Senior Director, Commercial Distribution

Latigo Bio•San Francisco, CA

13d•$250,000 - $270,000

About The Position

Latigo Biotherapeutics is seeking an experienced and hands-on Senior Director, Commercial Distribution to establish and lead the commercial distribution capability for the company’s drug products from pre-launch planning through ongoing commercialization. This leader will own the overarching distribution strategy, third-party logistics (3PL) network, order-to-cash operating model, channel data, distribution licensing readiness, trading-partner integrations, and day-to-day distribution operations. The role will work in close partnership with Commercial, Market Access, Finance/FP&A, Accounting, Quality, Legal, IT, Patient Services, and the Technical Operations/Supply Chain. The successful candidate will build practical, scalable processes that support reliable product availability, accurate financial and channel data, compliant distribution, and a strong customer experience in a lean biotechnology environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Business, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
Minimum 12 years of progressive pharmaceutical or biotechnology experience, including substantial commercial distribution, trade operations, or launch-readiness responsibility.
Demonstrated experience supporting at least one successful U.S. pharmaceutical product launch with direct accountability for commercial distribution readiness.
Proven experience selecting, contracting, implementing, and managing 3PL providers and working with wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, and data vendors.
Direct experience with order-to-cash processes, customer service oversight, returns, chargebacks, gross-to-net inputs, channel inventory, and financial close coordination.
Experience establishing and using channel-data feeds to inform demand forecasts, inventory decisions, IBP/S&OP, and financial planning.
Strong working knowledge of state licensing, DSCSA, GDP, serialization, traceability, and pharmaceutical distribution compliance.
Ability to translate distribution requirements into effective EDI, system, master-data, integration, reporting, and exception-management solutions.
Demonstrated success working across Commercial, Market Access, Finance/FP&A, Accounting, Quality, Legal, IT, Patient Services, and Technical Operations.
Excellent vendor management, negotiation, analytical, executive communication, and decision-making skills, with the ability to build fit-for-purpose capabilities in a lean environment.
Ability to travel approximately 20% of the time to support 3PL, wholesaler, CDMO, and other trading-partner site visits, business reviews, and launch-readiness activities.

Nice To Haves

Experience launching products through national wholesale and broad retail pharmacy channels.
Experience in a pre-commercial or emerging biotechnology company preparing for its first product launch.
Experience with specialty pharmacy, specialty distribution, hub services, free-goods/sample programs, or patient-support integration.
Experience with ERP, order-management, chargeback, gross-to-net, channel-data, or commercial analytics platforms.
APICS/ASCM certification such as CPIM or CSCP, and/or PMP certification.
Experience building or scaling a commercial distribution or trade-operations team.

Responsibilities

Own the overarching U.S. commercial distribution strategy for the company’s commercial products in close consultation with Commercial and Market Access, including channel design, product flow, service model, and scalability requirements.
Lead distribution launch readiness across internal functions and external partners, including critical-path activities, dependencies, risk identification, mitigation, and executive-level status reporting.
Design and implement the distribution network spanning the manufacturer, packager, 3PL, wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, and other dispensing pathways as appropriate.
Coordinate trading-partner onboarding, master-data readiness, mock-order and end-to-end transaction testing, launch inventory positioning, Day-1 execution, and post-launch stabilization.
Establish distribution governance, decision rights, SOPs, service expectations, escalation pathways, and business continuity plans.
Lead the 3PL lifecycle from RFP development and selection through due diligence, contracting, implementation, qualification, launch, and ongoing operational management.
Establish and manage relationships and agreements with wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, transportation providers, data vendors, and other trade partners in collaboration with Market Access, Finance, Legal, and Quality.
Oversee day-to-day distribution operations, including order fulfillment, inventory visibility, shipment status, returns, replacements, recalls, exceptions, and service escalations.
Define partner KPIs, service-level expectations, scorecards, business reviews, issue-management processes, and corrective actions.
Continuously evaluate the network and recommend operational adjustments as volume, channel strategy, and business needs evolve.
Serve as business process owner for order-to-cash, ensuring aligned execution across customer onboarding, ordering, allocation, fulfillment, invoicing interfaces, credit and collections coordination, deductions, returns, and reconciliation support.
Ensure close operational alignment among IBP/S&OP, demand forecasting, order activity, and channel inventory analytics.
Coordinate with Accounting and Finance/FP&A on period-end close activities, gross-to-net estimates, reserves, chargebacks, rebates, distributor fees, returns, deductions, and related reconciliations.
Oversee customer service processes for product availability inquiries, order management, issue resolution, returns, replacements, and escalations.
Develop and maintain trade policies covering ordering, allocation, returns, recalls, replacements, customer onboarding, and channel inventory management.
Own aggregation, validation, governance, and interpretation of channel data needed to support IBP/S&OP, forecasts, inventory decisions, financial planning, and corporate decision-making.
Partner with IT, Finance, Commercial Operations, and external vendors to implement and support EDI connectivity and trading-partner integrations for orders, shipments, inventory, sales, chargebacks, and related data flows.
Define business requirements, master-data needs, controls, exception-management processes, user acceptance testing, reporting, and operational support requirements.
Establish actionable dashboards for order fulfillment, channel inventory, customer service, partner performance, returns, chargebacks, distribution exceptions, and launch readiness.
Analyze trends and exceptions, identify root causes, and lead cross-functional corrective actions and continuous improvement.
Lead operational readiness for manufacturer and CMO state licensing required to support wholesale and retail distribution, beginning sufficiently early to meet launch timing.
Partner with Legal, Quality, Regulatory, and external specialists to maintain applicable licenses, registrations, renewals, and distribution records.
Ensure distribution operations comply with applicable GDP, DSCSA, serialization, traceability, state licensing, and pharmaceutical distribution requirements.
Partner with Quality on agreements, partner qualification, audits, inspections, deviations, CAPAs, complaints, recalls, returns, suspect-product investigations, product recovery, and serialization exception management.
Maintain audit-ready distribution documentation and support regulatory inspections or submissions as needed.
Act as Latigo’s subject-matter leader for commercial distribution and advise executive leadership on network design, partner strategy, operating risks, investments, and organizational needs.
Work closely and collaboratively with the CMC/Technical Operations/Supply Chain leader to align manufacturing and packaging supply, release timing, launch inventory, replenishment, and channel execution.
Partner with Patient Services when free goods, samples, replacement products, or other patient-support distribution pathways are implemented.
Build and mentor a fit-for-purpose commercial distribution team as the organization approaches launch and scales after commercialization.
Provide concise, decision-oriented updates and recommendations to cross-functional launch governance and executive leadership.