About this opportunity
Do you have a passion for science, strategic medical leadership, and changing the trajectory of patients living with rare diseases? Are you motivated by shortening the path to diagnosis, building referral networks, and making sure the right patient reaches the right treatment, at the right time?
At AstraZeneca Rare Disease, we are looking for a Medical Manager, Rare Diseases (Neurology & Metabolic) to join our Medical Affairs team. In this role you will lead the local execution of the Rare Disease Medical Strategy and translate Therapeutic Area priorities into country plans from late pre-launch through post-launch.
You will act as a strategic medical partner. You will connect clinical evidence, natural history and real-world data, healthcare-system realities, and patient and caregiver insights to close the gaps that keep patients with rare diseases undiagnosed, unreferred, or untreated. You will work cross-functionally to strengthen launch readiness, lead local evidence generation, shape account and center-of-expertise strategies, and drive healthcare-system change.
Main Responsibilities
Develop and execute the local Rare Disease Medical Plan for Neurology and Metabolic portfolios, in alignment with global, regional, and Therapeutic Area strategies.
Lead medical activities from L-18 through launch and post-launch, ensuring scientific, diagnostic, and healthcare-system readiness.
Identify and address barriers across the rare disease patient journey: awareness, patient identification, diagnostic delay, referral to specialized centers, treatment initiation, and long-term follow-up.
Define and execute medical strategies for prioritized centers and accounts, in partnership with Market Access, MSLs, Government Affairs, Diagnostics, and Patient Programs.
Contribute to value propositions, health-economic initiatives, and access strategies. Support technical discussions with payers, health authorities, and policymakers on the particular challenges of rare, high-cost, and chronic therapies.
Lead and oversee local evidence generation relevant to small populations, including registries, natural history and observational studies, RWE, publications, and outcomes research.
Strengthen diagnostic pathways in collaboration with clinical laboratories, genetic and biomarker testing initiatives, and scientific societies.
Translate scientific evidence and external insights into actionable recommendations for Medical Affairs, Access, account strategy, and healthcare policy.
Identify and support innovative initiatives using AI, data, and digital solutions to improve patient identification, diagnosis, and care coordination.
Build trusted relationships with neurologists, metabolic and genetics specialists, pediatricians, internists, scientific societies, academic institutions, and patient organizations.
Represent Medical Affairs externally and communicate complex scientific information clearly and appropriately to diverse audiences.
Coach and develop MSLs and other field medical colleagues, supporting high-quality scientific engagement and execution.
Collaborate with Medical Affairs, Market Access, Government Affairs, Regulatory, Commercial, Pharmacovigilance, Compliance, and Patient Programs.
Ensure all activities comply with AstraZeneca policies, Medical Governance, Pharmacovigilance, GxP, Code of Conduct, and local regulations.
Manage medical resources and budget according to strategic priorities, patient impact, and healthcare-system needs.
Key Requirements
Medical Doctor, Pharmacist, or healthcare professional with postgraduate training in a clinical or related health sciences field.
5–7 years of experience in Medical Affairs within the pharmaceutical industry.
Experience in rare diseases, neurology, metabolic or genetic diseases, or other specialty and complex chronic conditions, including supporting launches or medical strategies.
Experience working cross-functionally with Medical Affairs, Market Access, Government Affairs, Evidence Generation/RWE, and external stakeholders.
Strong scientific knowledge and ability to translate evidence into strategic recommendations, including in contexts with limited data and small patient populations.
Understanding of healthcare systems, patient pathways, diagnostic and referral barriers, and access challenges for high-cost therapies.
Strong strategic thinking, stakeholder management, communication, influencing, and project management skills.
Ability to work effectively in a complex, matrixed, multi-country environment and influence without authority.
Experience working with data, digital tools, or AI in healthcare is desirable.
Professional proficiency in English, written and spoken.
Ability and willingness to travel according to business needs.
Preferred Qualifications
Advanced degree such as MD, PhD, PharmD, MSc, or equivalent.
Direct experience in rare diseases, including launch or pre-launch readiness.
Experience in RWE, HEOR, registries, natural history studies, or outcomes research.
Experience working with payers, health authorities, policymakers, scientific societies, or patient advocacy groups.
Experience in patient identification, diagnostic-pathway optimization, centers of expertise, or innovative models of care.
Previous people leadership, coaching, or matrix leadership experience.
Experience applying AI, data analytics, or digital solutions to healthcare challenges.
Why AstraZeneca?
Patients with rare diseases often wait years for a correct diagnosis, and many never reach treatment. Our Medical Affairs teams connect science, diagnostics, and healthcare-system insights to change that. Join us as a Medical Manager, Rare Diseases, and help shape how patients with neurological and metabolic rare diseases are identified, diagnosed, and treated.
Date Posted
06-nov-2026
Closing Date
14-nov-2026
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 comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.
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 389 comparable Manager Medical Affairs roles across 92 biopharma companies.
Salary context
101 of 389 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 389 comparable roles
+ 39 more countries
Seniority mix
389 of 389 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
134 of 389 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.
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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.