Customer Engagement Area Lead - East

Kite Pharma

3d•Remote

About The Position

The Zone Director, Cell Therapy Customer Engagement, leads and directs a regional sales organization, setting strategic direction, determining resource needs, and ensuring sustained performance aligned to enterprise and brand objectives. This role requires strong leadership, strategic planning, and effective communication to drive collaboration and deliver results in a field-based environment. Kite is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies with a goal of providing rapid, long-term durable response and eliminating the burden of chronic care. The company is focused on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) engineered cell therapies designed to empower the immune system's ability to recognize and kill tumors. Kite is based in Santa Monica, CA.

Requirements

PhD with 12+ years of experience, or Master’s degree with 12+ years of experience, or Bachelor’s degree with 14+ years of experience

Nice To Haves

Cell therapy/CAR-T commercial experience.
15+ years of pharma/biotech (or equivalent) commercial experience in Hematology/Oncology and/or Rare Disease.
5+ years of people leadership experience (hiring, development, retention, and succession planning).
Demonstrated success leading leaders and building high performing regional sales organizations at scale
Ability to translate brand strategy into zone/marketplace execution; deliver results and adjust using KPIs and insights.
Deep understanding of the Hem/Onc ecosystem (academic and community), referral dynamics, and complex treatment pathways.
Track record of leading in a matrix environment and aligning cross-functional partners to drive coordinated execution.
Demonstrated excellence in performance management and coaching (field presence, observation, feedback, and development planning).
Working knowledge of compliance, regulatory, and data/privacy requirements for field commercial roles.
Ability to travel up to 50%.

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional, matrix teams to align execution across Medical, Market Access, Marketing, Operations, and Field.
Lead priority strategic initiatives that advance organizational objectives.
Develop and execute zone business plans aligned to brand strategy with matrix partners.
Cascade strategy to Marketplace Directors; align plans, resources, and activities to territory goals.
Coach Marketplace Directors; engage key customers to remove barriers and accelerate priorities.
Provides actionable insights that directly inform national prioritization, resource allocation, and commercial investment decisions.
Build a high-performing, compliant culture that supports engagement.
Own readiness and execution for inline and future launches.
Represents the region/zone at national leadership forums; contributes to enterprise‑level commercialization strategy, organizational capability building, and future‑state planning.
Serves as a trusted thought partner to peers and senior leadership on evolving market dynamics and future commercial implications.
Anticipates industry, payer, and treatment paradigm shifts; integrates future trends into regional and national business planning
Coach and develop first-line leaders; maintain regular field presence with Marketplace Directors and teams.
Own succession, talent calibration, and readiness planning.
Builds a deep bench of promotable leaders through disciplined talent assessment, development planning, and readiness reviews.
Drive consistent performance management.
Build an inclusive culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
Oversee strategic account plans, support long-term planning and business development
Plays a key strategic leadership role in cross functional forums with Marketing, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Commercial Operations, CL&D, HR, Legal, and Compliance to ensure successful commercialization, organizational growth, customer engagement, and field effectiveness.
Standardize performance metrics and operating rhythms to drive execution.
Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and company policies.
Partners with HR and senior sales leadership to implement and continuously evolve the customer experience career pathway; develops future regional, zone, and enterprise sales leaders
Align and prioritize ATC expansion with the Head of Customer Engagement and Market Access leadership.
Support business development by engaging system leaders and identifying new ATC opportunities.
Ensure ongoing compliance with all laws, regulations, and company policies; confirm required training is completed and current.