Medical Science Liaison, UK & Ireland

Company Description

Santen is a specialized company with a proud 130-year heritage focused exclusively on eye health. As a Japan-originated, global company with our footprint in over 60 countries and regions, our mission is to provide essential and significant value to patients and society through our products and services created from our expertise in ophthalmology and from the patient’s perspective.

Job Description

As a Medical Science Liaison (MSL), you will act as a field-based scientific expert and a trusted, non-promotional partner to healthcare professionals, scientific experts and other relevant healthcare stakeholders.

You will facilitate high-quality, peer-to-peer scientific exchange, develop meaningful scientific relationships and generate actionable medical insights that contribute to Medical Affairs strategy, evidence generation and improved patient care. You will support Medical Affairs priorities throughout the product lifecycle, from pipeline and pre-launch through launch and lifecycle management.

What you will do

• High-level Scientific Exchange & External Partnerships: Identify and engage relevant scientific experts and healthcare stakeholders, building trusted, sustainable relationships and delivering balanced, evidence-based, non-promotional scientific exchange, including responding to unsolicited medical and scientific enquiries.
• Medical Insight Generation: Generate, capture and communicate actionable medical and scientific insights from external engagements, congresses and the healthcare environment, identifying unmet needs, evidence gaps and emerging trends to inform Medical Affairs priorities and support appropriate medical actions.
• Medical Strategy Implementation & Field Execution: Translate Medical Affairs priorities into effective field medical activities, prioritising stakeholder engagement according to scientific needs and potential medical impact, while contributing field insights to strategy development and monitoring activity effectiveness.
• Evidence Generation & Clinical Research: Identify evidence gaps and research opportunities, support the identification of investigators and research sites, and contribute to Santen-sponsored studies, observational research, Real-World Evidence initiatives, investigator-initiated research and scientific publications within your defined responsibilities.
• Congresses & Scientific Intelligence: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of scientific literature, treatment guidelines and clinical developments, participate in relevant scientific congresses, and capture and communicate key scientific developments and stakeholder insights internally.
• Medical Education & Scientific Capability: Deliver scientific presentations and educational activities, support the development and review of Medical Affairs materials, contribute to internal scientific training and knowledge sharing, and continuously develop your therapeutic and scientific expertise.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborate with Medical Affairs and relevant cross-functional teams, sharing scientific and field perspectives while maintaining clear boundaries between non-promotional Medical Affairs activities and Commercial activities.
• Compliance, Governance & Operational Excellence:Ensure all activities comply with applicable laws, regulations, industry codes and Santen policies, maintaining scientific independence, reporting adverse events and product quality complaints, completing required documentation and training, and managing territory activities and approved digital tools responsibly.

Qualifications

What you will bring to the role

Education

• An advanced university degree in Life Sciences, Medicine, Pharmacy or another relevant scientific discipline.
• An MD, PharmD, PhD or equivalent advanced scientific qualification would be an advantage.

Experience

• At least 3 years of experience in an MSL or field-based Medical Affairs role within the pharmaceutical industry (ophthalmology experience preferred).
• A proven ability to interpret, critically evaluate and communicate complex scientific and clinical information.
• Experience engaging with healthcare professionals, scientific experts or other relevant healthcare stakeholders.
• Experience in ophthalmology is desirable, although candidates with strong scientific backgrounds and the ability to develop therapeutic-area expertise will also be considered.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong scientific knowledge and the ability to translate complex clinical evidence into clear, relevant scientific discussions.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the credibility to engage confidently with senior healthcare professionals and scientific experts.
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement capabilities.
• Analytical mindset and the ability to identify meaningful medical insights and translate them into actionable recommendations.
• Strategic thinking, effective planning and strong organisational skills.
• Ability to work independently, manage priorities and take ownership of field activities.
• Fluent English.

Ready to make a difference?

Apply today and help us shape the future of eye health.

What we offer:

• Competitive Salary: A market‑aligned base salary starting from £62,140 – £85,440, depending on experience and location.

Additional Information

Grow your career at Santen A career at Santen is an opportunity to make a difference. We aspire to contribute to the realization of “Happiness with Vision” by providing eye health products and services to patients, consumers, and medical professionals around the world. Guided by our CORE PRINCIPLE, “Tenki ni sanyo suru”, Santen is engaged in the global research & development, manufacturing, and sales and marketing of pharmaceutical products in ophthalmology. We have team members around the world using their diverse talents to unlock new modalities and drive innovations for patient outcomes, education and treatment. At Santen, we believe in empowering all our team members with flexible ways of working and a highly inclusive work environment.

We are committed to building diverse teams and ensuring a safe and inclusive physical and virtual workplace for every one of our team members.

If you require any kind of accommodation during our recruitment process, please let the recruiter from our team know.