Director, Alliance Management

Ardelyx • Waltham, MA

4d • $210,000 - $256,000

About The Position

Ardelyx is a publicly traded commercial biopharmaceutical company founded with a mission to discover, develop and commercialize innovative first-in-class medicines that meet significant unmet medical needs. Ardelyx has two commercial products approved in the United States, IBSRELA® (tenapanor) and XPHOZAH® (tenapanor). Ardelyx has agreements for the development and commercialization of tenapanor outside of the U.S. Kyowa Kirin commercializes PHOZEVEL® (tenapanor) for hyperphosphatemia in Japan. A New Drug Application for tenapanor for hyperphosphatemia has been approved in China with Fosun Pharma. Knight Therapeutics commercializes IBSRELA in Canada.
Reporting directly to the Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy, the Director of Alliance Management will manage and optimize strategic collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotech partners.
The ideal candidate has hands-on experience managing complex, multi-functional alliances, proactively resolving issues, and driving structured decision-making that leads to clear outcomes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with 8-10 years of experience in alliance management, business development, corporate development, or related roles in biotech/pharma or equivalent experience
• Proven track record managing complex, high-stakes alliances with external partners
• Demonstrated ability to drive processes that lead to decisions and results, especially in ambiguous or contentious situations that require escalation, renegotiation, or restructuring
• Strong understanding of alliance governance, contract interpretation, and cross-functional execution
• Exceptional communication, influence, and stakeholder-management skills

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary alliance lead for strategic partnerships, owning day-to-day relationship management
• Design, implement, and run alliance governance structures (JSCs, sub-teams, escalation pathways)
• Ensure decisions are made efficiently, documented clearly, and executed across both organizations
• Anticipate and surface alliance risks (operational, strategic, financial, contractual)
• Lead cross-functional problem-solving efforts to address issues that arise
• Drive discussions that result in timely decisions and measurable outcomes
• Coordinate closely with R&D, Tech Ops, Commercial, Legal, Finance, and BD teams
• Support operational execution of alliance agreements and ensure adherence to contractual obligations
• Track milestones, deliverables, and performance metrics
• Build trusted, senior-level relationships with partner counterparts
• Balance collaboration and accountability, advocating for Ardelyx’s interests while maintaining strong partnerships
• Prepare and lead executive-level communications and governance meetings
• Provide alliance insights to inform broader corporate strategy and portfolio decisions
• Support business development during deal structuring and diligence to ensure alliances are operationally sound post-signing
• Contribute to best practices, playbooks, and continuous improvement of alliance management processes

Benefits

• Ardelyx also offers a robust benefits package to employees, including a 401(k) plan with generous employer match, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, up to 12 weeks of living organ and bone marrow leave, equity incentive plans, health plans (medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision), life insurance and disability, flexible time off, annual Winter Holiday shut down, and at least 11 paid holidays.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees