Scientific Director

Scientific Director

Job ID: 61536 Location:

Lachen, CH

Job Level: Management Job Category: Research and Development Employment Type: Permanent position Career Level:

Become part of a vital chain and contribute to our common goal of making people’s lives better. Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing medicines sourced from human plasma and human cell lines. We are a privately-owned company, where the warmth of family meets the scale of a global organisation.

Join us in shaping our vision to provide new health solutions advancing human life.

Your main tasks and responsibilities

The Scientific Director provides high‑level scientific and strategic leadership across global clinical development activities. The role contributes to long‑term portfolio strategy, guides evidence‑generation planning, and supports key decisions that shape product development. The position leads cross‑functional scientific teams, collaborates with international stakeholders, and ensures strong oversight of external partners and governance bodies.

Strategic & Scientific Leadership

• Contribute to global clinical development strategy and long‑term planning for the product portfolio.
• Provide scientific guidance for early‑ and late‑stage development activities, including study concept discussions and regulatory‑relevant documentation.
• Represent the organization in scientific forums, cross‑functional committees, and interactions with external stakeholders.

Clinical Development Support

• Support the design and refinement of clinical study plans, ensuring scientific integrity and feasibility.
• Work closely with cross‑functional teams to enable smooth study execution and proactive issue resolution.
• Contribute to planning regarding timelines, resourcing, and budgeting for clinical activities.

Cross‑Functional & Organizational Leadership

• Provide scientific leadership to globally distributed teams and foster effective collaboration across key functions.
• Promote alignment between Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Affairs, Biometrics, and related groups to support coherent decision‑making and program execution.
• Support organizational development initiatives by refining team roles, enhancing processes, and strengthening scientific capabilities across the function.

Vendor & Collaboration Oversight

• Provide leadership in the evaluation, selection, and management of CROs and other external scientific partners.
• Ensure external partners deliver high‑quality outputs that align with program expectations and organizational standards.

Scientific Documentation & Communication

• Lead scientific review or authorship of key clinical and regulatory documents, including clinical study reports, CTD modules, development reports, and expert statements.
• Provide high‑quality scientific contributions to internal and external presentations, regulatory submissions, and strategic project communications.

Your expertise and ideal skill set

• Advanced degree in Medicine (MD), Pharmacy, Life Sciences or related field; a PhD or medical‑scientific specialization is an asset.
• Extensive experience in clinical development strategy, including early‑phase and late‑phase product development.
• Proven track record in leading global clinical programs, shaping clinical development plans, and influencing portfolio strategy.
• Strong expertise in regulatory frameworks (ICH, GCP, EMA, FDA), including hands‑on experience with regulatory submissions (IND, IMPD, CTD modules).
• Demonstrated ability to provide high‑level scientific leadership, guiding evidence generation, study design decisions, target product profile development, and benefit‑risk assessments.
• Excellent strategic thinking, analytical capability, scientific judgment, and decision‑making skills.
• Proven experience managing budgets, cost centers, and resource allocation at the departmental level.
• Ability to represent the organization in regulatory meetings, scientific conferences, advisory boards, and other senior‑level external interactions
• Fluent in English (spoken and written); additional languages are a plus.

Your department - where you make an impact

• The Clinical Research and Development (CRD) Lachen team works in the therapeutic areas of Haematology and Critical Care
• The overall responsibility of the CRD Lachen department is to develop medicines that target complex and life-threatening conditions.
• We specialize in clinical development at all stages for newly developed and already marketed products
• The department consists of 11 team members, and you will support both of the therapeutic areas while working in close collaboration with the Business Units, Medical Affairs and Regulatory Affairs.

Thrive with us

• You help save lives - Every day is meaningful as we produce life-saving medicines
• Family values - Long-term perspective for employees and relationships
• Be rewarded with market-related salary and benefits package
• You will have a high level of influence where you can make a difference and leave your footprint
• Work with skilled and fun colleagues in a relatively informal organization
• Skills development - We offer various internal and external employee and leadership trainings, trainee programs and digital solutions
  
  
  

It´s in our blood

We live diversity and stand for equal opportunities as an employer! We therefore look forward to receiving your application - regardless of age, gender, origin, sexual orientation, and religion.
Please apply in English.

Do you have any questions? Then get in touch with your contact person.

Mrs. Claudia Vignau

Octapharma AG

Seidenstrasse 2, 8853 Lachen

T: +41 55 451 21 35

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About Octapharma

Octapharma is one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines. We employ more than 11,000 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 120 countries with products across three therapeutic areas: Immunotherapy, Haematology and Critical Care. With seven R&D sites and five state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Austria, France, Germany, and Sweden, Octapharma also operates over 195 plasma donation centres across Europe and the US. With four decades of experience, we are committed to advancing patient care worldwide.