Medical Strategy Director

Cognite; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Hybrid working (home-based + co-work)

Team events

Christmas–New Year closure

Job summary

Cognite’s fast-growing healthcare communications agency in London seeks an enthusiastic Medical Strategy Director to lead strategic planning for key accounts. You will guide therapy-area insights, brand strategy and advisory boards, delivering evidence-based, future-facing recommendations.

Requirements include a PhD or MSc in a relevant field, 5+ years in healthcare agencies, strong PowerPoint and communication skills, and a commercial mindset to drive client performance.

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc in a relevant field.
• 5+ years’ experience in healthcare agencies (medical writing or strategy).
• Strong commercial acumen and familiarity with using market insights to drive business performance.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Analytical mindset.
• Strong proficiency in PowerPoint.

Responsibilities

• Actively contributing to the development and refinement of Cognite’s strategic frameworks and playbooks.
• Sharing market insights, therapy area knowledge and competitor intelligence across teams.
• Leading the strategic vision and directing strategic planning for accounts.
• Challenging internal and client thinking with evidence-based insights.
• Ensuring strategic excellence is embedded across teams.
• Being the final signatory on new strategic briefs for accounts.

Skills

PowerPoint proficiency

Education

PhD or MSc degree

Job description

In the fast-changing world where our clients deliver life-changing medicines and technology, Cognite’s dynamic team drives our mission of bringing science to life.

As an independent agency, we create clear, compelling communications, focusing on the transformative therapies that are inspiring the future of healthcare and the highly complex diseases they treat.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and analytical Medical Strategy Director to join our growing team. Reporting to the SVP Strategy and Growth,you will be responsible for:

• Actively contributing to the development and refinement of Cognite’s strategic frameworks and playbooks, ensuring our ways of working remain best-in-class
• Sharing market insights, therapy area knowledge and competitor intelligence across teams to strengthen agency-wide capability
• Acting as a bridge between junior strategists and directors, ensuring agency thinking is consistently applied to client work
• Driving innovation in how the agency approaches client strategy, embedding new thinking
• Acting as a visible thought leader within the agency, championing continuous improvement and inspiring the broader Strategy team
• Leading the strategic vision and directing strategic planning for your accounts
• Understanding clients’ challenges and defining the focus areas and hooks to change the conversation
• Anticipating market shifts and proactively adapting strategic approaches to keep Cognite and its clients ahead of the curve
• Helping teams with client research, including competitive landscape research, disease area research and patient insights
• Supporting account teams with client strategic work (e.g. brand strategy, brand planning, tactical planning, advisory boards, workshop preparation, customer journeys and segmentation)
• Challenging internal and client thinking with evidence-based insights
• Ensuring strategic excellence is consistently embedded across teams
• Being the final signatory on new strategic briefs for your accounts to ensure they align with the overarching brand or disease strategy

Client relationships

• Acting as a go-to strategic partner for senior clients
• Confidently leading strategic discussions in client workshops and meetings
• Providing foresight into emerging opportunities and risks
• Holding ultimate accountability for the strength of strategic relationships
• Building long-term trust by consistently bringing fresh insights, foresight and practical recommendations
• Challenging and stretching client thinking to help them navigate uncertainty and position their brands for success
• Identifying and creating action plans/proposals for growth opportunities across current accounts
• Mentoring strategists and account teams, ensuring high standards of delivery

New business

• Leading strategic development of pitches in assigned therapy areas
• Being accountable for pitch quality, innovation, timing and team collaboration

We believe someone with the following experience could be a good match for this role:

• PhD or Master of Science (MSc) degree
• 5+ years’ experience in one or more healthcare agencies (medical writing or strategy roles)
• Strong commercial acumen and familiarity with using market insights to drive business performance
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Analytical mindset
• Strong proficiency in PowerPoint

Cognite’s agency values – Everyone matters; Science at the heart; Entrepreneurial mindset; True partners; and Doing the right thing – shape how we work every day. We believe every individual can make a positive difference; we put science at the core of everything we do; we embrace curiosity and courage to find solutions; we build lasting partnerships focused on shared goals; and we act with integrity and inclusivity in all our interactions.

Our benefits include:

• Discretionary company bonus and incentive schemes
• Hybrid working (home-based + co-working space in Holborn, Central London)
• Frequent social and team events
• Company closure between Christmas and New Year

If you are passionate about bringing science to life, then we would love to hear from you.