Senior Manager, Medical & Operational Excellence

Are you a Medical Affairs leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy, operational excellence, digital innovation and capability building? This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of Medical Excellence across Australia and New Zealand, leading a team that enables smarter ways of working, stronger scientific engagement and measurable business impact. As Senior Manager, Medical & Operational Excellence, you will partner with senior Medical, Technology, Customer Excellence and cross-functional leaders to improve how Medical Affairs plans, executes, measures and evolves — helping build a more connected, insight-led and future-ready Medical organisation.
KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Lead the Medical & Operational Excellence function and translate affiliate, Area and Global Medical Excellence priorities into a clear, practical and measurable functional roadmap.
Provide line management, coaching, development and performance support to the Medical Excellence Manager and Medical Innovation & Capability Manager, while establishing clear accountabilities and effective collaboration across the function.
Prioritise work across Field Medical Excellence, Head Office Medical Excellence, medical planning and execution, digital and omnichannel enablement, systems, capability, training governance, process improvement and innovation.
Advise the Head of Medical Operations & Excellence and Medical Leadership Team on Medical Excellence opportunities, risks, capability gaps and operational priorities.
Shape the detailed operating model, role boundaries, services and ways of working of the Medical Excellence function as business needs evolve.
Establish fit-for-purpose governance, service standards, decision rights, portfolio reviews and escalation pathways for the Medical Excellence function.
Monitor capacity, workload, risks, dependencies, delivery status and benefits across the functional portfolio and recommend adjustments to priorities or resourcing.
Embed a culture of accountability, experimentation, learning, simplification and continuous improvement.
Provide strategic oversight of Medical Excellence across both Field and Head Office Medical teams, ensuring strong alignment between capability development, scientific planning, customer engagement and execution.
Lead or sponsor initiatives supporting Field Medical Excellence, including capability priorities, onboarding, coaching excellence, IFT Fundamentals, scientific engagement, insights, metrics and dashboards.
Lead or sponsor initiatives supporting Medical Managers and Senior Medical Managers, including medical planning, scientific communications planning, content use, tactical execution, insight integration and cross-functional ways of working.
Establish meaningful measures and dashboards that demonstrate execution quality, adoption, efficiency, outcomes and the value delivered by Medical Affairs.
Maintain a strong customer orientation and direct understanding of Field Medical execution through appropriate engagement with field teams and, where relevant, occasional co-visits with healthcare professionals. Use these insights to ensure Medical Excellence strategy, capability priorities, systems and processes remain practical, customer-focused and grounded in the realities of scientific engagement.
Promote consistent, customer-focused and compliant Medical Affairs practices while allowing fit-for-purpose approaches across different teams and therapeutic areas.
Provide strategic direction for Medical digital, omnichannel, systems, workflow, automation and responsible artificial intelligence initiatives in partnership with Medical Leadership, Business Technology Solutions, Customer Excellence, Compliance, Quality and other stakeholders.
Oversee a coherent approach to Medical process architecture, SOP governance, document lifecycle governance and training governance, ensuring clear ownership, appropriate controls, relevant curricula and sustainable adoption.
Guide development of materials-review capability, content and approval workflows, reviewer and material-owner capability, and compliant adoption of emerging technologies across the affiliate, while maintaining a strong operating partnership with the Therapy Area Specialist Manager and Materials Review team.
Champion compliance-by-design, user-centered process improvement and scalable capability solutions that improve quality, efficiency and consistency.
Ensure appropriate monitoring, issue identification, feedback loops and continuous improvement across systems, processes, training and capability programmes.
Personally manage selected Medical Excellence, operational excellence, capability, planning, insights, governance, change or transformation initiatives where additional delivery capacity is required.
Provide hands-on subject-matter input, facilitation, project leadership, analysis, problem solving and stakeholder engagement in areas aligned to the role holder’s expertise and business need.
Support delivery activities that might otherwise sit within the Medical Excellence Manager portfolio when priorities, vacancies, transition arrangements or workload require senior-manager contribution.
Maintain sufficient flexibility to rebalance individual-contributor responsibilities as the team structure, capability and portfolio mature.
Contribute to Medical planning, operational planning, resource modelling and budget-related activities as agreed with the Head of Medical Operations & Excellence.
Lead change using structured change-management approaches, with clear sponsorship, stakeholder engagement, communication, capability building, reinforcement and adoption measures.
Represent, or ensure representation of, ANZ Medical Excellence in relevant affiliate, Area, Intercontinental and Global forums and bring external best practices into the affiliate.
Report any adverse event within 24 hours as per AbbVie’s policies and procedures.
Proactively participate in AbbVie’s WHS programs, adhere to policies and promote a safe work environment at all times.
Adhere to AbbVie’s internal codes of conduct and compliance processes.
Other ad hoc duties such as administrative duties, as requested.
Bachelor degree or higher in medicine, pharmacy, life sciences, health sciences or a related discipline.
Postgraduate qualification in Medical Affairs, business, leadership, education, digital health, change management, quality, or a related field desirable.
Significant experience (>3 years) in Medical Affairs, Medical Excellence, Medical Operations or a related pharmaceutical/biotechnology function, including leadership of cross-functional initiatives.
People leadership experience; experience across Field and/or Head Office Medical Excellence; experience with digital or omnichannel enablement, Medical systems, SOP and training governance, change management.
Coaching and capability-development skills, including the ability to provide clarity, feedback, prioritisation and development support.
Demonstrated understanding of Medical Affairs operating models, Field and Head Office Medical needs, medical planning and scientific engagement.
Ability to lead process, SOP and training governance and to apply Medical Affairs regulatory requirements, compliance-by-design, quality and risk-based thinking.
Advanced stakeholder management, facilitation, communication, influencing and presentation skills in a matrix organisation.
Analytical mindset with the ability to use metrics, qualitative insight and business context to guide decisions and demonstrate impact.
Sound judgement, integrity, adaptability and the ability to manage ambiguity, competing priorities and organisational change.
Flexibility and Availability: In line with Australia’s 'Right to Disconnect' legislation, we recognise and respect employees' right to refuse contact outside of their working hours, unless such refusal is deemed unreasonable. As we operate in an international, matrixed environment, there may be occasions where your role requires participation in business meetings outside of standard hours. We value and support flexibility and appreciate your willingness to occasionally accommodate these requests to ensure effective collaboration and communication within our global team.

Employment type
Full-time

Work arrangement
Hybrid