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Amgen
Thousand Oaks, California

Global Safety Medical Director

Medical AffairsFull-Time

Listed compensation

$257k-$347k

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about call expectations, weekend coverage, nights and shift pattern and time off.

Posted 1h ago · Verified live

Job Description

Career Category

Safety

Job Description

Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients

At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission—to serve patients living with serious illnesses—drives all that we do.

Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline and portfolio of medicines to treat heart disease, obesity and obesity-related conditions, rare diseases, inflammatory conditions and cancer.

As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives.

Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

Global Safety Officer, Medical Director, Obesity and related conditions

What You Will Do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will serve as the strategic safety leader for assigned the Obesity and related conditions therapeutic area within Amgen's global development organization. You will be accountable for the overall benefit-risk profile, safety strategy, signal management, and safety governance of clinical programs.

This role is ideal for a physician who has served as a Global Safety Officer (GSO), Clinical Safety Lead, Safety Lead Physician, or equivalent accountable safety leader for development-stage assets and has directly influenced key clinical development decisions through safety leadership.

You will establish the strategy, direction, and priorities of pharmacovigilance activities and will be accountable for the overall safety profile and safety-related decisions for assigned products.

You will lead the Safety Analysis Team (SAT), Global Safety Team (GST), and serve as a core member of the Executive Safety Committee (ESC). You will partner closely with Clinical Development, Translational Medicine, Regulatory, Biostatistics, and Medical Affairs to influence development strategy and support innovative therapies for patients with rare diseases and high unmet medical need.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the accountable physician safety leader for assigned Obesity development programs.
  • Lead global safety strategy for clinical development programs.
  • Partner with Clinical Development and Translational Medicine teams to inform dose-escalation, cohort expansion, proof-of-concept, and development decisions.
  • Provide medical safety leadership and contribute to benefit-risk evaluations throughout clinical development.

Review and interpret emerging safety data and communicate safety implications to development teams and governance committees.

Lead Safety Analysis Team (SAT), Global Safety Team (GST), and participate in Executive Safety Committee (ESC) discussions.

Review and contribute to Safety Review Committees (SRCs), Data Monitoring Committees (DMCs), and other safety governance forums.

  • Validate safety signals and lead signal detection, assessment, and risk evaluation activities.
  • Develop and maintain Core Safety Information including Core Data Sheets and informed consent safety language.
  • Prepare and review Risk Management Plans (RMPs), risk minimization strategies, and aggregate safety reports.

Lead safety review and provide strategic input into protocol development, CRF design, Statistical Analysis Plans, Clinical Study Reports, and safety monitoring plans.

Prepare and review safety sections of regulatory submissions including INDs, CTAs, BLAs, NDAs, and other global submissions.

  • Serve as the safety representative on Evidence Generation Teams and other cross-functional development teams.
  • Support regulatory inspections and inspection readiness activities.
  • Domestic and international travel up to 10%.

What We Expect of You

We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The Global Safety Medical Director we seek is a leader with these qualifications.

Basic Qualifications

  • MD or DO degree from an accredited medical school
  • AND
  • 2 years of clinical research experience and/or basic science research

Preferred Qualifications

4+ years of pharmaceutical industry experience in Drug Safety, Clinical Safety, Pharmacovigilance, or Clinical Development.

Demonstrated experience serving as a Global Safety Officer (GSO), Clinical Safety Lead, Safety Lead Physician, or equivalent accountable safety role.

Direct experience influencing clinical development through protocol development, CRF design, safety monitoring plans, dose-escalation decisions, and benefit-risk assessments.

Expertise in signal detection, signal assessment, benefit-risk evaluation, risk management, and safety governance.

Experience supporting regulatory submissions and interactions with health authorities, including INDs, CTAs, BLAs, NDAs, MAAs, and responses to regulatory questions.

Experience presenting safety assessments and recommendations to governance committees, development teams, and regulatory authorities.

  • Experience supporting Obesity clinical development programs strongly preferred.
  • Demonstrated leadership in cross-functional matrix organizations with the ability to influence development strategy and drive decision-making.
  • Experience with both clinical development and post-marketing safety activities preferred.

