Do you want to be part of an inclusive team that works to develop innovative therapies for patients? Every day, we are driven to develop and deliver innovative and effective new medicines to patients and physicians. If you want to be part of this exciting work, you belong at Astellas!
Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are committed to turning innovative science into medical solutions that bring value and hope to patients and their families. Keeping our focus on addressing unmet medical needs and conducting our business with ethics and integrity enables us to improve the health of people throughout the world. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.com .
This position is based in Northbrook, Illinois. Hybrid work from certain states may be permitted in accordance with Astellas’ Responsible Flexibility Guidelines. Candidates interested in hybrid work are encouraged to apply.
Purpose:
Sr. Manager, Strategic Field Force Deployment and Sales Force Effectiveness leverages cross functional teams to develop and ensure usage of long-term planning/sales strategy and processes across the organization. In close partnership with the Sales and Marketing Leadership team, this individual works to develop coordinated call plans and targeting tools to maximize the sales force effectiveness. This role also requires careful assessment and usage of available data to craft well designed call plans. In addition to maximizing the sales force and call plan effectiveness, this position is responsible for developing or enhancing reporting tools to support critical business decision-making at all levels of the sales force. Timely generation of Sales Force Effectiveness metrics is also integral to this role. Collaborating with Co-Promote partners in providing key recommendations for effective SF executing strategies is also an important task for this role.
This role supports the development of all sales strategies, tools and information flow which will enable customers to understand their strategic plans and selling needs to maximize success. The position is accountable for developing metrics to analyze sales force effectiveness, conducting ongoing and ad hoc analyses, and providing actionable insights and recommendations to Marketing and Sales Leadership. This position is expected to work closely with all levels of management in Marketing, Sales and Health Systems
Essential Job Responsibilities:
Lead the development of future-focused customer planning, tools, and strategies to drive improved sales planning.
Lead and collaborate with cross-functional teams to align on sales/marketing objectives for strategic customer targeting and manage related vendor activity to support these strategic initiatives. Apply industry best practices and wide variety of relevant data sets to generate data driven call plans
Lead cross-functional teams to develop, communicate and implement quarterly call plans; to include performance metrics related to call plan execution and adherence.
Lead call plan refinement efforts to capture field feedback in a timely manner. Complete ownership of field refinement platform including but not limited to refinement support and post refinement summaries
Apply innovation and thought leadership to bring newer and impactful Targeting and Call Planning ideas to fruition. Closely work with co-promote partners to finalize and apply a joint approach to successful call plans
Collaborate with co-promote partner to finalize key SF Effectiveness metrics. Operationalize the process of generating key insights including sharing actionable recommendations with Sales and Marketing leadership
Apply continual process improvements to bring best in class call planning practices to Astellas. Monitor industry benchmarks and apply relevant thresholds to call plans as required. Gather industry trends proactively and utilize them for enriching Targeting practices
Manage external relationships with vendors, consultants, and commercial partners to achieve business objectives.
Optimize investments in product details/samples to maximize sales performance across products and sales teams; provide actionable insights and recommendations to maximize the value of the sales force.
Conduct comprehensive analysis to identify new business opportunities, glean strategic business insights and develop/communicate actionable recommendations.
Partner with therapeutic teams and other cross-functional teams to establish key performance indicators of Astellas’ organizational effectiveness and to deliver rigorous analyses that set benchmarks of sales and promotional activity performance and potential upside.
Provide recommendations to field sales management and maximize the effectiveness of reporting tools through education about their value in territory management decision-making, Train sales force on effective use of reporting tools.
Lead and provide primary support for sales force alignments, call planning, targeting, customer valuation and segmentation; Provide secondary support to sales analytics and reporting teams to maximize operational effectiveness.
Work closely with Commercial Operations colleagues to ensure consistent direction and support.
Quantitative Dimensions:
Quality of strategic and operational support of quarterly call planning process based on feedback from key customers and cross-functional colleagues including quality of the collaboration.
Accuracy, timeliness, effectiveness and ease of use of production and ad hoc sales performance reporting, dashboards and strategic customer targeting/call planning based on feedback from key customers and cross-functional colleagues.
Optimal use of field sales teams measured by key performance metrics including customer reach/frequency, workload balance across sales territories and sales performance.
Number, accuracy and timeliness of in-licensing opportunities successfully evaluated.
Ability to meet/exceed established key milestones related to assigned major projects.
Quality/timeliness of insight generation and development of actionable recommendations based on feedback from key customers and cross-functional colleagues.
Organizational Context:
Reports to Assistant Director, Strategic Field Force Deployment and Sales Force Effectiveness
This Position requires extensive collaboration within Sales Analytics as well as with cross-functional colleagues in Sales, Marketing, Incentive Compensation, Data Governance, Marketing Operations and IT.
Qualifications:
Required:
Bachelor’s degree
7+ years of relevant analytical experience: data analysis and reporting within the pharmaceutical or healthcare related industry.
Organization agility: Excellent organizational, planning and project management skills with a strong attention to detail and ability to effectively manage cross-functional projects.
Possess strong interpersonal skills with the ability to effectively interact with all levels of employees including senior management.
Extensive computer proficiency with desktop software in a Windows environment including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint.
Working knowledge of various statistical modeling techniques and their application within complex analytical projects, e.g., regression modeling, promotion response modeling, ROI, and correlation coefficient, etc.
Working understanding of technology trends and implications
Excellent skills in the following areas: organization, written and verbal communication, accuracy, multi-tasking, and personal initiative.
Strong conceptual thinking/problem solving skills
Ability to work independently in a dynamic fast paced environment, with minimal supervision.
Demonstrated ability in taking initiative to proactively evaluate existing sales strategies and recommend changes, when appropriate.
Targeting/call planning experience.
Pharmaceutical industry experience
Working knowledge of one or more programming techniques such as SQL SAS, Microsoft Access, or Excel/VBA macros.
Preferred:
Management experience
MBA preferably in business or the sciences.
Working knowledge of Cognos, Spotfire and QlikView.
Strong working knowledge of data sources, e.g., IMS Health, Symphony Health, Wolters Kluwer and SDI Health.
Benefits:
Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
Generous Paid Time Off options, including Vacation and Sick time, plus national holidays including year-end shut down
401(k) match and annual company contribution
Company paid life insurance
Annual Corporate Bonus and Quarterly Sales Incentive for eligible positions
Long Term Incentive Plan for eligible positions
Referral bonus program
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Category Market Access & Commercial Capabilities
Astellas is committed to equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment.
EOE including Disability/Protected Veterans