Director, Patient Access & Experience Field Team (Remote)

Denali Therapeutics•South San Francisco, CA

27d•$204,000 - $265,000•Remote

About The Position

Neurodegenerative diseases are one of the largest medical challenges of our time. Denali Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing breakthrough therapies for neurodegenerative diseases through our deep commitment to degeneration biology and principles of translational medicine. Denali is founded on the collaboration of leading scientists, industry experts, and investors who share the vision that scientific discovery energetically applied to translational medicine is the key to delivering effective therapies to patients. We invite you to consider an opportunity with Denali to help achieve our goal of delivering meaningful therapeutics to patients. The Director, Field Patient Access & Experience will lead Denali’s field-based patient support organization, ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience for patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and office staff throughout the treatment journey. Serving as the bridge between patient support strategy and execution, this role translates Patient Services programs into meaningful engagement and support outcomes. The Director will lead the Patient Access & Experience team, drive execution excellence, establish field engagement standards, and build capabilities to support future growth. As a leader in a lean and evolving organization, this individual will balance strategic leadership with hands-on involvement, supporting complex patient and provider situations, managing escalations, and addressing operational challenges. The role is ultimately accountable for delivering Patient Access & Experience services effectively, consistently, and in alignment with Denali’s patient-centered values.

Requirements

BS/BA required; advanced degree preferred.
Typically 8 plus years of experience in pharmaceutical/biotech patient support, patient access, field education, reimbursement, specialty pharmacy, patient & customer experience, or related healthcare functions.
Minimum 5 years of leadership experience managing field-based, patient-facing, or patient support teams.
Proven track record building, leading, and developing high-performing teams.
Demonstrated experience supporting patient access, reimbursement, patient services, specialty pharmacy, or related functions.
Strong leadership, coaching, and talent development capabilities.
Deep understanding of patient support programs and patient experience principles.
Strong understanding of U.S. payer systems, including Commercial, Medicaid, and Medicare (Part B and Part D), and medical vs. pharmacy benefit design
Ability to identify and navigate patient access challenges through effective collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
Strong communication, stakeholder management, and collaboration skills.
Ability to leverage customer insights to drive strategic and operational improvements.
Demonstrated ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution in a dynamic launch environment.

Nice To Haves

Experience in rare disease, pediatrics and complex therapies preferred; with a demonstrated passion for patient-centricity and customer-experience
Product launch experience and experience supporting specialty, rare disease, and/or complex therapies preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead, develop, and coach a high-performing team of Patient Access & Experience field members and reimbursement specialists.
Foster a culture of patient-centricity, accountability, collaboration, and service excellence.
Support workforce planning, territory alignment, resource deployment, and workload management strategies.
Build and evolve Patient Access & Experience capabilities to support current needs, future portfolio growth, and evolving patient support models.
Own the delivery of Denali's Patient Access & Experience model across patient-facing support resources.
Serve as a visible leader in the field, partnering alongside team and field partners to support patients, families, providers, key business initiatives, and support complex patient and provider situations and escalations.
Establish standards and best practices for field-based patient access support across patients, caregivers, providers, and office staff.
Develop field engagement approaches, tools, and resources in partnership with cross-functional stakeholders.
Monitor experience trends and identify opportunities to improve service quality, consistency, and engagement.
Partner closely with Market Access, Sales, Marketing, Medical Affairs, Patient Advocacy, Legal, Compliance, and Commercial Operations.
Represent field execution and patient experience perspectives in cross-functional planning and governance discussions.
Support commercialization planning and future portfolio readiness through development of field execution strategies and capabilities.