Commercial and Medical Planning and Execution Lead - Rare Diseases

Make your mark for patients

We are looking for a Commercial and Medical Operations Lead Rare Diseaseswho is driven by execution andexcellence, multi-disciplinary and passionate to join us in our Commercial and Medical Operations and Excellence team, based in our HQ in Brussels, Belgium or other major Rare Disease hub.

About the role

The successful candidate will play an integral role in Rare Disease Organization in both commercial and medical teams and serve as a thought partner and operations champion to subject matter experts with a focus on execution excellence.

They are responsible for effective stakeholder interactions in medical and commercial sub-teams per program (at asset/indication level), the execution and overall management of medical and commercial plans and projects, and complex flagship initiatives as assigned. In the rare disease fast paced environment, she/he will serve to coordinate and facilitate the needed rigor and excellence to ensure world class Rare Disease launches for UCB.

She/he will coordinate and lead activities and serve as single point of contact for commercial and medical planning and operations on the indication/program they support and specifically:

• Planning: timeline, cross-functional, global to local alignment, strategic workshops, alignment of tactics to key functional or stakeholder objectives, budget creation, prioritization, and oversight (with finance partners)
• Execution: manage year-round and effectively communicate with leadership and team members on updates to their plans, provide insight and direction into management intervention when desired or advised
• Operations: manage regular cadence of team meetings and follow-up with execution focus; any projects/initiatives and their relevant deliverables, to be completed within the agreed upon timelines. Identify potential risks and develop and communicate mitigation plans
• Launch readiness and launch excellence: Proactively prepare the teams towards excellence in execution which translates into streamlined launch deliverables, launch trackers and launch readiness reviews and follow-up

While reporting to the Head of Commercial and Medical Operations and Excellence, this individual will utilize the structure, process and consistent approaches in planning, team and program management to each indication team she/he supports. He/she will operate in collaborative manner with their operations peers and partners, their finance and procurement, IT and other relationships with UCB transversal functions, their teams and leaders and strike a balanced approach towards structured operational rigor and agile execution (doing the things that have a meaningful impact and removing barriers or steps where not relevant).

They will play a central role in the program/indication specific KPI and metric collection to deliver on RDOs vision to collect and report on one integrated KPI dashboard for the organization.

Who you’ll work with

We are building a culture of collaboration, accountability, agility and swift entrepreneurial action in Rare Diseases at UCB. The Rare Disease Organization is a team, filled with diverse colleagues who will lead UCB’s future development in rare disease. The Rare Disease Organization represents a tremendous source of UCB’s future growth potential. The investments made today must be thoughtfully placed, carefully nurtured, impartially measured and transparently communicated.

What you’ll do

• Medical and commercial sub-team operations and planning leadership:
• As a core member of the sub-team assigned, drive integrated plan development on an annual cycle
• Ensure sub-team plans are aligned with cross-functional programs, plans and strategies
• Build strong relationships with each sub-team member and gain a high-level view of their projects within the sub-team plan
• Medical and Commercial team Project Management:
• Drive successful and timely completion of sub-team deliverables and projects (as assigned)
• Develop sub-team budget under the RDO budget planning process provided to them; partner with and UCB finance representatives as needed
• Serve as an operations liaison on projects that require HCP engagement in medical (advisory boards, symposia etc.) and advisory boards (commercial) ensure activity requirements are properly completed and tracked by the HCP Contracting Coordinator (internal or outsourced); ensure ethics, compliance and procurement criteria are met.
• Drive goal setting and metrics development (and subsequent tracking) for Medical Sub-Team and Commercial Sub-Team
• Identify team and program risks and implement and manage mitigation plans as needed (project timelines etc.)
• Proactively plan and manage sub-team activities including team meetings, strategic planning, offsites, and team building
• In partnership with the Sub-team leads, identify, escalate, and monitor resolution of issues and actions
• Support training and onboarding of new team members

You like to work in an environment where you can:

• Facilitate collaborative and data driven decision making and leverage your broad and deep expertise in drug development, operations, project and program management
• Ability to work in provided governance and matrix operations frameworks
• Ability to flag and escalate derailing from key principles of RDO2.0
• Ability to lead and take operational ownership of projects within GMIT without having direct responsibility of team members or partners you influence
• Facilitate global to local interactions with a keen understanding of the G2M model in medical and commercial
• Work in diverse and inclusive teams building relationships and partnerships across functions and geographies to deliver high-quality solutions
• Be an operations expert, a thought partner to medical experts and demonstrate passion that truly centers around making a difference in patients’ lives
• RDO Operations Support:
• Support RDO operations initiatives as assigned by Head of Commercial and Medical Operations and Excellence that will lead RDO to the mindset of agility and excellence

Interested? For this role we’re looking for the following education, experience and skills

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or MSc/MS with 7+ years of experience, PharmD or PhD with 4 + years of experience in biopharma operations and/or program management roles
• Preferred Project Management Professional certification
• Change management experience, MBA or business degree a plus
• Experience in Rare Diseases is plus but not required
• Experience in Neurology or Haematology a plus but not required
• Strong knowledge and understanding cross-functional matrix related to pharmaceutical drug development, knowledge of activities and deliverables of medical specialities and commercial
• IT savvy and analytical always looking to provide innovative solutions to team issues – excellent PowerPoint, excel and other data tools/applications. Quick learner of new UCB applications
• Experience in contracting and negotiation and tracking of external partners and agencies is preferred
• Budget management and tracking experience in medical, commercial or similar teams
• Attention and high level of emphasis to ethics and compliance guidelines and standards
• Willing and able to travel (~20%)

Are you ready to ‘go beyond’ to create value and make your mark for patients? If this sounds like you, then we would love to hear from you!

About us
UCB is a global biopharmaceutical company, focusing on neurology and immunology. We are around 8,500 people in all four corners of the globe, inspired by patients and driven by science.

Why work for us?
At UCB, we don’t just complete tasks, we create value. We aren’t afraid to push forward, collaborate, and innovate to make our mark for patients. We have a caring, supportive culture where everyone feels included, respected and has equitable opportunities to do their best work. We ‘go beyond’ to create value for our patients, and always with a human focus, whether that’s on our patients, our employees or our planet. Working for us, you will discover a place where you can grow, and have the freedom to carve your own career path to achieve your full potential.

Learn more about sustainability at UCB and how it is integrated into our business approach.

UCB and its subsidiaries encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace; we are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race/colour/religion/sex/national origin/veteran/disability/age/sexual orientation/gender identity.