Executive Director, Field Force Effectiveness

Ionis•Carlsbad, CA

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Executive Director of Field Force Effectiveness is a high-visibility leadership role that shapes how Ionis’ field organization engages patients, providers, and stakeholders as our commercial portfolio scales. The Executive Director of Field Force Effectiveness will lead the strategic design and enablement of Ionis' field engagement model across the commercial portfolio. This role translates commercial strategy, brand priorities, and omnichannel direction into a cohesive field execution plan — defining how the organization segments and targets customers, structures and deploys its field teams, equips them to engage, and measures whether that engagement delivers results. It oversees the field effectiveness and field operations functions, encompassing segmentation and targeting strategy, field sizing and alignment, deployment design, incentive compensation strategy, account planning, and the operational infrastructure that sustains field execution at scale. The role partners closely with brand, sales, market access. patient services, omnichannel, commercial effectiveness, IT, and field leadership to ensure field plans are executed with precision and adapted as the portfolio evolves. The ideal candidate will bring a strategic mindset, deep field effectiveness expertise, strong analytical rigor, and the ability to influence and align stakeholders at all levels of the organization. Success in this role requires a deep commitment to collaboration, effective stakeholder management, and the ability to tell a compelling story about the team’s strategy and impact.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree required, ideally in a quantitative or business field (e.g., Economics, Statistics, Business, Health Sciences, Life Sciences); MBA or other advanced degree preferred
At least 18+ years of combined experience in commercial operations, field force effectiveness, sales operations, or related functions in biotech/pharma or relevant professional services; experience in a launch or high-growth environment preferred
Demonstrated ownership of core field effectiveness disciplines at enterprise scale, including segmentation and targeting, field sizing and alignment, deployment design, and incentive compensation strategy
Track record of partnering with brand and sales leadership as a strategic peer, shaping go-to-market decisions rather than solely executing them
Proven success leading through significant organizational scale-up, launch, or transformation, with evidence of building processes and governance that sustained growth
Strong command of commercial data and analytics, including HCP and account-level data and field performance measurement, with the ability to translate complex analysis into a defensible recommendation
Proficiency with CRM and analytics platforms (e.g., Veeva, Salesforce, Tableau, Power BI) sufficient to shape a capability roadmap and challenge technical tradeoffs
Exceptional communication and storytelling skills, with ability to influence and align stakeholders at all levels
Demonstrated leadership experience and a track record of building and leading teams, effectively partnering across functions to gain alignment, and improving business performance
Knowledge of compliance and privacy considerations governing field promotion and healthcare data use

Nice To Haves

Rare disease, specialty, or orphan drug experience preferred, including familiarity with small-population targeting and account-based engagement models

Responsibilities

Define and lead Ionis' field engagement model across the commercial portfolio, establishing how each brand engages its customers, which channels carry which messages, and how personal and non-personal promotion reinforce one another
Serve as the senior field effectiveness partner to brand and sales leadership, shaping go-to-market strategy from planning through in-market execution and ensuring field implications are addressed in commercial planning
Direct customer segmentation and targeting strategy, setting the analytical requirement and business rules that determine which customers the field prioritizes and at what engagement frequency
Lead field sizing, structure, and alignment across the portfolio, developing deployment recommendations with explicit rationale tying field investment and territory design to commercial opportunity
Support launch planning and readiness by defining field readiness standards, overseeing territory design and targeting for newly deployed teams, and holding cross-functional partners accountable to launch milestones
Develop a multi-year roadmap for field effectiveness capabilities, evolving the operating model to support portfolio growth, new therapeutic entries, and increasing go-to-market complexity
Advise commercial leadership on field investment tradeoffs, bringing analytically grounded recommendations on where to add, reallocate, or hold field resources
Oversee incentive compensation strategy, design, and governance, ensuring plans motivate the right behaviors, withstand audit, and scale across all field teams
Own account planning strategy and methodology, ensuring field teams operate against consistent, data-informed account plans across the portfolio
Oversee field operations infrastructure — including fleet, travel and expense, and field meeting operational support — maintaining the reliability the field depends on
Build the operating processes, governance, and service standards required to scale field execution as the commercial organization grows, and redesign workflows that won’t scale with growing complexity
Ensure the field technology and CRM roadmap supports the engagement model, partnering with IT and CRM so targeting, call planning, and account planning capabilities are delivered inside field workflows
Oversee targeted performance analysis across field force activity, territory performance, and incentive compensation outcomes to inform execution and resource allocation
Manage vendor partnerships supporting field effectiveness and field operations, ensuring fit-for-purpose capabilities aligned with business needs
Lead and develop a high-performing team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement
Lead annual budget and capacity planning for the Field Force Effectiveness team
Establish the performance framework for field effectiveness — the metrics, dashboards, and operating review cadence by which field productivity is assessed — in collaboration with senior commercial leaders
Drive adoption and change management for new tools, processes, and engagement models, treating field adoption as a measured outcome rather than a communication exercise
Partner with Commercial & Omnichannel Effectiveness, Omnichannel Strategy, Learning & Development, and IT to ensure an aligned approach to analytics, reporting, and field enablement, with clear ownership boundaries across functions
Represent the Field Force Effectiveness team with senior leaders, providing compelling narratives that translate field performance data into strategic insight and action
Promote a data-driven culture by embedding actionable field performance insights in commercial decision-making