Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million.

At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them. 
Our tenacious, passionate employees’ challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.

This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?

As VP, Auryxia GM and Head of Market Access and Strategic Pricing will provide leadership and strategic direction to the organization.  They will be accountable for the developing and implementing strategies that maximize revenue and profitability of Auryxia in the face of generic competition. This includes working across the commercial function to ensure that pricing and contracting strategies & tactics are implemented in a timely manner.  In addition, this role is responsible for strategic decision making regarding our use of authorized generic partners to compete effectively in an increasingly genericizing market.  Working cross functionally to update forecasts for supply chain management and ensure maximum utilization of Auryxia product. 

 As the Head of Market Access will lead market access strategy for Vafseo which has the potential to set a new standard of care for the treatment of anemia related to chronic kidney disease.  This person will build and implement the pricing and contracting strategy to allow access to patient populations during and post TDAPA including but not limited to Medicare FFS, Medicare Advantage, Commercial, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs etc.  The person will create a comprehensive pricing strategy that also considers as successful Vafseo approval in the NDD population.

The person will also provide market access perspective as needed for Akebia’s early-stage pipeline and business development opportunities. This position will lead development of payer strategy, payer value proposition, pricing, and launch planning. Additionally, this position will lead planning and eventual build out of the Akebia market access organization.

The VP, Auryxia GM and Head of Market Access and Strategic Pricing will:

• Have responsibility for revenue maintenance of Auryxia brand including pricing, contracting and management of generic competition
• Provide input in business and strategic planning
• Develop global value strategy for Vafseo in close collaboration with the marketing and National Accounts Team
• Assess US payer needs (unmet medical need, local dynamics, gaps, etc.). Collaborate and design payer research to understand primary value drivers and requirements to ensure optimized access for Vafseo at launch and beyond
• Develop Vafseo payer value proposition, value dossiers, formulary toolkits, health economic models, etc.
• Build relevant solid value arguments with supporting health economic and budget impact analysis models
• Develop preliminary pricing and contracting strategy for non-dialysis markets
• Design strategy to secure formulary approval for Vafseo and future products with US stakeholders
• Work collaboratively with distribution team to develop distribution models that align with our market access and pricing strategies
• Educate market access stakeholders on product differentiation and build awareness of Akebia as a leader in the renal space
• Lead organizational planning and eventual buildout of market access team in anticipation of Vafseo NDD launch, including market access resources and requirements for successful commercialization
• Act as subject matter expert and maintain in-depth knowledge of current and evolving payer landscapes Manage relationships with vendors and consultants, including development and adherence to budgets
• Understand and adhere to regulatory, legal, and compliance guidelines
• Provide market access input to support early pipeline and partnering projects as required
• Identify and address potential business needs and risks as programs move from development to commercialization
• Lead commercial pricing input to business development on late stage and commercial opportunities
• Lead and influences senior commercial cross-functional team
• Ensure objectives, priorities, timelines, and results are achieved within budgets
• Hold self and cross-functional team accountable to established strategy and execution plan
• Maintain team effectiveness through collaboration, coaching, and mentoring of team members
• Proactively identifies issues and opportunities and develops plans to mitigate risk and/or take advantage of opportunities

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred
• Minimum of 15+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical / biotech industry with diverse roles and responsibilities; extensive experience in pricing, market access and health economics, and matrixed team management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Possess strong leadership, influence, and collaboration skills, ability to manage multiple priorities, processes, timelines, and expectations of multiple stakeholder groups
• Strategic thinker and decision maker with strong track record of developing strategic recommendations by incorporating a diverse set of stakeholder input and feedback
• Possess a strong understanding of mature business management and execution in order to maximize revenue & profitability with minimum impact on priority programs & products
• A demonstrated ability to process complex information and summarize it concisely in writing and / or verbally across multiple stakeholder groups
• Strong understanding of financial drivers and operating expenses across program lifecycle
• Demonstrated ability to build consensus and drive resolution of issues while maintaining positive working relationships across functions
• Demonstrated success in development / execution working with Executive Leadership Team (ELT)
• Well-organized, process-driven, results-oriented; and possesses outstanding communications skills
•  Previous people management experience
• Renal therapeutic area experience is preferred

Compensation:

Targeted Base: 297,060 - 366,956*

*Base Compensation for this role will depend on a number of factors including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience, and may fall outside of the range shown. Base pay is only one component of the company’s total rewards package, all regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or the incentive compensation program (if applicable), as well as equity. Additional benefits include health care, vision, dental, retirement, PTO, etc.

Are you an Akebian?

An Akebian is curious, empathetic, and values making connections to people and ideas. Akebian’s aren’t afraid of diving in and owning a process or a problem, because we all want to deliver a great solution. Akebian’s believe that we are better together because we are all working toward a common purpose – to better the life of each person impacted by kidney disease. Want to learn more about what it means to be an Akebian? Visit our website: www.akebia.com

Akebia is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all job applicants.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other factors prohibited by law.