Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Neurology Rare Disease at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Prince[...]

Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Neurology Rare Disease at Otsuka Pharmaceutical. Princeton, NJ.

Otsuka is committed to pioneering advancements in rare conditions with high unmet needs. Our dedication to innovation continues to drive the development of groundbreaking therapeutics, transforming treatment possibilities. We are now expanding our focus to ultra-rare neurological conditions.

Job Summary

The Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Neurology Rare Disease will be responsible for leading the brand strategy and commercial tactical planning and execution for our upcoming Rare Disease, Neurology launch. This role involves leading HCP and patient engagement, understanding the evolving complex journey to diagnosis, leading account teams, and aligning with the broader cross functional organization.

This role provides strategic and operational guidance, proactively coaching and managing account team leadership to ensure no appropriate patient is left behind and deliver on business goals.

The individual will oversee development of national and regional business planning with the objective of meeting or exceeding Net Sales, Operating Income, and engagement targets. The Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Neurology Rare Disease will also ensure successful implementation of action plans and objectives where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth knowledge of our customers, our products, the competitive environment, technology and economic or social implications of organizational activities.

Purpose

The Executive Director, Sales and Marketing, Neurology Rare Disease is responsible for developing and executing the marketing and sales strategy in support of the strategic imperatives of the brand. This role will lead a team of marketing and customer engagement leaders and oversee the optimization of appropriate patient identification—via educating for more rapid diagnosis including genetic testing, sales, market share, revenue growth, and profitability, both in the short and long term.

Job Description

1. Lead the development and execution of brand strategy

• Build relationships with patient associations and physicians to drive accuracy and urgency in diagnosis
• Lead the development of focused education and support material for the account engagement teams and their respective accounts
• Proactively identify customer needs and address key insights
• Ensure that marketing processes, programs, and internal reports are developed, implemented, and effectively administered to be consistent with corporate guidance and all regulatory, legal, and ethical guidelines
• Foster strong partnerships with Medical Affairs, Clinical Development, Market Access, Market Research, Regulatory, Legal, and other functions in developing brand strategy, tactics, and resources
• Partner with the Market Access Strategy Team to support reimbursement policy evaluation and action
• Work with Finance to monitor spending against budget/forecast and report performance results as requested; manage all projects and responsibilities to agreed-upon project timelines, budgets, and scope

2. Oversee the development and execution of business strategies for account team leads to deliver the strategic vision and regional priorities to improve the customer experience, enhance patient outcomes and deliver on business opportunities

• Shape the regional business plans in collaboration with account team leads, commercial leaders (Marketing, Customer Engagement Operations) and other cross-functional leadership (Field Medical, Market Access, Patient Support)
• In conjunction with the account team leads, regularly evaluate KPIs and business results, analyze sales and customer trends, and develop strategic plans for the development and administration of business forecasts and trends that optimally align to the local customer ecosystems resulting in increased customer satisfaction and business performance
• Develop strategic plans, in partnership with the Rare Disease BU Head, to engage in new ways of engaging the customer across multiple functional areas, and develop innovative approaches to meet customers’ needs optimally and compliantly

3. Develop business strategies which lead to revenue growth and a consistent and optimized customer experience

• Provide strategic direction to the account team leads and ensure satisfactory execution of business plans, including net sales and OPEX metrics (e.g., headcount, IC, promotional programs, P&L)
• Drive operational best practices using tools and technologies to support business opportunities that are adapted to the local needs of customers
• Provide consistent coaching and development to field sales and field operations leadership by identifying the unique needs of the individual and situation to maximize effectiveness, drive accountability and ensure optimal investment and return on resources including people and revenue
• Champion the development and introduction of approaches to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of customer facing ways of working
• Ensure effective tracking against key execution metrics

4. Support the achievement of wider business and commercial objectives

• Establish productive relationships with external and internal stakeholders to facilitate effective delivery of the strategy and business plan to maximize access and benefits to patients and improve patient health outcomes
• Motivate, recognize and reward individual and team achievements utilizing bonuses, recognition programs, and personal recognition to promote and reinforce high performance
• In collaboration with the Rare Disease BU Head, establish revenue and profit goals and that are consistent with the organization’s long-term strategic objectives
• Working closely with the Rare Disease BU Head, generate plans to develop the Rare Disease Sales and Marketing organization including key high potential talent ensuring a robust talent pipeline and succession planning

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in a business, scientific, or analytical discipline, such as marketing, pharmacology, biology, engineering or math; MBA or other related graduate degree preferred
• 15+ years of cross-functional industry experience in commercial life sciences (pharma or biotechnology) or related industry; engaging with key healthcare ecosystem players (e.g., payers, health systems) is required
• 10+ years of experience in pharmaceutical marketing, product management, or a related industry
• 5+ years of experience in rare disease marketing or product management required
• Marketing or sales experience with an asset that requires genetic testing before treatment and Early Access Programs highly desirable
• Previous account management experience, including developing and implementing account plans for various health ecosystem players (e.g., centers of excellence, health system or hospital), is a strong plus
• Broad and deep understanding of commercialization of infused therapies, buy-and -bill therapies preferred
• Previous experience building a positive, accountable, highly engaged culture
• Ability to work in a complex multi-faceted environment, including the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources to generate insights and identify underlying patterns and themes
• Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy in a dynamic ambiguous environment undergoing transformation
• Ability to coordinate a cross-functional team, align them to a common vision and break down boundaries to facilitate high levels of collaboration to bring the best of Otsuka to our customers
• Ability to develop strategy in a complex stakeholder environment, including contracting strategy, administration and pull through
• Previous experience managing a complex P&L demonstrating strong financial acumen
• Sophisticated skills for coaching, training and/or mentoring peers or others as assigned; helping such others to better meet or exceed their goals and achieve their full potential in role
• Previous field sales management and/or marketing experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or related industry
• Previous experience leading broad organizational change initiatives leading to improved performance
• Strong understanding of industry legal, regulatory and compliance landscape