What the UK Life Sciences Jobs Plan means for your career in Medical Affairs

The UK Government has published its Life Sciences Jobs Plan, a workforce and skills strategy designed to support the wider Life Sciences Sector Plan and the continued growth of the UK’s biopharma, medtech, diagnostics and digital health industries.

Much of the commentary has focused on manufacturing, regulatory affairs and clinical trials capacity. Medical Affairs has received less attention, but the numbers behind the plan describe a hiring environment that Medical Affairs teams are already experiencing and are likely to navigate throughout the rest of this decade.

The scale of the skills gap in life sciences is significant

The plan identifies a requirement for 66,000 additional highly skilled roles across life sciences by 2035, representing a 44% increase in priority occupations.

It also anticipates 52,000 workers leaving priority occupations over the same period, taking total demand to around 118,000 skilled workers over the next decade. With 83% of additional employment expected to require Level 4 qualifications or higher, the pressure on the skilled talent pipeline is clear.

Medical Affairs sits firmly within this picture; Medical Director, Medical Advisor, Senior Medical Advisor, Medical Affairs Director, Medical Affairs Manager, MSL, MSL Manager and Scientific Advisor roles all rely on the advanced scientific and clinical skills base the plan identifies as being under pressure.

The 118,000 figure is not specific to Medical Affairs, but it provides useful context for employers experiencing persistent hiring challenges. The issue is not necessarily company-specific. It reflects a wider structural pressure on the UK life sciences talent pipeline.

Work readiness could be the biggest challenge for Medical Affairs

Of the four structural challenges identified in the plan, routes into the sector and work readiness are particularly relevant to Medical Affairs. Employers report that graduates and new entrants can arrive without practical experience of regulated environments, quality systems and sector-specific processes. This closely reflects what Medical Affairs hiring managers tell us, particularly when recruiting at Medical Advisor and MSL level.

Strong scientific credentials are rarely the only consideration. Employers also need people who understand how to operate within a regulated environment, engage compliantly with stakeholders and navigate the boundaries between scientific exchange and promotional activity.

These are skills that take time to develop, and they are not always being produced through traditional education and training pathways at the pace the sector now requires.

Technology is changing the Medical Affairs skillset

The plan also highlights the challenge of ensuring training keeps pace with emerging technology, including AI-enabled diagnostics, robotics and connected devices. AI-assisted literature review, digital scientific engagement platforms and increasingly data-driven insight generation within Medical Affairs are becoming part of the wider toolkit for MSLs and Scientific Advisors.

The Government’s emphasis on digital literacy as a core competency therefore has direct relevance to Medical Affairs recruitment – for employers, digital confidence may need to become a more explicit part of the hiring criteria rather than an assumed skill.

For candidates, particularly those earlier in their MSL or Medical Advisor careers, demonstrating confidence with digital engagement tools and data-driven ways of working could increasingly differentiate them in a competitive market.

SMEs face a particular Medical Affairs challenge

The plan specifically identifies support for SMEs as a priority, recognising that smaller companies can struggle to invest in training and compete with larger organisations for specialist talent. This is particularly relevant to growing biopharma and medtech businesses building Medical Affairs functions.

A Medical Affairs Manager or Senior Medical Advisor joining a smaller organisation may be expected to establish processes, build capability and shape the function with considerably less existing infrastructure than they would find within a larger pharmaceutical company. That creates an additional challenge for employers, but also an opportunity for candidates.

For smaller companies, structured onboarding, development and retention strategies could become increasingly important in competing for specialist Medical Affairs talent.

For candidates, these roles can offer significant opportunities to influence and build a function, although they may also come with greater responsibility from day one.

The real test will be delivery

One of the more interesting aspects of the Jobs Plan is not a statistic, but its approach to accountability. Each action has been assigned a single accountable owner, with the intention of creating greater transparency around delivery. That matters because the publication of a workforce strategy is only the beginning. The real question is whether the actions translate into a stronger and more sustainable talent pipeline.

For Medical Affairs employers and professional bodies, the delivery of the plan will therefore be worth watching closely.

What does this mean for Medical Affairs hiring?

The direction of travel is consistent with what we have been hearing from Medical Affairs employers and candidates:

• Demand is growing faster than the available talent pipeline.
• Scientific qualifications alone are not always enough to demonstrate work readiness.
• Digital capability is becoming an increasingly important part of the Medical Affairs skillset.
• Smaller companies may face additional challenges in attracting and developing specialist talent.

The Life Sciences Jobs Plan gives these pressures a national workforce context, even though Medical Affairs-specific detail remains limited.

For employers, the message is to think beyond immediate hiring requirements and consider how training, development and retention can strengthen the talent pipeline over the coming years.

For candidates, building practical experience within regulated environments alongside scientific credentials could become increasingly valuable as competition for Medical Affairs talent continues to grow.

The skills gap is being recognised at a national level, bu the next question is how effectively the industry can respond to it?

Carrot specialises exclusively in Pharma, Biotech and MedTech, with expertise spanning a wide range of specialist functions across these industries.

We support clients with contingent recruitment solutions for mid to senior-level talent, across both permanent and interim appointments. Since our inception, we’ve partnered with thousands of organisations to help them build and strengthen their teams through tailored contract and permanent hiring solutions.

Our specialist market knowledge, extensive network and sector-focused approach enable us to connect organisations with the talent they need to grow.

If you are building or expanding a medical affairs team and want to talk through what a tightening talent market means for your hiring plans, get in touch.

If you are a Medical Affairs professional thinking about your next move, let’s talk! 

Looking for your next role? 

Kerry Harris

Senior Consultant