Research

Commercial Research Analyst – Life Sciences

Job ID: 100325
  • San Jose
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Do you want to work on complex and pressing challenges—the kind that bring together curious, ambitious, and determined leaders who strive to become better every day? If this sounds like you, you’ve come to the right place.

Your Impact

You will join McKinsey’s San José, Costa Rica office as part of our Life Sciences Intelligence (LSi) team. This is a hybrid role, with 2-3 days per week working in-person from McKinsey’s San José office and potential travel to additional McKinsey or client offices based on project needs.
The LSi team is part of McKinsey’s global Client Capabilities Network (CCN) with more than 3,500 colleagues delivering distinctive client impact and fueled by a culture of innovation. The CCN is our platform for innovating our service to Life Sciences clients, building intellectual property, digital assets, and consistent approaches for delivering high-quality client service.
Within the CCN, our Life Sciences team is the second largest industry group in the firm, with 100+ professionals across major hubs in Boston, Lisbon, Poland, India, Japan, and China. In this role, you will have opportunities for high levels of interaction with Life Sciences consultants and the rest of the LSi team.
In this role, you will work with McKinsey colleagues and clients on Life Sciences Commercial topics, including a mix of client projects and time spent on knowledge and capability building for the Practice. You can expect to spend at least 50% of your time on market access related work, with additional work on commercial topics such as go-to-market and modern marketing.
You will be working with McKinsey colleagues and clients to scope business questions and understand, disaggregate, and prioritize their information needs in client engagements. You will problem-solve across various international, cross-functional knowledge & intelligence teams to determine the most appropriate solutions to key issues, effectively balancing quality, availability, timelines, and cost factors.
Your day-to-day work will include generating insights through a range of analytical approaches and tools (e.g., Excel, R, Generative AI tools) from licensed third-party data (e.g., patient-level claims data) and proprietary McKinsey data sets, bringing perspectives based on your personal expertise and background, and leveraging external and McKinsey-developed Generative AI tools to automate processes and derive insights. You will then communicate insights and deliver end products to clients and McKinsey consulting teams in a variety of formats, including memos, PowerPoint presentations and tables.
We believe the Life Sciences Commercial practice has exciting years ahead, as we expand our portfolio of offerings in and change the way we work to incorporate new tech-enabled capabilities. You will be core to this work, and will help to meaningfully develop and advance our portfolio of proprietary analytical and knowledge assets.
In addition to working with consulting teams and clients, you will continuously develop your knowledge and skills in Life Sciences Commercial topics. Together with LSi colleagues and Life Sciences Commercial leadership, you will analyze new topics and trends and integrate them into our existing capabilities infrastructure, or potentially develop new offerings.
You can expect extensive coaching and further development opportunities. In addition to mentoring from experienced colleagues, you will regularly take part in high-quality internal training.

Your Growth

Driving lasting impact and building long-term capabilities with our clients is not easy work. You are the kind of person who thrives in a high performance/high reward culture - doing hard things, picking yourself up when you stumble, and having the resilience to try another way forward.
In return for your drive, determination, and curiosity, we'll provide the resources, mentorship, and opportunities you need to become a stronger leader faster than you ever thought possible. Your colleagues—at all levels—will invest deeply in your development, just as much as they invest in delivering exceptional results for clients. Every day, you'll receive apprenticeship, coaching, and exposure that will accelerate your growth in ways you won’t find anywhere else.
When you join us, you will have:
  • Continuous learning: Our learning and apprenticeship culture, backed by structured programs, is all about helping you grow while creating an environment where feedback is clear, actionable, and focused on your development. The real magic happens when you take the input from others to heart and embrace the fast-paced learning experience, owning your journey.
  • A voice that matters: From day one, we value your ideas and contributions. You’ll make a tangible impact by offering innovative ideas and practical solutions, all while upholding our unwavering commitment to ethics and integrity. We not only encourage diverse perspectives, but they are critical in driving us toward the best possible outcomes.
  • Global community: With colleagues across 65+ countries and over 100 different nationalities, our firm’s diversity fuels creativity and helps us come up with the best solutions for our clients. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from exceptional colleagues with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
  • World-class benefits: On top of a competitive salary (based on your location, experience, and skills), we provide a comprehensive benefits package to enable holistic well-being for you and your family.

Your qualifications and skills

  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (e.g., business, finance, economics, biology) with a consistent outstanding academic record is required; master’s degree is a plus and preferred
  • 1+ years of experience and strong interest in pharmaceutical, MedTech, or biotech commercial topics such as launch planning, market access, commercial strategy, marketing strategy and impact tracking; in-field pharmaceutical sales experience is not required
  • Solid understanding of the U.S. Healthcare system and interest in health policy
  • Experience with crafting clear, effective, and relevant prompts for Generative AI models
  • High level of proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and data manipulation
  • Ability to accomplish work in a fast paced and dynamic work environment, including balancing multiple priorities or projects at the same time
  • Excellent problem-solving skills including the ability to structure a problem, disaggregate issues, identify root causes and recommend solutions
  • Possesses high quality standards, a commitment to completing tasks within deadlines, and the ability to work under pressure
  • Professional attitude, work standards and service orientation, and strong team orientation
  • Solid understanding of financial, economic and general business concepts and terminology
  • Demonstrated business research experience in an academic or business setting is preferred
  • Excellent written and verbal communications skills in English and Spanish
Please review the additional requirements regarding essential job functions of McKinsey colleagues.
Our unwavering commitment to integrity drives everything we do, guiding us to always act in the best interests of our clients, our people, and the communities we serve.
Industries
  • Life Sciences
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FOR U.S. APPLICANTS: McKinsey & Company is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

FOR NON-U.S. APPLICANTS: McKinsey & Company is an Equal Opportunity employer. For additional details regarding our global EEO policy and diversity initiatives, please visit our McKinsey Careers and Diversity & Inclusion sites.

Job Skill Group - N/A
Job Skill Code - CIAN - Capabilities and Insights Analyst
Function -
Industry - Life Sciences
Post to LinkedIn - Yes
Posted to LinkedIn Date - Tue Aug 05 00:00:00 GMT 2025
LinkedIn Posting City - San Jose
LinkedIn Posting State/Province -
LinkedIn Posting Country - Costa Rica
LinkedIn Job Title - Commercial Research Analyst – Life Sciences
LinkedIn Function - Health Care Provider;Research;Science
LinkedIn Industry - Hospital & Health Care;Pharmaceuticals;Research
LinkedIn Seniority Level - Entry level