Director, Market Development & Patient Journey, Rare Neurology

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

10d • $186,489 - $278,875 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Market Development & Patient Journey is the marketing leader accountable for the strategy and programs designed to reduce barriers to disease recognition, specialist referral, diagnosis, genetic testing and counseling, and connection to specialty care in a genetically defined neurological rare disease. Before approval, the Director leads compliant, unbranded disease education and diagnostic-pathway readiness, including genetic-testing and specialist-referral resources, in partnership with patient advocacy organizations. Following approval, the Director continues this work and leads branded patient and caregiver marketing while partnering with Patient Services on the support experience, using aggregate, deidentified data only.

This role also serves as the marketing team’s omnichannel capability and integration lead. The Director owns omnichannel strategy and execution for unbranded market-development and disease-education programs and, following approval, branded patient and caregiver programs. The Director also establishes shared audience-journey frameworks, channel-orchestration standards, marketing-technology and data requirements, and measurement approaches across the marketing team. The Director, Brand Strategy & HCP Engagement retains accountability for branded HCP strategy, content, and omnichannel execution.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of commercial experience in the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry, including market development, disease education, patient marketing, digital and omnichannel engagement, new-product launches, and market analysis.
• Strong leadership with exceptional communication, presentation, and business partnering abilities; MBA or relevant graduate degree preferred.
• Recent rare disease commercialization experience required; diagnostics, genetics, neurology, or diagnostic-pathway market development strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated pre-launch experience building compliant unbranded education and pathway programs, and post-approval patient marketing experience.
• Demonstrated success partnering with patient advocacy organizations under appropriate governance.
• Up to 30% travel based on business needs.

Nice To Haves

• MBA or relevant graduate degree preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategy, development, execution, and performance measurement of approved, nonpromotional, unbranded HCP disease-state peer-to-peer programs before and after approval, partnering with the TLL team on expert identification, regional educational needs, and program execution.
• Build symptom- and pathway-oriented education that helps patients, caregivers, and clinicians recognize concerning patterns and reach the appropriate specialist and testing conversation sooner.
• Define commercial requirements for genetic-testing access programs; laboratory and vendor operations, testing science, and patient-level handoff are owned by their designated functions, with marketing receiving aggregate, deidentified program measures only.
• Own the market-development and patient-journey annual plan, budget, agency and vendor execution, and aggregate performance measures in alignment with the integrated annual plan.
• Lead omnichannel strategy and execution for unbranded market-development and HCP disease-state education programs across web, search, social, media, CRM, advocacy, unbranded HCP peer-to-peer, and other approved channels. Following approval, also lead omnichannel strategy and execution for branded patient and caregiver marketing, while the Director, Brand Strategy & HCP Engagement leads branded HCP and branded peer-to-peer programs.
• Serve as the primary marketing liaison to the Omnichannel Business Partner. Translate audience and business priorities into integrated channel plans, business requirements for data and technology, execution roadmaps, and performance measures.
• Co-lead the advertising Agency of Record relationship with the Director, Brand Strategy & HCP Engagement, including integrated planning, shared ways of working, scope coordination, and agency performance. Serve as the accountable marketing lead for agency briefs, budgets, and deliverables supporting unbranded market development and disease education and, following approval, branded patient and caregiver marketing. The Brand Director remains accountable for branded HCP agency work.
• Partner with the Director, Brand Strategy & HCP Engagement and the Omnichannel Business Partner to enable branded HCP omnichannel execution, while the Brand Director retains accountability for branded HCP strategy, content, channel decisions, budget, and performance.
• Use research, advocacy insights, and aggregate data to find where people get stuck and why; pick the biggest recurring barriers, fix them with cross-functional partners, and expand what works.
• Lead the commercial response to recurring genetic-testing and specialist-referral barriers, and to recurring treatment-center connection and support barriers — patterns, never individual cases.
• Lead or support patient and caregiver advisory boards, in partnership with Patient Advocacy and other designated functions, to understand aggregate patient-journey, education, and support needs. Advisory boards are conducted for insight generation and do not involve peer-to-peer education, patient identification, or individual case management.
• Under Patient Advocacy's governance, partner with advocacy organizations to extend trusted education, referral, and support resources — amplifying and funding existing programs rather than duplicating them.
• Coordinate with National Patient Advocacy on strategy, funding governance, and content independence; grants and sponsorships follow their designated processes.
• Upon approval, lead branded patient and caregiver marketing consistent with the approved label, and partner with Patient Services on support-experience and persistence programs — designed and measured with aggregate data only.
• Partner with Medical Affairs to ensure the scientific accuracy of disease education and pathway resources.
• Partner with Market Access and HUB/Patient Services on access, patient-support requirements, and operational handoffs. HUB/Patient Services retains responsibility for individual patient cases.
• Work through the TLL team as the primary field link to Account Managers. Set national market-development and patient-journey priorities and equip TLLs with approved programs, resources, and aggregate insights.
• Before approval, enable TLLs to execute approved unbranded disease-state education and pathway programs regionally and deliver relevant aggregate insights to Account Managers for internal launch planning.
• Following approval, enable TLLs to deliver approved pathway resources, national priorities, and aggregate insights to Account Managers to inform account planning. TLLs also consolidate feedback from Account Managers and return aggregate themes to the Director to improve national programs.
• Collaborate with the Director, Brand Strategy & HCP Engagement on congress strategy and execution by contributing market-development, patient-journey, unbranded disease-education, advocacy, and omnichannel requirements. The Brand Director retains accountability for the overall congress plan, budget, and execution.
• Represent market development and the patient journey in cross-functional launch planning and coordinate agreed priorities and actions across functions.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage
• company provided basic life, accidental death & dismemberment, short-term and long-term disability insurance
• tuition reimbursement
• student loan assistance
• a generous 401(k) match
• flexible time off
• paid holidays
• paid leave programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director