Associate Director, Patient Services Operational Excellence

Role Summary

The Associate Director, Patient Services Operational Excellence supports Ionis Patient Services operations to achieve best-in-class performance, with a strong emphasis on business value analytics. This role delivers strategic analytics and operational insights across Ionis’ commercialized brand(s) to inform operational decisions, identify opportunities for continuous improvement, and contribute to innovative solutions that advance brand and enterprise objectives. Responsibilities may also include vendor management for Patient Services operational partners. This position will be remote with preference for Southern California or Boston, Massachusetts.

Responsibilities

• Conduct deep-dive analytics to understand drivers of high performance and identify operational gaps
• Develop and monitor leading indicators to proactively surface operational risks and opportunities
• Generate actionable, forward-looking insights and recommendations beyond existing KPIs to support strategic decision-making
• Translate complex operational data into clear, compelling insights for diverse stakeholders
• Identify operational pain points and optimization opportunities aligned with overall commercial objectives
• Gather and synthesize direct and indirect feedback from internal and external customers
• Propose and help prioritize solutions that enhance current operations, partnering with functional leaders to drive execution
• Explore and pilot innovative operational approaches, leveraging the Innovation Lab and external partnerships as appropriate
• Support implementation and ongoing oversight of hub and affordability platform services
• Lead day-to-day vendor management, escalating risks and performance issues as needed, to ensure efficient, high-quality delivery of Patient Services
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure vendor compliance with quality, regulatory, and contractual standards
• Validate data-driven trends and insights and assess operational implications through collaboration with cross-functional execution teams
• Ensure alignment across Patient Services and Commercial Operations/Analytics on data definitions, analysis, and reporting
• Represent Patient Services in cross-functional forums, as requested

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required (business, science, or related field)
• At least 12 years of experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, consulting, or healthcare services environments
• Preferably 3+ years of recent experience in business operations, pharmaceutical patient services, market access, or commercial analytics with demonstrated ability to operate hands-on while influencing strategic outcomes
• Strong passion for operations and operational excellence
• Deep expertise working with operational data for pharmaceutical specialty products
• Exceptional strategic thinking, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities
• Demonstrated proficiency with data tools and innovative analytical methodologies
• Self-motivated, collaborative team player with strong interpersonal skills
• Proven ability to communicate and translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver high-quality results in a fast-paced environment
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite