Group Director, Engagement Strategy (Medical Education)

VML South Africa; New York (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Group Director of Engagement Strategy in Medical Communication to innovate medical communications and enhance audience engagement. This role is pivotal in bridging the gap between medical science and creative strategy, leveraging AI and data to craft compelling narratives that resonate with healthcare professionals. You will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to develop impactful strategies and experiences that inspire learning and foster connections. Join a vibrant culture that values creativity and innovation, and make a significant impact in the healthcare sector by transforming how medical education is delivered.

Benefits

Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage

401k Match

Paid Time Off

Growth Opportunities

Inclusive Workplace Culture

Qualifications

• 3-6 years of experience in medical communications or education.
• Strong grasp of medical science and strategic thinking.

Responsibilities

• Lead client engagements and develop audience engagement strategies.
• Guide omnichannel customer journeys and create impactful experiences.

Skills

Medical Communications

Strategic Planning

Data Analysis

Audience Engagement

Leadership

Creative Thinking

Communication Skills

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree

Tools

AI Technology

CRM Systems

Data Analytics Tools

Job description

Group Director, Engagement Strategy (Medical Education)

VML

Expertise: Health

Location: New York, NY, United States

Last Updated: 3/14/2025

Requisition ID: R-2428

Who We Are:

At VML, we are a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. With the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, we have forged a new path as a growth partner that is part creative agency, part consultancy, and part technology powerhouse.

Our global family now encompasses over 30,000 employees across 150+ offices in 64 markets, each contributing to a culture that values connection, belonging, and the power of differences. Our expertise spans the entire customer journey, offering deep insights in communications, commerce, consultancy, CRM, CX, data, production, and technology. We deliver end-to-end solutions that result in revolutionary work.

About VML Health:

VML HEALTH is a global healthcare agency that partners with healthcare clients across a broad definition of health, from high science to wellness and everything in between. It operates fluidly within the VML agency, as a core group of health specialists (a ‘vertical’) that has the benefit of autonomy in management, but with support of non-health expertise.

At the heart of health is the story of life – all the highs and lows, ambitions, and possibilities. But facing a health challenge can suddenly pull people away from these stories, knocking them off course.

Our purpose is to bridge this gap, bringing people closer to life and all its meaning. We gain a deeper understanding of Healthcare Professionals’ and patients’ needs, behaviors, and lived experiences through what we call ‘radical empathy’.

VML Health creates connected brands that get to the heart, bringing people closer to the lives they want to live. Get to the heart. Connect for life.

International Meetings and Science (IMsci), a division of VML Health, works with companies to build world-class healthcare and pharmaceutical brands among medical professionals and consumers, with a transmedia storytelling approach that covers medical education strategies.

What we’re looking for:

As a Group Director Engagement Strategy, Medical Communication, you will help lead key client engagements and serve as the connective tissue between engagement strategy and medical communications. You will demonstrate your expertise in bringing to life the clinical narrative and key medical education in a targeted ecosystem of connected experiences for different audiences. You will have the unique ability to leverage a keen understanding of audiences’ needs and preferences with the nuance of the relevant therapeutic areas to craft and orchestrate targeted and captivating experiences that help activate our audiences to want to learn more, consider new therapeutic approaches, and progress their clinical understanding, shifting mindsets.

VML Health is on a mission to reimagine medical communication, bringing AI technology, data, and science forward strategically for our clients and reaching diverse audiences in new and meaningful ways. You’ll work at the intersection of creativity, medical science, data, and technology to develop impactful experiences for healthcare stakeholders. Working across medical communication initiatives, you will collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team to lead and develop engagement strategy, AI, and innovative experiences every step of the way. Leveraging insights, you’ll turn client objectives and medical communication priorities into measurable success, delivering solutions that engage, inspire, and create lasting connections between audiences and pharma brands/companies.

