Director, Alliance Management

Role Summary

The Director of Alliance Management will support the management and optimization of Akebia’s strategic commercial alliances with industry partners, overseeing relationship management, problem solving, and diligence across development to commercialization stages. This role collaborates with Program Management, subject matter experts, and senior management to support existing global alliances and to kick off new ones.

Responsibilities

• Ensure key goals for alliances are achieved and relationships with partners remain productive
• Become an internal expert on partner contracts and address contract/partner questions with internal stakeholders
• Effectively manage cross-functional governance committees
• Facilitate internal alignment and readiness prior to engaging partners
• Track partnership effectiveness and identify opportunities to improve communication and collaboration
• Coordinate and prepare meeting agendas, presentations, minutes, and actions with cross-functional stakeholders for team and governance meetings with partners
• Identify conflicts and issues; formulate strategy and drive resolution with relevant stakeholders, escalating as appropriate
• Build and maintain relationships with Akebia stakeholders from each functional area (e.g., CMC, regulatory, legal, medical affairs, commercial)
• Build expertise about partner companies, including key contacts, organizational structure, leadership, supply forecasts, financials, and strategic priorities
• Facilitate ancillary agreements and contract amendments with internal stakeholders and partners
• Prepare contractual deliverables such as quarterly reports, development plans, and commercial launch plans in alignment with internal stakeholders

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor‚Äôs degree
• Required: Minimum of 10 years in biopharma and/or industry consulting
• Required: Experience in alliance management within the commercial space (licensing, marketing, communications, etc.)
• Required: Experience working directly with commercial partners or third parties and demonstrated interpersonal communication skills
• Required: Strong leadership and self-direction, high capacity for learning quickly
• Required: Experience and comfort working and leading within matrixed organizations
• Required: Excellent PowerPoint and Excel skills
• Preferred: Advanced degree (MS/PhD/MBA)
• Preferred: Experience reading and synthesizing complicated legal agreements
• Preferred: Ability to apply good judgment and lead problem solving within the team

Skills

• Strategic relationship management
• Contract and governance facilitation
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Communication and presentation
• Analytical and problem-solving abilities

Education

• Bachelor‚Äôs degree required; advanced degree preferred

Additional Requirements

• Location: Cambridge, MA