Medical Advisor and Medical Strategist

Live the LB difference!

Reporting to the medical director and the vice-president, healthcare business strategy, the medical advisor and medical strategist understands, interprets, and synthesizes scientific, clinical, and medical information in order to write different forms of copy (promotional, educational, scientific) for health care professionals, patients and consumers. He works closely with the V-P healthcare business strategy to guide our clients towards the best strategies for their brands. The medical advisor and medical strategist is part of the medical copywriting and strategy team and should interact with all members of the agency in order to create the most impactful and accurate advertising campaigns and promotional collateral material.

Skills

• Keen interest in and understanding of science
• Solid writing skills, rigor, meticulousness and understanding of medical concepts and terminology
• Meticulous work ethic to ensure accuracy of information and supporting sources
• Ability to navigate, interpret and execute within the boundaries set by various regulatory bodies including PAAB and ASC
• Strong organizational skills and sense of responsibility
• Ability to understand, analyze, interpret and synthetize scientific, clinical and medical information
• Good composure under pressure and ability to meet very tight deadlines
• Ability to multitask and work in a team effectively
• Ability to mentor junior members of the team
  
  

Requirements

• Bachelor or Master of Science, Pharmacology, or a related discipline OR Degree in English writing, journalism, or any related discipline, with a strong interest in science
• Advanced written English, intermediate to advanced spoken English: Clients include global affiliates and those located in the rest of Canada. Due to industry requirements and limitations, most collaterals are also executed in English.
• Experience of 5+ years as a medical writer and/or medical strategist in an advertising agency
• Knowledge and application of PAAB Code and Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) Code
• Oncology work experience preferred
• Mastery of MS Office suite software (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
  
  

Main responsibilities

Medical advising

• Participates in brief development with client services for required content and ensures content and objective is aligned with brand strategy;
• Writes the outline and the copy (scientific, clinical, medical or creative) based on a project brief;
• Sources/references documents and upload them based on different client’s portals for medical/legal/regulatory internal review;
• Attends client meetings to determine strategic communication plans for brand optimization;
• Work with the creative team to develop concepts and/or impactful layouts;
• Research and analyze the competition of the client’s therapy/device in order to define the best attributes of a brand and its positioning in the market;
• Ensures that competitive analysis is integrated into strategic planning and communication plan;
• Edit or re-work copy based on client’s or internal comments until a copy approval is obtained;
• Be consistent in the chosen wording based on other existing pieces for the same brand;
• Work with the account service team to find solutions to short timelines or heavy workloads;
• By recognizing each client’s challenges and opportunities in their market, develops strategies and promotional tactics to ensure the success of their respective brand(s);
• Develops messaging strategy and suggest innovative tactics for the advertising campaigns;
• Be a master of the Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board Code (PAAB), and Advertising Standards of Canada (ASC) and Food and Drug Act
  
  

Medical strategy

• Participates in the development of the medical content of presentations for advisory committees based on the business objectives and facilitates discussion with participating physicians and other health professionals (when needed);
• Actively contributes to, and potentially leads, brand planning sessions with clients to define the best strategies and tactics. On-going/frequent participation in client brand team meetings is often required for continuity of understanding and relevant course correction;
• Engages with client to determine strategy and deliverables for upcoming sales meetings;
• Works with client service on develop tactical proposals and brand plan for clients’ upcoming fiscal year;
• Engages with clients and is prepared to support them in internal meetings/concept testing (which can include but is not limited to rep training workshops, attending CME, participating in market research and/or concept testing).
  
  

For the Lemieux-being of our employees

• Group insurance coverage (50% of premiums are employer paid) with free access to telemedicine
• Flexible 37.5-hour work week in a hybrid formula
• Attractive vacation time, welcome days, work-life balance days, and more
• Summer schedule to enjoy Friday afternoons off (4 months)
• Possibility of working abroad for a period of 1 month
• Training program and personalized professional happiness meetings
• Year-round wow activities (yoga sessions, beer tasting, bowling, summer/Christmas parties, etc.)
• A dynamic team of 95+ employees across Canada with offices in Sherbrooke and Montréal
• A socially responsible company involved in its community and a respectful workplace that promotes inclusion, diversity, and individual well-being