Director, U.S. Regional Payer Accounts South Central

This is what you will do:

The Director of U.S. Regional Payer Accounts is responsible for implementing access strategies to ensure that regional payers provide appropriate patient access to Alexion’s medicines. This includes leading negotiations with assigned regional payers and tier two national payers, managing relationships with senior managed care executives, and leveraging internal subject matter experts to communicate the value of Alexion’s medicines.  The Director also educates cross-functional teams on payer policies, collaborates with internal stakeholders to resolve access challenges, provides field insight to inform access strategy as needed, and engages payer accounts for contract negotiations and product education. This is a field-based role and reports to the Senior Director, U.S. Payer Accounts and must reside within their assigned geography.

You will be responsible for:

• Driving the execution of access strategies for assigned regional payers to ensure appropriate patient access, policy, and reimbursement to Alexion’s medicines
• Leading negotiations with assigned payers to secure favorable terms and patient access
• Maintaining and fostering relationships with senior managed care medical and pharmacy executives by leveraging expert knowledge of the customer’s organizational structure and strategic priorities
• Leveraging internal resources and subject matter experts (e.g., HEOR, Medical, patient advocacy, etc.) to effectively communicate the value of Alexion’s medicines to regional payers
• Educating internal cross-functional teams on payer coverage policies to enhance strategic planning, execution, and business knowledge
• Promoting cross-functional collaboration with internal stakeholders to align strategies and optimize access solutions
• Coordinating with Alexion’s national payer account directors to be aware of the impact national payer/PBM accounts may have on their downstream regional clients
• Developing tailored solutions for the field force and access teams to address any customer-specific product access or reimbursement challenges
• Collaborating with market access, patient services and brand team colleagues, including TLLs (thought leader liaisons) and patient advocacy, to develop strategies and ensure execution against threats and opportunities in their region
• Engaging regional payer accounts to present product value propositions, conduct disease state education for pipeline products, perform pre-approval information exchange (PIE) engagements, and negotiate contract agreements in line with the contract strategy
• Acting as the regional lead on pulling-through access wins by coordinating with FRMs, brand, sales, and access strategy and marketing teams to develop and execute on pull-through or push-through strategies
• Acting as a customer resource through knowledge of relevant therapeutic areas and market trends analytics for category performance, and thorough knowledge of product real world use and treatment algorithms
• Conducting periodic business reviews with contracted customers to ensure compliance with contract terms and alignment on mutual goals.
• Providing insights to internal stakeholders (e.g., medical liaisons) on customer-specific priorities to inform access strategy as regional point of contact to align across regional, national, and channel account directors, as well as home-office strategy teams
• Engaging cross-functional stakeholders (e.g., HEOR) in customer meetings to ensure comprehensive and effective communication
• Identifying credible real world patient access gaps, trends, and/or opportunities for engagement with regional payers
• Gathering information and create analyses to enhance the organization's understanding of current and emerging payer market dynamics, risks, and competitive behaviors, with a focus on identifying potential business impacts

You will need to have:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant area of study
• 7-10+ years’ experience in Market Access in the      biopharmaceutical/pharmaceutical industry
• 5+ years’ experience in an account management role with responsibility for payer and PBM customers
• Experience negotiating contracts with payers and/or PBMs
• Well established payer account contacts
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively within a high performance, high stakes team environment
• Expert knowledge of U.S. managed markets including commercial and government payers
• Demonstrated success in securing appropriate coverage for specialty medicines covered under the medical benefit and pharmacy benefit
• Ability to articulate branded and unbranded communications relating to the therapy areas of Alexion’s medicines
• Strong understanding of reimbursement methodologies utilized by commercial and government payers under the medical and pharmacy benefits
• Excellent collaboration, written, and verbal communications skills
• Clinical, technical, and scientific knowledge and aptitude in complex disease states
• Requires living within the assigned region(NM, TX, OK, KS, MO, AR, LA)
• Travel requirements: Willing to travel at least 60% of the time including significant overnight and weekend travel
• Valid driver’s license and clean driving record
• The duties of this role are generally conducted in a field environment.  As is typical of a field-based role, employees must be able, with or without an accommodation to: travel by public transportation, automobile, train, or plane; work comfortably in a clinical setting; use a computer; engage in communications via phone, video, and electronic messaging; problem solve; engage in complex and non-linear thought, analysis, and dialogue; collaborate with others; maintain general availability during standard business hours

We would prefer for you to have:

• MBA, MPH, or other advanced degree MBA, MPH, or other advanced degree
• Experience securing access for rare disease medicines
• Experience in an account management role with responsibility for national or regional payers
• Established relationships with regional payer accounts within area
• Experience developing and executing payer contracting strategies for national or regional payers
• Experience securing rapid coverage for launches of new products and indications

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of employees assigned to this position.

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.