Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million.
At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them.
Our tenacious, passionate employees' challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.
This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?
Job Title: Sr. Medical Science Liaison (Sr. MSL)
Department: Field Medical Affairs
Reports To: Director, Field Medical Team
Location: Mountain Central/Plains/Virtual
Job Summary
This hybrid position combines the core responsibilities of a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) with select home-office medical operations and excellence initiatives.
The identified MSL will support a larger area in the Mountain and Plains region through a mix of travel to onsite locations, as well as remote support.
MSL Responsibilities
- Serve as a field-based medical expert, educating healthcare professionals and internal teams on the science and safe use of Akebia's products.
- Build and maintain collaborative relationships with key stakeholders.
- Gather and share actionable insights from the field to help identify scientific and educational gaps.
Medical Operations Excellence Responsibilities
- Act as a Field-Home Office liaison, contributing to strategic projects and analyses.
- Support rapid responses to changes in the field, enabling tactical pivots and adjustments to key performance indicators.
Essential Functions and Duties
- Acquire and maintain an advanced level of clinical-scientific knowledge in anemia and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and other disease states(s) related to Akebia's products. Maintain a basic level of clinical-scientific knowledge about the broader portfolio of Akebia's products and the diseases they treat.
- Identify and engage appropriate Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) within the renal/nephrology space in objective-based interactions to develop professional relationships and exchange clinical-scientific information relevant to Akebia's products and areas of therapeutic interest.
- Accurately and compliantly interpret and disseminate balanced and factual scientific, clinical, and health economic data. Gather and evaluate new information as it applies to Akebia's products and areas of therapeutic interest.
- Gather, translate, and communicate actionable, strategy-aligned insights from scientific, educational, and conference interactions.
- Respond to unsolicited requests regarding any Investigator Sponsored Study (ISS) within the ISS program. Support ISS submissions through internal review and approval processes. Monitor and communicate progress for those ISSs approved and supported.
- Deliver approved educational programs to relevant healthcare audiences (e.g. HCPs, Managed Care Organizations, Dialysis Organizations (DOs), Specialty Pharmacies, etc.).
- Collaborate with Akebia's clinical development team to coordinate and optimize educational and research support for sites/investigators participating in Akebia's clinical trials.
- Identify educational needs within the medical community around anemia in CKD management.
- Adhere to all regulatory and compliance guidelines and company policies in all aspects of scientific dissemination of information, including responses to unsolicited requests for medical information.
- Attend scientific and medical meetings.
As needed:
- Support analysis of HCP interaction data collected from the field
- Cross-functional strategy pull-through
- Data gap mapping
Skills and Experience
Basic Qualifications:
- Advanced clinical or medical degree (MD, PharmD, PhD, NP, PA or equivalent)
- 3+ years of MSL experience required
- Strong clinical and pharmaceutical background
- Strong verbal and written communication and presentation skills
- Excellent organizational skills
- Excellent strategic thinking, negotiation abilities, and problem-solving
- Ability to work independently as well as cross functionally
- Demonstrated ability to independently work under pressure in a compliant and highly regulated environment
- Travel up to 60%
- Live within 50-minute drive to an international airport
Preferred Qualifications, not required:
- Experience with nephrology, kidney disease and dialysis
- Advanced knowledge and experience within the Dialysis Organizations (DOs)
Compensation:
Targeted Base: $174,372 - $215,400
*Base Compensation for this role will depend on a number of factors including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience, and may fall outside of the range shown. Base pay is only one component of the company's total rewards package, all regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or the incentive compensation program (if applicable), as well as equity. Additional benefits include health care, vision, dental, retirement, PTO, etc.
Are you an Akebian?
An Akebian is curious, empathetic, and values making connections to people and ideas. Akebian's aren't afraid of diving in and owning a process or a problem, because we all want to deliver a great solution. Akebian's believe that we are better together because we are all working toward a common purpose - to better the life of each person impacted by kidney disease. Want to learn more about what it means to be an Akebian? Visit our website: www.akebia.com
Akebia Therapeutics
Apr 14, 2026