, plus local public holidays, as well as flexible working arrangements, including remote work options and part-time setups. We invest in continuous learning through financial and time support for professional development, enabling staff to keep pace with evolving scientific, legal, and regulatory fields.

How to Apply