Director, Commercial Analytics & Insights

Role Summary

Director of Commercial Analytics & Insights responsible for planning and leading core insights functions—market research, competitive intelligence, data and sales analytics, and forecasting—to guide launch planning and strategic decision-making for a rare disease product. Primary lead for all Commercial Analytics & Insights activities for a specific therapeutic, with indirect management of a small analytics/insights team. Hybrid in-office role in San Francisco/Palo Alto, 2–3 days per week.

Responsibilities

• Commercial Analytics
  • Develop and execute an integrated analytics strategy that supports pre-launch efforts and evolves into post-launch optimization
  • Analyze market trends, HCP and patient engagement data, and early launch metrics to guide brand and access strategies
  • Monitor and interpret KPIs such as new patient starts, conversion, adherence, and call activity
  • Influence sales analytics framework to support field force performance, territory optimization, and incentive compensation strategies
• Forecasting
  • Guide construction of patient-based models that incorporate epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment journey dynamics, access variability, and rare disease market constraints, and track launch performance versus forecast
  • Partner with Finance, Supply Chain, and other departments on demand planning, inventory management, and long-range strategic planning
• Market Research
  • Identify business questions to be addressed by primary market research, and guide the design of research with physicians, patients, and caregivers in the rare disease space
  • Uncover insights into patient journeys, treatment paradigms, stakeholder unmet needs, and messaging receptivity to inform brand positioning and launch tactics
  • Synthesize qualitative and quantitative findings into actionable strategic guidance for cross-functional teams
• Competitive Intelligence
  • Establish a fit-for-purpose competitive intelligence capability
  • Monitor competitor activities including clinical development, regulatory events, commercial strategy, and advocacy engagement

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor’s degree; advanced degree (MBA, MS, PharmD, PhD) strongly preferred
• Required: 7+ years of experience in commercial analytics and insights, including forecasting, market research, data analytics, and competitive intelligence within biotech/pharma; rare disease or specialty product experience highly preferred
• Required: 2+ years of leadership experience
• Required: Proven experience supporting or leading a product launch, ideally in a therapeutic area with limited precedent or data availability
• Required: Experience in rare disease data sources, epidemiology-based forecasting, and stakeholder mapping
• Required: Expertise in U.S. healthcare data sources (e.g., specialty pharmacy data, claims data, IQVIA, Symphony, Komodo, CRM systems like Veeva)
• Required: Technical proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and analytics/visualization platforms (Power BI, Tableau)
• Required: Highly collaborative and proactive, with excellent storytelling, communication, and executive presentation skills

Skills

• Strategic thinking and analytic rigor
• Data visualization and storytelling for executive audiences
• Cross-functional collaboration and influence
• Leadership and people management

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree strongly preferred (MBA, MS, PharmD, PhD)