Senior Medical Science Liaison, Rare Nephrology, Mountain West, (CO, AZ, NM, UT, WY, KS)
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This is what you will do:
The Senior Medical Science Liaison (Sr. MSL) is a field-based scientific expert that strategically supports the medical and scientific objectives of Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease’s product/s across the product/s life cycle. The individual is a peer scientific expert who communicates accurate and applicable science to Healthcare Practitioners (HCPs) within a geographic area. The individual manages and maintains collegial and professional relationships with HCPs and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and identifies and facilitates collaboration opportunities with Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease. The Senior MSL ideally has established relationships with HCPs in their therapeutic area and mentors/coaches other MSLs in the creation and implementation of robust HCP engagement plans. The Senior MSL combines strong business acumen and clinical expertise and serves as a peer-to-peer liaison internally to Medical Directors, USMA Leadership Team, cross-functional partners and externally (HCPs & KOLs). The individual anticipates roadblocks and barriers based on the business and therapeutic area landscape and identifies ways to overcome these barriers with limited input from the leadership team.
You will be responsible for:
HCP relationship management
Evaluates their territory to profile and identify the HCPs to engage and build relationships with, as well as identify, important centers of excellence
Develops clear, succinct, impactful HCP engagement plans, aligned with medical strategic goals and objectives. Evaluates and refines plans as needed per the progress against the quarterly focus priorities
Gains and maintains HCPs’ trust and respect by effectively providing and communicating relevant scientific/medical information on the company’s products and disease states
Gathers and disseminates HCP insights as appropriate internally to help inform the medical strategy and creates/facilitates new opportunities for engagement approaches and/or resource development
Develops strong working relationships in different external business settings
Scientific knowledge and training
Keeps current with scientific knowledge within assigned products and therapeutic area and integrates scientific/medical knowledge from HCPs and literature to identify insights and/or forecast trends that might have an impact across brands and escalates actionable information to appropriate stakeholders
Supports scientific exchange of product/disease state with external stakeholders (HCPs) as needed
Provides and educates on relevant scientific information to other internal teams and functions as appropriate
Demonstrates a proficient understanding of real-world evidence and HEOR
Research & Development
Demonstrates a proficient understanding of clinical study design and protocols
Ensures HCPs and stakeholders receive focused and balanced clinical and scientific information
Exhibits expertise in applicable research outcomes to credibly conduct effective discussion with HCPs
Supports applicable externally sponsored research and clinical trials, as appropriate
US Healthcare system knowledge
Maintains proficient knowledge of the current US healthcare system environment and its impact on the rare disease ecosystem
Builds a systematic understanding of the foundations of managed markets
Acquires a thorough understanding of the flow of information in managed care and government organizations
You will need to have:
Minimum Education
BS Degree in Biological Sciences or related major
3+ years of professional experience in a clinical setting or related therapeutic area
Preferred Experience
MD, PharmD, or PhD in biological sciences strongly preferred and/or a minimum of 2 years track record of success as an MSL
Minimum Experience
Industry experience or equivalent (preferably >3 years)
Specific Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Has excellent communication skills (oral and written)
Energetically embraces responsibilities and demonstrates the ability to achieve goals
Has a strong personal initiative
Functions well as part of a cross-functional team
Exhibits excellent time management
Able to work independently
Demonstrates leadership skills and high-level job competencies
Preferably experienced in relevant therapeutic areas relating to drugs in development, recently launched and marketed biologics/ therapies
Must have shown considerable and consistent high performance as MSL and demonstration of appropriate independent decision-making skills
Additional Role Requirements
Office is home based. Travel within region 3-4 days per week with 1-2 office days per week
Person should be able to travel minimum ~70% time
Required travel to medical meetings, team meetings and other group meetings (including possible weekends, as dictated by conference schedule)
Candidate is required to live within the territory
The duties of this role are generally conducted in a field environment. As is typical of a field-based role, employees must be able, with or without an accommodation, to travel by public transportation, automobile, train, or plane; work comfortably in a clinical setting; use a computer; engage in communications via phone, video, and electronic messaging; problem solve; engage in complex and non-linear thought, analysis, and dialogue; collaborate with others; maintain general availability during standard business hours
At AstraZeneca, we are taking bold action on climate because we recognize the connection between healthy people and a healthy planet. As part of our flagship Ambition Zero Carbon program, we have committed to a fully electric vehicle (EV) fleet by the end of 2025, which means that all of our drivers will be assigned an EV. Ability to travel within territory on a regular basis which will include frequent overnight and weekend travel. Valid driver’s license and clean driving record required).
All activities should be conducted per Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease policies.
Date Posted
30-Sep-2026
Closing Date
06-Oct-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 214 comparable Senior Medical Affairs roles across 57 biopharma companies.
Salary context
83 of 214 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 214 comparable roles
+ 18 more countries
Seniority mix
214 of 214 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
80 of 214 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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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.