Our Vision of the role

The VP,  Commercial Excellence and Operations is a member of the US Commercial Leadership Team with US corporate-level responsibilities and direct leadership of a cross-functional team of employees.  This role is responsible for building and leading a high-performing commercial excellence function to support the Company’s first US launch as a commercial phase company in 1H 2021, and for preparing Zealand Pharma for multiple potential future launches in metabolic and GI specialty and rare disease areas over the next 5 years. 

The position will report to the President, Zealand Pharma US and will have a substantial role in ensuring essential commercial capabilities are in place to actively monitor and manage performance of in-line and launch products and also contribute to the development of the 3-5 year US Commercial Strategy and plans.  Direct functional leadership responsibilities include Commercial Analytics and Decision Support, Commercial Operations, Training and Employee Development, and Digital/Omni-Channel Marketing & Technology.

The location of this position is in Boston, MA in the US Headquarters which is located in the Seaport area.

Responsibilities Include:

·       Serve as an member of the US Commercial Leadership Team and contribute to the development and execution of the US commercial, operational and organizational strategies and plans

·       Build a diverse and high performing team of inspired employees in the Commercial Excellence and Operations function; integrate the cross-functional efforts of people and teams so that they work as collaborative partners with their peers in the home office and the field

·       Build, activate, and optimize US commercial capabilities to support excellence in planning and execution of sales, marketing, market access, patient support and other functions as required.

·       Stand up business planning, forecasting, and performance monitoring, reporting and management capabiliites that enable leadership to effectively manage the business and achieve its goals and objectives

·       Build best in class digital and omni-channel marketing capabilities that leverage data and insights to inform, optimize and modernize the promotional mix with a high ROI

·       Partner with Sales Leadership to ensure that the sales functions have the key enabling capabiliites in place to achieve business performance objectives including, CRM/Dashboard, Reporting, Forecasting, Call Planning, and Incentive Compensation

·       Develop a world class Commercial Training and Employee Development function to ensure a strong and compliant commercial launch and support the ongoing growth and development of the US employee base

·       Partner with patient support functions to ensure that key systems, data, and training are in place to effectively and compliantly enable patient support operations

·       Define and manage the annual brand strategy and tactical planning process; define the planning calendar and overall process, develop and train on the supportive tools and templates; ensure that teams have the insights and data needed to inform decisions

·       Partner with Technical Operations to ensure alignment with demand forecast, inventory expectations, and overall Ex-Factory shipment expectations.

·       Design and resource the overall Commercial Operations model and supportive resources and capabilities so that they are resilient, flexible, and sustainable

·       Effectively manage external vendors and partnerships to ensure high quality and timely service delivery and compliance.

 

What you will need to be successful

·       Familiarity with “start-up” environments and ability to simultaneously think big picture and strategically, but also get involved in day to day details and execution.

·       Ability to oversee a commercial operations department that is comprised of diverse functions and teams; must have the agility to operate as a general manager of a broad department with multiple team interdependencies

·       Ensuring that the people and teams within the department are embedded as partners with the leaders and teams that they are intended to support

·       Being a  bold leader who can maintain an objective, fact-based position around the performance of the business and the teams and has the courage to confront and resolve issues impacting performance with executive-level peers

·       Discipline in project planning and workstream approaches, developing relationships with stakeholders across the organization to ensure alignment on insights

·       Education BA or BS, in Finance, Data Analytics, or Related Business Fields

·       10+ years in the Pharmaceutical / Biotech Industry which includes significant experience in multiple areas within the commercial operation function and / or in areas where the functions directly supports (e.g. marketing leadership, sales leadership, data and analytics, etc)

·       Experience with 3rd party pharmaceutical data (e.g., IMS, Symphony Health) and basic understanding of claims data and managed care data is preferred

·       Experience in Vendor Management