What You'll Do:

• Getting to the heart of customers: Develop a deep understanding of audience’s wants, needs, and behaviors across the full customer journey to be able to effectively message and activate at each step.
• Master the journey: Guide development of seamless omnichannel customer journeys across pre-launch, launch, and post-launch phases, incorporating dynamic personalization to engage with HCPs along their learning journey.
• Strategic activations: Lead the planning of key activations that creatively connect strategic goals to engagement priorities.
• Channel expertise: Devise specific strategies (e.g. social, CRM, website, paid media, apps, MSL and rep-delivered and more) all designed to educate and activate key audiences.
• Strategize with precision: Develop integrated, data-informed strategies for medical communications programs in line with stakeholder mindsets and experience needs.
• Collaborate deeply: Partner with IMsci account and scientific teams to create personalized engagement strategies and communication narratives that integrate seamlessly with content, messaging, and regulatory requirements, and are built to meet strategic goals.
• Lead with innovation: Champion AI initiatives (working within WPP’s Open) and stay attuned to emerging technologies, channels, and tools. Collaborate with client teams to refine existing ADVENT Hub and understand educational content hub platforms such as Magnolia.
• Empower agile learning: Focus on building an educational experience for each and all focusing on agile, deconstructed, and ubiquitous online presence with a multitude of tailored opportunities for every learner.
• Build trust: Foster strong client relationships as a strategic partner, delivering actionable, ROI-driven solutions that address their most pressing challenges.
• Mentor and inspire: Lead and develop junior strategists, building a team culture of creativity, growth, and collaboration.
• Win the pitch: Participate in new business proposals by presenting bold, forward-thinking visions that set VML Health apart in a competitive landscape.

Who You Are:

• Proven experience with medical communications: 3-6 years working in medical communications or medical education, with proven experience with a wide range of deliverables and tactical planning.
• Strong grasp of medical science: Proven ability to understand scientific concepts in close collaboration with medical teams, ideally supported by a background in healthcare communications, medicine, or science.
• Strategic Thinker: Proficient in developing activation briefs and synthesizing diverse data points (in collaboration with the medical team) to tell a clear, cohesive narrative.
• Peer-to-Peer Expertise: Passion for leveraging the power of P2P and interactions among HCPs to develop impactful KOL programs, advisory boards, speaker programs, roundtable discussions, and other innovation tactics that bring HCPs together for discussion and learning, by building on the success of current ecosystems.
• Congress Experiences: Deep understanding of the HCP Congress space, driving innovation by building on the success of current ecosystems to stimulate learning and engagement pre, during, and post Congress through unique tactics and experiences.
• Data-Driven Mindset: Constantly thinking about established and novel ways to assess success and looks to incorporate measurement into all engagements.
• Leadership: Confident and authoritative, able to flex role within project teams from SME to process driver. Experience coaching junior team members desirable.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; master’s or advanced degree preferred.

What You'll Need:

• 7-13 years of experience in overall research and strategic planning experience.
• Deep experience developing medical communications strategy and tactics.
• Medical communications agency experience.
• Critical and analytical thinker, innovator, and visionary that inspires creativity.
• Demonstrates passion, familiarity, and curiosity with the CX practice.
• Able to develop strong client relationships and trust based on deep immersion in the client’s business.
• Highly collaborative and able to work effectively across internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree and a multidisciplinary background, including developing business strategy, marketing strategy, consumer insight, and/or account planning.
• Advanced degree preferred—such as a Master’s in Health Communication, Public Health, or an MBA.

What We Offer:

• Passionate, driven people: We champion a culture of people who do extraordinary work.
• Consciously cultivated culture: We aim to embody the behaviors to build an inclusive community that is in it together, bringing both positivity and active listening into the workplace as we simultaneously strive to empower creative bravery.
• Competitive benefits: What we offer full-time hires ranges from the full spectrum of group health coverage options (medical, dental, vision) to a generous 401k match (100% dollar-for-dollar match, up to 5% of salary contribution), and a variety of paid time off offerings that reflect our investment in all aspects of your overall life balance and wellness.
• Growth-minded opportunities: We aim to nurture a culture of real-time feedback, a growth-oriented mindset, and plenty of training opportunities through VML and WPP so you can continue to grow personally and professionally.

VML is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion or belief, sex, age, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, military/veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or other protected group status. We believe in creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity and inclusion and strives to recruit a diverse slate of candidates to help us achieve that goal.

The base salary range for this position at the time of this posting is indicated below. Individual compensation varies based on job-related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package.

$100,000 — $230,000 USD

At VML, we are committed to fostering an all-inclusive work environment that is both rewarding and career-forward. Our Inclusion, Equity & Belonging initiatives, alongside the VML Foundation, reflect our dedication to giving back and making a positive impact in our communities and beyond. Our people are the heartbeat of our organization—creators, doers, innovators, makers, and thinkers—who drive not just marketing, but meaningful experiences that resonate in every action and interaction.