Vice President, Patient Engagement & Strategy

For over 30 years, Alexion has been dedicated to transforming the lives of people living with rare diseases. We lead with breakthrough science, deep disease understanding, and an unrelenting commitment to patients. As part of AstraZeneca, we are uniquely positioned to accelerate innovation and reach more patients globally.

Working here means being driven by purpose, acting with integrity, and fostering a culture where people feel valued, connected, and empowered. You’ll join a community that puts patients first, plays to win, and supports your development at every step.

The Opportunity

The Vice President, Patient Engagement & Strategy will lead the strategy and operations for patient support, engagement and access delivering a best in industry patient experience. This leader will ensure excellence in innovation, strategy, and execution of all patient services activities and will be a dot-connector across the organization.

Key accountabilities and outcomes

• Develops and maintains a compelling strategy, vision, mission, and purpose for patient services at Alexion

• Provides strategic direction and guidance for the patient services team and cross-functional partners

• Continuously assesses and adapts the services and strategy to ensure patients have access and the optimal patient experience

• Provides design thinking insights on key patient services initiatives

• Focus on innovation and adoption of new technologies (including artificial intelligence) to drive future thinking support and operational synergies

• Leads the Patient Services Leadership Team and governance model driving seamless working flows

• Leads day-to-day operations of the patient-centric field teams

• Ensures OneSource, patient education mangers (PEM), and financial reimbursement managers (FRM) are working effectively together and providing highest level of service to our patients and providers while remaining compliant with internal policies and processes

• Provides process & operations evaluations to inform program changes, enhancements, and evolution

• Responsible for ensuring that major projects and one-off undertakings drive overall strategic benefit to Patient Services

• Provides program management support to Patient Services initiatives

• Provides planning, insight, and governance across projects simultaneously underway throughout Patient Services

• Partners and collaborates with Patient Advocacy, Market Access, Marketing, Regulatory, Legal, Compliance, Medical, Training, Corporate Communications, Commercial Operations and Business Operations to synthesize, share and utilize insights captured in One Source through operational excellence

• Works closely cross-functionally and across therapeutic areas in development of best in class support models for new programs/products

• Regularly interacts with cross-functional team members, and functional management, to resolve issues and monitor progress

• Strategic engagement with teams that are supporting the patient services to advocate for optimal partnerships and service and identify opportunities for process improvement (e.g. IT)

• Responsible for working with advocacy on community engagement initiatives

• Plans training and continuing education for key functional areas within Patient Services to ensure innovative and best in class solutions are in place

• Bring expertise in novel thinking and cutting-edge technology to support patients throughout the patient journey to inform decision making

• Focus to include CRM system support, patient/HCP portal support/access programs as well as new payer access limitation methods and electronic PA/BV industry wide opportunities

• Evaluate and implement AI solutions that optimize the rare disease patient journey, drive stakeholder engagement, enhance adherence, and increase operational efficiency

Competencies

• Organizational Capability: Builds high performing team, improves internal systems and processes, inspires, and motivates team members

• Strategic Agility: Recognizes opportunities, challenges and is able to modify strategy accordingly; Able to nimbly pivot from addressing current needs and planning for the future

• Deals well with Ambiguity: Able to make decisions and remain level-headed and act even in the face of significant ambiguity

• Communication: Able to clearly communicate and articulate vision and mission of team; is able to quickly and proactively address conflict and ambiguity with team

• Innovative Thinking: Generates innovative ideas as well as solutions and present to Executive Committee/cross functional Sr Leadership as needed

• Organizational Agility: Able to partner with peers and leaders across the enterprise

Essential Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree Required, advanced degree or relevant equivalent experience and/or professional certifications preferred

• Ideal candidate will have experience working for a patient-centric organization and understands the importance and need of engagement with external communities as well as key internal stakeholders in the development and execution of Patient Service strategies

• Ability to leverage knowledge of landscape and translate it into evolving strategic vision as well as clear short-term plans and goals

• Requires 10+ years of experience within the biotech/specialty pharmaceutical/pharmaceutical industry

• At least 6+ years of proven experience leading or working closely with patient services

• Experience in rare disease and competitive markets preferred

This position is based at our Boston, MA campus (US Headquarters for Alexion). When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and bold world.

At AstraZeneca’s Alexion Rare Disease unit, work centers on people living with rare conditions whose journeys demand new thinking every day; this means operating at the edge of science while staying grounded in real patient stories, collaborating across disciplines to turn complex biology into transformative medicines, learning fast in an entrepreneurial environment with the backing of a global biopharma, and growing through tailored development that deepens both leadership capability and empathy for patients and communities we serve.

If this opportunity to redefine what patient engagement can be resonates, apply now to start the conversation!

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $325,908.00 - 488,862.00 USD. Our positions offer eligibility for various incentives—an opportunity to receive short-term incentive bonuses, equity-based awards for salaried roles and commissions for sales roles. Benefits offered include qualified retirement programs, paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves), as well as health, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms of the applicable plans.

Date Posted

Closing Date

Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.