Oncology Medical Science Liaison/Sr Medical Science Liaison - Chicago North
About this opportunity
The MSL/Sr. MSL serves as the local medical voice of AZ in the disease area of interest, thoracic cancer, and builds a local medical strategy to improve patient care and outcomes in their territory. The MSL/Senior MSL is an established field-based professional with extensive scientific, clinical and therapeutic area expertise responsible for providing medical and scientific support for AstraZeneca's oncology marketed products, new indications for current products, and compounds in development.
Typical Accountabilities
Establishes oneself as a trusted scientific advisor, peer and expert by both internal collaborators and external HCPs (e.g. functions as an expert in response to scientific questions)
Synthesizes HCP insights from multiple HCP segments within a region and communicates with internal collaborators
Serves as point of reference for the integration of science into proposed business strategies, training, and resources
Synthesizes and integrates research, and summarizes findings, in a compelling narrative for various HCP segments
Builds strong collaboration with key collaborators across Medical Affairs, Commercial, and Development
Drives guideline sharing within and outside the organization, and helps apply them to work processes within Field Medical Affairs
Serves as a lead for clinical trials, research activities, and special projects
Coaches others team members to develop strong working relationships in different external business settings (e.g. academia, hospitals, managed markets, private practices)
Supports team members’ creative and innovative ideas while recognizing others’ contribution to team/project success
Provides input on MSL training content, assists with MSL onboarding, and serves as a ‘buddy’ to new MSL hires
Lead MSLs in their responsibilities for congress scientific coverage and data synthesis support
Essential:
Advanced scientific degree required (i.e. Pharm D, MD/DO, PhD, PA, NP or BSN with extensive clinical experience) in a relevant health science or clinical discipline
2 years MSL experience or related therapeutic experience
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively communicate scientific data to internal and external customers
Ability to work independently and in groups
Ability to navigate within a matrixial environment
Demonstrated leadership skills, initiative and problem-solving skills
Excellent project management ability
Ability to travel (40-60% by car and plane domestic)
Desireable:
clinical discipline
MSL experience
Oncology experience
Demonstrated expertise in delivering customer-related outcomes in targeted field/territory
Demonstrated ability to impact Medical Affairs and MSL strategies on a regional level
THIS TERRITORY INCLUDES Northern Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Why AstraZeneca?
At AstraZeneca when we see an opportunity for change, we seize it and make it happen, because any opportunity no matter how small, can be the start of something big. Delivering life-changing medicines is about being entrepreneurial - finding those moments and recognizing their potential. Join us on our journey of building a new kind of organization to reset expectations of what a bio-pharmaceutical company can be. This means we’re opening new ways to work, pioneering groundbreaking methods, and bringing unexpected teams together. Interested? Come and join our journey!
Are you ready to bring new insights and fresh thinking to the table? Brilliant! We have one seat available, and we hope it’s yours. Apply today.
AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We follow all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.
Date Posted
05-Aug-2026
Closing Date
18-Aug-2026 Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Medical Affairs role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 140 comparable Senior Medical Affairs roles across 44 biopharma companies.
Salary context
37 of 140 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 140 comparable roles
+ 12 more countries
Seniority mix
140 of 140 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
60 of 140 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.