Associate Principal Strategy & Medical Affairs - Life Sciences

About Charles River Associates

Charles River Associates is a leading global consulting firm that provides economic, financial, and business management expertise to major law firms, corporations and governments around the world. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its combination of industry experience and rigorous, fact-based analysis that provide clients with clear, implementable solutions to complex business concerns.

Job Overview

CRA’s Life Sciences practice helps pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics, and medical device companies achieve optimum performance across key aspects of their business, including innovation, commercial success, organization, and reputation, all for the long-term benefit of patients, clinicians, employees, and shareholders. We work with life sciences organizations directly, as well as with their legal counsel, industry associations, government organizations, and advocacy groups from the earliest stages of research into new therapy areas, through clinical development, to the launch of therapies that will achieve commercial success and fulfill the expectations of our clients and their key stakeholders.

Joining the Life Sciences practice at CRA will provide you with a unique opportunity to develop your knowledge of the healthcare space and the global pharmaceutical industry. As an integral member of the team, you will help us deliver high-impact solutions that are implementable and make a difference. We provide professional development and mentoring that will give you access to our global practice where you can get exposure to colleagues from our global offices and gain experience across a wide range of geographies, therapeutic areas, cross-functional client teams, and projects.

Associate Principals at CRA work on project teams with senior and junior consultants on a variety of client engagements. Successful candidates are experienced project managers with knowledge of the Life Sciences market. Associate Principals responsibilities may include:

• Work closely with senior colleagues to deliver consulting projects that address specific client needs;
• Contribute to a range of medical affairs projects spanning strategic planning, advisory boards, KOL mapping, KOL insights gathering, and evidence generation planning;
• Gain exposure to working across multiple disease states and treatment landscapes;
• Apply scientific and disease state knowledge to translate complex science into clear, actionable insights;
• Independently develop a conceptual framework for consulting projects and identify/design analytic tasks;
• Serve as a project manager, including effective project planning, execution, and budget management;
• Manage mid-level client relationships, communicating project developments and presenting results;
• Supervise and direct the work of team members: oversee analyses, provide coaching/direction, and ensure integrity of results;
• Create and deliver effective presentations or reports that summarize project concept, analysis, and results;
• Contribute to business development efforts and write client proposals;
• Assist with practice development activities (training, recruiting, knowledge management).
• Work on multiple projects at the same time.

Desired Qualifications

• PhD in a life sciences field;
  • Alternately, a Master's degree in a life sciences field plus 3-4 years of relevant experience will substitute;
• Up to 4-8 years of relevant consulting or Medical Affairs experience preferred;
• Strong understanding of clinical trial design and statistics;
• Knowledge of different disease states and treatment landscapes;
• Knowledge of the role of Medical Affairs in launching a therapy;
• A strong analytic focus; Experience with business analytics or computational data analytics (“big data” or AI) is a plus;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills;
• Proven team and project management skills, including project planning, prioritization, and budgeting;
• Curious and analytic thinkers who bring creative approaches to non-standard problems;
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills for client interactions, meeting facilitation, and presentations;
• Demonstrated high level of initiative and leadership;
• Strong teamwork and collaboration capabilities;
• Business development experience;
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision;
• Occasional travel required.
• CRA is proud of our ability to managing work/life balance. However, some travel is inevitable and successful candidates will have to show a willingness and ready to travel to client locations when required.

Check out our blogs about a typical day at CRA and how you can make an impact!

To Apply

To be considered for this position, please submit the following:

• Resume – please include current address, personal email and telephone number;
• Cover letter – please describe your interest in CRA and how this role matches your goals.

Career Growth and Benefits 

• CRA’s robust skills development programs, including both formal and informal programs, encourage you to thrive as an individual and team member. Beginning with research and analysis skill building, training continues with technical training, presentation skills, internal seminars, and career mentoring and performance coaching from an assigned senior colleague. Additional leadership and collaboration opportunities exist through internal firm development activities.
• We offer a comprehensive total rewards program including a superior benefits package, wellness programming to support physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being, and in-house immigration support for foreign nationals and international business travelers.

Work Location Flexibility

CRA creates a work environment that enables our colleagues to benefit from being together in the office to best deliver on our promise of career growth, mentorship and inclusivity. At the same time, we realize that individuals realize a range of benefits when working from home periodically. We currently ask that individuals spend 4 days a week working in the office (which may include traveling to another CRA office or to a client's location), with specific days determined in coordination with your practice or team.

Responsible AI Use in Recruiting

We believe that recruiting is fundamentally a human process, and we are committed to a hiring process that is consistent, transparent, and people-focused. While AI and other technology-enabled tools help our team operate more efficiently, we strive to provide every candidate with a personalized, thoughtful, and high-touch experience. As CRA invests significant human effort to find qualified members for our teams, we expect candidates to invest corresponding human effort to learn about CRA, prepare thoughtful application materials, and engage with our interviewers. Read more about appropriate hiring manager, recruiting team, and candidate AI at CRA on our website.  

Our Commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River Associates is an equal opportunity employer (CHRA). All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

Salary and other compensation

A good-faith estimate of the annual base salary range for this position is CAD$175,000-$225,000. Starting pay within this range may vary based on factors such as education level, experience, skills, geographic location, market conditions, and other qualifications of the successful candidate. This position may be eligible for additional bonus incentive compensation. CRA offers a comprehensive benefits package, subject to eligibility requirements, which includes: medical, dental, and vision insurance; retirement plan with employer match; life and disability insurance; paid time off (vacation, sick leave, holidays); paid parental leave; wellness programs and employee assistance resources.