"For most of them, it will not be less hours. It will not be more stability. It will be more hours and less stability. And you need to be clear."
In this episode, I talked with Michael Zaiac, Medical Affairs Lead for Oncology across Europe and Canada at Daiichi Sankyo — a trained surgical oncologist who walked away from the operating table, moved through clinical development, bone health at P&G, GSK, and Celgene, and eventually landed at the centre of one of the biggest oncology stories in recent memory: the HER2 ADC wave. Michael has spent over 30 years hiring people in pharma and brings some of the most grounded, no-nonsense views I've come across on what the job actually demands — and what most people aren't told before they take it.
We covered the rapid build-out of Daiichi Sankyo's medical affairs team off the back of their ADC pipeline, what Michael now wishes he'd prioritized when hiring in the early days, how the function needs to reinvent itself over the next decade, and the honest conversation that rarely gets had — about hours, stability, and what life in this industry really looks like. Michael trained and studied in Berlin, has family roots in London, and brings the kind of directness you'd expect from someone who spent years making high-stakes decisions in an operating room.
Here's What You're In For
- How a surgical oncologist made the move to pharma — and what actually got him through the door
- The two core principles that have driven every career decision Michael has ever made
- The one global role he calls his "only real disaster" in the industry — and why he takes full ownership of it
- What Daiichi Sankyo's ADC platform actually does and why their iterative approach to the science changed the game
- Why hiring has always been a talent challenge — even when it looked like an execution problem
- What Michael looks for in a CV: agility, humility, and the ability to lead without authority
- The hard skills gap coming in medical affairs — data architecture, legal frameworks around data, and generative AI
- How medical affairs must evolve into a "double personalization" customer-serving function
- The honest truth about working hours, stability, and what industry life really looks like vs. what candidates are sold
- What Michael would tell his younger self: check the surgeon's ego at the door
Timestamps
02:24 – Why he left surgery and how he landed his first pharma role
05:43 – Career highlights: reshaping a compound's development, Imatinib UK market access, and building regional teams
07:47 – The global role that didn't work — and why he takes full responsibility for it
09:42 – What Daiichi Sankyo is, where it came from, and how they cracked the ADC problem
17:02 – What Michael looks for in a CV — and what he's really testing for in the interview room
22:17 – The biggest shift in pharma hiring over 30 years: from technical knowledge to agility
26:03 – The hard skill gaps coming: data literacy, AI fluency, and legal frameworks around data
28:41 – How medical affairs will evolve — and what "double personalization" means in practice
34:15 – The honest truth about working hours, stability, and what industry life actually looks like
36:25 – How companies and individuals can do better for female talent trying to climb beyond the MSL level
38:03 – What Michael would tell his younger self about ego, cooperation, and learning faster
Full episode here:
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Cy67fhHLEx4NENDBlADA3?si=178970a8539e48b3
- Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/michael-zaiac-medical-affairs-lead-for-oncology-at/id1736051162?i=1000785576424
About Michael
Michael Zaiac is the Medical Affairs Lead for Oncology across Europe and Canada at Daiichi Sankyo. He trained as a surgical oncologist, specializing in breast cancer, sarcoma, melanoma, and other malignancies. Motivated by a desire to bridge science with patient care and broaden treatment options for cancer patients, he transitioned into industry research and has since led teams of varying sizes across clinical research, development, commercial functions, and medical affairs. His work has supported the development and launch of therapies spanning oncology, immunology, cardiovascular disease, transplantation, and infectious diseases across companies, including P&G, GSK, Celgene, and now Daiichi Sankyo.
Connect with Michael:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-zaiac-45ab191/
- Daiichi Sankyo: https://www.daiichisankyo.com
About Charles
My name is Charles Spence and I lead Discera. After many years working in the life-science recruitment world, I decided to work for myself. Before doing recruitment I graduated with a biomedical degree, have worked in hospitals (including translation work in Seoul, South Korea), and also spent a year working in diabetes research in Stockholm. After doing research and travel, a career in business and science felt the most appropriate.
In 2023, I decided to launch my firm - Discera Search. A firm committed to solving the biggest talent needs of early clinical stage SME biotechs on the East Coast and DACH.
Connect with me:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-spence-clinical/
- Website: https://www.discera-search.com/
Opinions and comments expressed by the guest do not represent the company and are fully their own.