What You Can Expect of Us

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well-being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture, we’ll support your journey every step of the way.

The expected annual salary range for this role in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) is posted. Actual salary will vary based on several factors including but not limited to, relevant skills, experience, and qualifications.

In addition to the base salary, Amgen offers a Total Rewards Plan, based on eligibility, comprising of health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents, financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals, work/life balance, and career development opportunities that may include:

A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts

  • A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan
  • Stock-based long-term incentives

Award-winning Time-off Plans

Flexible work models where possible. Refer to the Work Location Type in the job posting to see if this applies.

Apply now and make a lasting impact with the Amgen team. careers.amgen.com

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Application Deadline

Amgen does not have an application deadline for this position; we will continue accepting applications until we receive a sufficient number or select a candidate for the position.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship for this role is not guaranteed.

As an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the world, Amgen fosters an inclusive environment of ethical, committed and highly accomplished people who respect each other and live the Amgen values to continue advancing science to serve patients. Together, we compete in the fight against serious disease.

Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer. We make all employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities, consistent with legal requirements. Please contact us to request accommodation..

Salary Range

256,606.50USD -347,173.50 USD

Requirements

Candidates must hold an MD or DO degree from an accredited medical school with at least 2 years of clinical or basic science research experience. Preferred qualifications include 4+ years of pharmaceutical industry experience in drug safety or pharmacovigilance and demonstrated leadership in accountable safety roles.

Qualifications

Education
Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
5+ years of experience

Key Skills

Medical leadershipRegulatory complianceCross-functional leadershipStrategic planning

Medical Affairs — Physician Career Context

The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$302k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $273k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Medical Affairs pay on WeekdayDoc is up 2.9% vs. the prior quarter (through Oct 2026).

What does the Medical Affairs market look like in California?
MeasureThis jobMarket
Listed pay$257k–$347kMedical Affairs median $315k (middle half $285k–$338k)18 comparable listings, Nov 2026
Cost-of-living adjusted pay~$273k in purchasing powerCalifornia index 110.7 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)
Medical Affairs listings in California38 active277 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Sign-on & loan repaymentsign-on bonusCalifornia Physician listings: 33% state a sign-on bonus (median $100k) · 30% offer loan repayment1,000 active listings, Nov 2026
Medical Affairs hiring demand#6 of 28 specialtiespostings stay open a median 69 days · 44% state a sign-on bonusWeekdayDoc Hiring Index, October 2026 · 162 postings, 36 closed
New Medical Affairs listings110 in the last 30 days94 the 30 days before (+17%)U.S., first seen on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026
Medical Affairs pay trend+2.9% vs prior quarter—through Oct 2026
Sources: WeekdayDoc live listing index, BEA Regional Price Parities (2024), WeekdayDoc Hiring Index; as of Nov 2026. Same values as the Weekday Verdict and Market Insights on this page.

Top Medical Affairs Jobs

1 matches · ranked by pay
#1

Payer & Health Systems Oncology, Medical Affairs Director (PHSO MAD) (PA, MD, Upstate NY)

MSD · Baltimore, Maryland

$210k-$331k

Work-life snapshot

median 3.0this job 1.5
Below most Medical Affairs listings for work-life

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 273 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • On-site
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About Amgen

Biotechnology Research
Thousand Oaks, CA
10,000+ employees

Benefits & Perks

Retirement and Savings Plan with company contributions
Group medical, dental, and vision coverage
Life and disability insurance
Flexible spending accounts
Discretionary annual bonus
Stock-based long-term incentives
Award-winning time-off plans
Flexible work models where possible

Living in Thousand Oaks

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$904k≈ 3.5× annual pay
Typical market rent
$3,357/mo≈ 16% of gross pay
Residents’ average commute
25 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
110.5
State income tax
Up to 13.3%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Sep 2026), Zillow market rents (Sep 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

Ratios use this listing’s gross annual pay. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.