Director, Data Strategy and Operations

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Director, Data Strategy and Operations based in the United States.

This is a senior commercial data leadership opportunity within a pre-commercial life sciences environment preparing for launch and early commercialization. The role will define and build the data foundation supporting launch readiness, field execution, customer engagement, market access, patient services, and executive decision-making. You will own the commercial data roadmap, from sourcing and architecture through governance, analytics, and operational execution. Working across internal teams, technology partners, consultants, and external data vendors, you will turn complex data requirements into scalable capabilities and actionable insights. This is a hands-on build role where strategic leadership and technical fluency are equally important. As the organization grows, the position is expected to evolve from an individual contributor role into leadership of a dedicated data and analytics team.

Accountabilities:

• Own the commercial data strategy and align it with brand objectives, launch-readiness milestones, and the broader commercialization plan.
• Develop a phased data capability roadmap covering data acquisition, warehouse design, integrations, governance, reporting, and advanced analytics, balancing launch timing, budget, and organizational capacity.
• Identify and prioritize high-value commercial use cases, including segmentation and targeting, omnichannel engagement, field force effectiveness, patient journey analytics, demand forecasting, payer analytics, and executive performance management.
• Lead day-to-day commercial data operations across external partners and channels, including hubs, specialty pharmacies, specialty distributors, 3PLs, institutional channels, and data aggregators.
• Oversee data intake, exception management, service-level performance, acquisition, integration, validation, and ongoing management across HCP, HCO, patient, claims, prescription, payer, field activity, and syndicated data sources.
• Design and implement the commercial master data management program, including HCP/HCO identity management, affiliations, alignments, hierarchies, stewardship, and match/merge rules.
• Integrate master data capabilities with CRM, field reporting, and downstream analytics platforms.
• Establish data governance, stewardship, metadata, lineage, access, privacy, and quality processes that support compliant promotional activity, privacy-safe analytics, and audit-ready operations.
• Develop the commercial analytics and reporting framework, defining launch KPIs, metric definitions, refresh cadences, report ownership, and dashboard governance.
• Establish a trusted source of truth for launch performance across leadership and field-facing stakeholders.
• Lead build-versus-buy assessments across the commercial data stack, including data warehouses, BI, MDM, data quality, field reporting, CRM integrations, and AI-enabled analytics.
• Translate complex data into actionable insights, executive-ready narratives, and decision-support materials for launch planning, resource allocation, and performance management.
• Serve as the internal subject matter expert and decision owner for commercial data strategy and operations.
• Partner with Sales and Sales Operations, Marketing, Market Access, Patient Services, Medical, Finance, Legal/Compliance, IT, and external vendors to translate business priorities into scalable data capabilities.
• Build fit-for-purpose processes and operating rhythms across pre-launch, launch, and post-launch execution, prioritizing the highest-impact initiatives.
• Manage the commercial data budget and oversee vendors, consultants, and partner relationships, including requirements, onboarding, service levels, issue resolution, renewals, budget tracking, and value realization.
• Initially operate as an individual contributor supported by external partners, with the expectation of recruiting, developing, and leading a data and analytics team as the organization scales.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative, business, technology, or life sciences discipline; an MBA or relevant master’s degree is preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in pharmaceutical or biotechnology environments, including significant experience in commercial data strategy, commercial operations, analytics, data management, or launch readiness.
• Direct experience building commercial data capabilities for at least one U.S. specialty pharmaceutical or biotech launch, covering data sourcing, vendor integration, MDM, governance, launch KPI definition, and executive reporting.
• Previous Director-level accountability for commercial data strategy, including cross-functional decision-making, vendor management, and engagement with senior Commercial, Medical, Finance, Compliance, and Technology stakeholders.
• Hands-on experience defining requirements for and overseeing CRM, commercial data warehouse, BI, field reporting, and MDM platforms, including integrations, adoption, and vendor delivery.
• Strong knowledge of commercial data vendors and sources used by emerging pharmaceutical organizations, including prescription, claims, specialty pharmacy, hub, specialty distributor, payer, CRM, HCP/HCO reference, patient services, and field activity data.
• Working knowledge of pharmaceutical commercial data compliance and privacy requirements, including HIPAA, de-identified patient data, permissible use of prescription and claims data, aggregate spend and transparency reporting, and state privacy laws such as CCPA/CPRA.
• Technical fluency to engage effectively with engineers and vendors on data models, integration patterns, and cloud data platforms; working SQL proficiency is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to build scalable, fit-for-purpose processes in lean and fast-moving environments while balancing compliance, cost discipline, scalability, and speed to impact.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills, with the ability to frame strategic choices, explain trade-offs, and translate technical data concepts into commercial business implications.
• Strong data governance and quality mindset, with an ability to establish clear ownership, quality controls, stewardship, access standards, and compliant data usage.
• Analytical rigor and sound business judgment, with the ability to turn complex information into practical recommendations and executive-ready insights.
• Proven cross-functional influence across Commercial, Medical, Finance, Legal/Compliance, IT, and external partners.
• Strong execution and resource-management skills, with the ability to prioritize high-impact work and navigate ambiguity, dependencies, vendors, and launch-stage constraints.

Benefits:

• Base salary range of $225,000-$250,000 USD annually.
• Annual target bonus eligibility.
• Equity compensation, as determined by the compensation committee.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan participation.
• Company-paid life insurance.
• Short- and long-term disability coverage.
• Paid time off and company holidays.
• Fully remote, field-based position open to candidates anywhere in the United States.
• Up to 10% travel for conferences and company meetings.
• Opportunity to shape the commercial data foundation supporting a major pharmaceutical launch.
• Potential to build and lead a dedicated data and analytics organization as the company scales.