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Director Pharma Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Good Apple

Media Director (Pharma)

Manhattan, NY · On-site

$100K - $150K/yr

The Media Director is a senior member of the GA media practice who serves as a strategic media leader for GA and their clients. They oversee and guide the development and execution of comprehensive ...

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$30.5K

$127.8K

$206.5K

How much do director pharma jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 15, 2026, the average yearly pay for director pharma in the United States is $127,771.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $90,500.00 and $165,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Director in the pharmaceutical industry, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Director in the pharmaceutical industry, you need deep expertise in pharmaceutical sciences, regulatory knowledge, and strategic leadership, often supported by an advanced degree such as a PharmD, PhD, or MBA. Familiarity with regulatory systems (FDA, EMA), project management tools, and data analytics platforms is essential. Strong leadership, communication, and decision-making skills set exceptional directors apart by enabling effective team management and cross-functional collaboration. These skills and qualifications are crucial to drive innovation, ensure compliance, and achieve organizational goals in a highly regulated and competitive sector.

What is the difference between Director Pharma vs Regulatory Affairs Manager?

AspectDirector Pharma
Required CredentialsAdvanced degree (PhD, PharmD, or MSc), extensive industry experience
Work EnvironmentLeadership roles in pharmaceutical companies, overseeing multiple departments
Employer & Industry UsageUsed in large pharma firms, biotech companies, and contract research organizations
Common Search & ComparisonOften compared for seniority, strategic responsibilities, and leadership scope

The Director Pharma typically holds a senior leadership position responsible for strategic planning, overseeing drug development, and regulatory compliance. In contrast, a Regulatory Affairs Manager focuses on managing regulatory submissions and compliance at a departmental level. While both roles require similar credentials and work within the same industry, the Director Pharma has broader responsibilities and oversees multiple teams, whereas the Regulatory Affairs Manager concentrates on regulatory processes.

How does a Director Pharma typically collaborate with cross-functional teams within a pharmaceutical company?

A Director Pharma often works closely with teams across research and development, regulatory affairs, marketing, and sales to ensure alignment on strategic goals and project timelines. Regular meetings and collaborative planning sessions are common, as the Director must integrate scientific, commercial, and compliance perspectives into decision-making. Effective communication and leadership skills are essential for navigating diverse viewpoints and driving projects forward. This collaborative environment fosters innovation and ensures products meet both regulatory standards and market needs.

What is a Director Pharma?

A Director Pharma, also known as Director of Pharmaceutical Operations or Pharmaceutical Director, is a senior executive responsible for overseeing the strategic direction, management, and compliance of pharmaceutical operations within a company. They manage teams involved in drug development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs, and quality assurance to ensure products meet industry standards and regulations. Directors in pharma often collaborate with research, marketing, and sales departments to align business goals and maintain product pipelines. Their role is essential in ensuring the safe, efficient, and profitable creation and distribution of pharmaceutical products.
More about Director Pharma jobs
What cities are hiring for Director Pharma jobs? Cities with the most Director Pharma job openings:
What are the most commonly searched types of Pharma jobs? The most popular types of Pharma jobs are:
What states have the most Director Pharma jobs? States with the most job openings for Director Pharma jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Director Pharma jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Director Pharma jobs are:
Director Pharma jobs near you
Infographic showing various Director Pharma job openings in the United States as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 50% Full Time, 17% Temporary, and 33% Contract. Highlights an 85% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 12% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $127,771 per year, or $61.4 per hour.
Media Director (Pharma)

Media Director (Pharma)

Good Apple

Manhattan, NY • On-site

$100K - $150K/yr

Full-time

Posted 6 days ago

Job description

The Media Director is a senior member of the GA media practice who serves as a strategic media leader for GA and their clients. They oversee and guide the development and execution of comprehensive media strategies across their direct teams, and the MD is responsible for aligning these strategies within Good Apple's overall goals, ensuring effective use of media budgets, fostering collaboration across disciplines, and driving creation of bespoke media and analytics solutions that drive our client's business impact. They play a crucial role in maintaining their client partnerships, managing/negotiating vendor relationships, and their direct team skills/professional development. The MD is starting to get more involved with overall media team strategic planning, staying abreast of industry trends, and driving innovation in media campaigns across the media organization. Leadership, strategic thinking and a deep understanding of media channels and technologies are essential for success in this role.
  • Media Team Management & Leadership
    • Partners with senior media team members to build an overall successful media organization
    • Take a leadership role in the recruitment process to attract, evaluate and select top talent
      • Aim for diversity in skill sets and backgrounds to enhance team capabilities
    • Collaborate with senior media leadership to align media strategies with overall organizational goals
    • Ensures that media efforts contribute to the broader success of the organization
    • Ensure that team members are informed about the broader company vision and how their work contributes to it.
    • Cultivates a work environment that encourages positivity, creativity, collaboration and innovation
    • Conduct regular team-building activities to enhance camaraderie and communication within the team
    • Fosters a sense of unity and shared purpose through team-building initiatives
    • Defines specific, measurable, and achievable performance goals for each team member, aligned with overall departmental and organizational objectives.
    • Regularly assess team members' performance through constructive and timely reviews - provides feedback on strengths, areas for improvement and areas of outstanding contributions
    • Works collaboratively with team members to create individual development plans, career growth and opportunities for skill enhancement.
    • Identifies training needs within the team and implements professional development programs to address skill gaps and enhance overall team capabilities
    • Stays informed about industry developments and shares relevant knowledge with the team
    • Conducts regular training sessions to keep the team updated on best practices and emerging trends
    • Encourage and support team members in pursuing relevant certifications and educational opportunities that enhance individual and team expertise
    • Provides opportunities for skill development by strategically assigning tasks aligned with growth areas
    • Empowers team members to take ownership of projects, fostering a sense of accountability and autonomy.
    • Provides guidance and support while allowing space for creativity and independent decision-making.
    • Allocates resources efficiently to ensure the team's success in executing media campaigns.
    • Monitors workloads and adjusts team assignments as needed to maintain a balanced workload.
    • Collaborates with other department heads to share resources and expertise as necessary.
    • Encourage cross-functional projects to promote a holistic approach to marketing and media within the organization.
    • Address conflicts or issues within the team promptly and professionally.
    • Mediate disputes when necessary, fostering a positive and collaborative team dynamic.
    • Recognizes and celebrates team achievements, both big and small.

