Thought Leader Liaison, Nephrology- Central (Chicago, IL)

This job is with Biogen, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community. Please do not contact the recruiter directly.

About This Role: As the Associate Director, Thought Leader Liaison (TLL) for Nephrology, you will serve as the primary commercial liaison to Key Medical Experts (KMEs), transplant centers, and key nephrology stakeholders within your assigned geography. This field-based role is integral to developing external advocacy, enhancing account readiness, and generating actionable marketplace insights. You will support strategic engagement initiatives across current and future indications, working closely with marketing, medical affairs, market access, sales leadership, and other cross-functional partners. Your contributions will help inform commercial strategy and launch readiness planning, bringing significant value to our business structure. This position offers an exciting opportunity to advance advocacy and engagement in the nephrology space, paving the way for innovative solutions and patient access.

Who You Are: You are a strategic thinker with robust interpersonal and communication skills, enabling you to build strong relationships with KMEs and stakeholders. Your analytic and strategic mindset drives your ability to gather and synthesize insights, influencing commercial strategies effectively. Collaboration is key to your approach, and you thrive in cross-functional settings, ensuring seamless and compliant customer experiences. Your commitment to expanding your knowledge in disease states and healthcare ecosystems makes you an invaluable asset to the team.

Key Responsibilities

1. Account Development & Readiness

• Gather insights to inform the marketing strategy and commercial content development based for current and future disease states ​
• Create regional commercial plans to move key accounts through the adoption continuum, working compliantly in collaboration with cross-functional partners​

• Gather insights regarding account-level practices and stakeholder perspectives and communicate relevant insights to appropriate internal partners.​
• Identify opportunities and barriers that may impact account adoption, patient access and long-term advocacy development​

2. KME Engagement & Advocacy Development

• Identify, profile, and engage national, regional, and emerging Key Medical Experts within the transplant and nephrology communities​
• Serve as the primary commercial liaison for approved KME engagement activities, including advisory boards, peer-to-peer programs, consulting engagements, and educational initiatives​
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with KMEs and other key stakeholders to understand external perspectives, support approved engagement objectives, and inform therapeutic-area planning
• Expand engagement beyond individual KMEs to broader stakeholder and influence networks​

3. Strategic Insight Generation

• Gather, synthesize, and communicate actionable field insights related to customer needs, treatment practices, market dynamics, competitive activity, and emerging opportunities​
• Translate stakeholder feedback into strategic recommendations that inform marketing strategy, launch planning, customer engagement, and future portfolio decisions​
• Provide timely updates to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders regarding account development progress, KME engagement activities, advocacy trends, and emerging market dynamics​
• Ensure consistent documentation and sharing of insights through approved systems and processes​

4. Congress, Speaker Bureau & External Engagement

• Support regional and national congress planning and execution, maximizing the Biogen footprint regionally​
• Coordinate strategic KME engagement activities occurring before, during, and after scientific meetings in collaboration with cross functional partners​ in accordance with applicable policies
• Identify opportunities to strengthen presence and partnerships within professional societies and key stakeholder communities​
• Following applicable product approval, support speaker identification and program execution
• Share post-congress insights with relevant internal stakeholders

5. Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with marketing, medical, sales leadership, commercial operations, and legal/compliance partners to ensure compliant and coordinated customer engagement strategies​
• Represent the voice of the customer and external stakeholder perspective in cross-functional discussions​
• Support launch planning, account readiness initiatives, and key commercial priorities​
• Foster a collaborative approach that delivers a seamless customer experience while maintaining clear compliance standards​

Required Skills:

• Bachelor's degree in business, science, engineering, or related field. Advanced degree preferred​
• Minimum of 7 years of marketing, field sales, field marketing or Thought Leader Liaison experience, with field marketing/ Thought Leader Liaison experience preferred​
• Rare Disease and/or nephrology field-based experience required​
• Demonstrated strategic thinking and the ability to effectively collaborate and influence across diverse internal and external stakeholders​
• Strong intellectual curiosity and a commitment to continuously expanding disease-state, customer, and healthcare ecosystem knowledge​
• Exceptional listening, insight-generation, and analytical skills, with the ability to identify meaningful opportunities, synthesize complex information, and translate regional intelligence into actionable recommendations that influence strategy and compliant stakeholder engagement​
• Highly motivated, entrepreneurial self-starter with a proven ability to partner effectively with healthcare professionals, key stakeholders, and cross-functional teams​
• Ability to manage competing priorities across a large geography ​
• Travel up to 60-70%

Additional Information

Base salary offered is determined through an analytical approach utilizing a combination of factors including, but not limited to, relevant skills & experience, job location, and internal equity.

Regular employees are eligible to receive both short term and long-term incentives, including cash bonus and equity incentive opportunities, designed to reward recent achievements and recognize your future potential based on individual, business unit and company performance. 

In addition to compensation, Biogen offers a full and highly competitive range of benefits designed to support our employees' and their families physical, financial, emotional, and social well-being ; including, but not limited to:

• Medical, Dental, Vision, & Life insurances
• Fitness & Wellness programs including a fitness reimbursement 
• Short- and Long-Term Disability insurance
• A minimum of 15 days of paid vacation and an additional end-of-year shutdown time off (Dec 26-Dec 31)
• Up to 12 company paid holidays + 3 paid days off for Personal Significance 
• 80 hours of sick time per calendar year
• Paid Maternity and Parental Leave benefit 
• 401(k) program participation with company matched contributions
• Employee stock purchase plan 
• Tuition reimbursement of up to $10,000 per calendar year 
• Employee Resource Groups participation

Why Biogen?

We are a global team with a commitment to excellence, and a pioneering spirit. As a mid-sized biotechnology company, we provide the stability and resources of a well-established business while fostering an environment where individual contributions make a significant impact. Our team encompasses some of the most talented and passionate achievers who have unparalleled opportunities for learning, growth, and expanding their skills. Above all, we work together to deliver life-changing medicines, with every role playing a vital part in our mission. Caring Deeply. Achieving Excellence. Changing Lives.

At Biogen, we are committed to building on our culture of inclusion and belonging that reflects the communities where we operate and the patients we serve. We know that diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives make us a stronger and more innovative company, and we are focused on building teams where every employee feels empowered and inspired.  Read on to learn more about Biogen.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, race, color, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law. Biogen is an E-Verify Employer in the United States.

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