  • Strategic Media Leadership
    • Responsible for ensuring the team's media strategy aligns with the brand's SIs and goals
      • Collaborate with key stakeholders to analyze overall business objectives and marketing goals, to develop cross-discipline solutions
    • Align media strategies with broader organizational goals, ensuring contribution to Good Apple KPIs
      • Provides strategic guidance to align the team's efforts with broader GA goals
      • Ensures teams are adhering to overall GA media team goals - 2024 goals include scorecard based media planning, R/F measurement, migration to self-service, preferred managed service partners
    • Fiscally responsible for the media budget in partnership with the senior media team and Account
    • Leads internal cross-discipline collaboration & integration, swim lane identification and execution oversight
    • Establishes Good Apple and the media team as thought leaders internally and externally
    • Fosters an agile mindset within the media team, enabling quick adaptation to changing market conditions
    • Stays informed about media-related regulations and compliance standards - ensures that all media activities adhere to legal and ethical guidelines
    • Embraces flexibility in strategies and tactics to respond to evolving industry and client landscape
    • Creates high-level CMO level decks that show how Good Apple is driving business impact and value
    • Leads new business pitches - responsibilities include brainstorming, media strategy development, tactical slides, and pitching
    • Leads the team to develop value creating client deliverables - rebates, savings analysis, competitive analysis
    • Leads future-proofing thinking and strategic roadmap developments incorporating latest GA products and industry technology (i.e. AI)
    • Represents the organization at industry events, contributes to publications and participates in relevant speaking engagements
    • When applicable, presents the overall strategy of the media plan and larger strategic presentations - larger value-add wins (i.e. rebate, savings decks) across brands to senior level client leadership (i.e. procurement)

  • Client Partnership
    • Partners with account lead (i.e. AD) to drive client satisfaction, deliver business outcomes and to drive account/business innovation and opportunities
    • Partnership with account lead should serve as leadership example to the team with successful communication, strategic synergy, proactive, positive dialogue and continued encourage of the team to execute in support of the client's vision
    • Leads and guides client conversations to empower them with the media decisions and strategic rationale for the media decisions that drive business impact
    • Communicates persuasively tying back to business and media landscape, audience trends, client business climate, consumer/HCP insights
    • Supports and actively leads client's media education - explains media concepts, leads Media 101s, spearheads Media Day efforts and brokers publisher relations when applicable
    • Guides the team to provide the appropriate level of detail based on receiving audience - tactical information vs high-level CMO communication needs
      • Assembling the right resources/support to achieve comms needs
    • Presents to the most senior level clients (i.e. procurement, CMO)
    • Translates clients wishes/request into actionable plan for internal cross-discipline team - the what, the why, the how
    • Remains up to date with marketplace and industry trends and overall understanding and landscape of client business
    • Creates and proactively socializes POVs along with presenting to clients

  • Vendor/Partner Relationship Management
    • Negotiates larger account-wide or agency-wide partnerships with media, data, or measurement partners
    • Drives awareness and education of new channels/partners among the media team by organizing relevant learning sessions and sending out POVs/trends
    • Educates their team on the larger media landscape by organizing training sessions and sending out industry POVs
    • Promotes a culture of curiosity and continuous learning by encouraging team members to ask questions and to setup new partner learning sessions
    • Teaches the team how to negotiate using techniques like outcomes-based and value creation and how to measure negotiated savings using SQAD benchmarking data
    • Regularly audits and guides the team on how to evaluate and analyze partner proposals using a scorecard based framework
    • Responsible for making sure the team is reviewing Ts and Cs to ensure desirable payment terms, out clauses and sequential liability; instills importance of desirable Ts and Cs among internal media team
    • Responsible for escalation and resolution of partner issues, bringing senior media team members and other relevant team members along to teach/guide them on partner conflict resolution techniques
  • Media Innovation
    • Inspirational leader who motivates their team to develop transformative media solutions at all levels
    • Fosters a mindset of continuous improvement, regularly seeking feedback and identifying areas of enhancement in team processes and workflows
    • Creates frameworks, processes and structures for the team to develop media innovation ideas - meeting of the minds, cross-discipline and cross-team share-outs
    • Partners with discipline leads to ideate, detail, phase and execute opportunities that improve and make GA workflows more efficient and cost-effective → Adops solutions, PRISMA adoption, AI & automation
    • Leads key GA agency initiatives that drive differentiation in the marketplace - proprietary products marketing
    • Leads the team to develop inspirational, mind-blowing Media Days that wow and inspire the client to expand beyond their media horizons
    • Attends industry conferences and studies market trends; shares their strategic POVs on how teams could leverage it for their clients.
    • Partners with the other senior media leads on larger strategic initiatives - adops integration, video education/expansion

  • Requires minimal supervision, relies on advanced experience/judgment
  • 8+ years media planning experience and 4+ years of management experience
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Negotiation and influence skills - steeped in required industry, brand, and competitive knowledge

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