Senior National Director, Strategic Accounts Rare Neurology

Role Overview

The Senior National Director, Strategic Accounts is a strategic commercial leader responsible for building, leading, and scaling a high-performing national account management organization while driving sales strategy, execution, and business performance.

This role will recruit, develop, and lead a team of ~10 Account Managers, focusing on complex, high-touch healthcare ecosystems requiring advanced account management, access expertise, and strong clinical acumen.

The position requires a strategic, hands‑on leader who thrives in a fast‑changing environment, can navigate ambiguity, and brings a strong sense of ownership in delivering results while embedding Otsuka’s values and patient‑centric mission.

Sales Leadership & Team Build‑Out

• Recruit, hire, onboard, and develop a team of ~10 Account Managers, establishing best‑in‑class account management capability.
• Act as a player‑coach, providing hands‑on coaching in the field to elevate team performance and impact.
• Build a high‑performance, high‑accountability culture grounded in Otsuka values.
• Drive engagement, retention, and talent development, including succession planning and capability building.
• Establish clear goals, performance metrics, and operating cadence to ensure consistent execution.

Strategic Account Management Excellence

• Lead the development and execution of strategic account plans across key centers of excellence.
• Ensure Account Managers effectively navigate complex stakeholder ecosystems, including HCPs and multi‑disciplinary care teams, hospital pharmacy, and financial decision makers within the hospital system including c‑suite members.
• Personally engage with top‑tier accounts to model best‑in‑class partnership behaviors.

Sales Strategy, Execution & Performance

• Serve as a key member of the commercial leadership team, shaping national sales strategy and execution priorities.
• Own and drive performance across sales targets and account performance metrics.
• Translate national strategy into actionable, field‑level center‑specific execution plans.
• Ensure agility and rapid recalibration of strategies in response to market dynamics.

Access, Reimbursement & Treatment Logistics Expertise

• Navigate and coach teams through complex treatment logistics, including site of care considerations, patient onboarding, and therapy initiation barriers.
• Partner closely with Market Access and Patient Support to compliantly remove barriers to therapy.
• Ensure team demonstrates understanding of complex reimbursement dynamics and specialty pharmacy and distribution networks.

Clinical & Disease Area Leadership

• Maintain a strong clinical understanding of disease state, treatment paradigm, and clinical profile.
• Enable the team to confidently engage in scientifically grounded, compliant discussions with healthcare stakeholders.
• Support execution in complex treatment pathways, including rare and specialty disease dynamics.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Ensure alignment of account strategy, customer engagement, and patient support initiatives.
• Provide field insights to inform brand strategy, access strategy, and lifecycle planning.
• Compliantly align cross‑functional stakeholders behind a shared vision, breaking down silos and fostering collaboration to bring the full power of the organization to customers.

Operating in Ambiguity & Driving Change

• Thrive in a fast‑paced, evolving commercial environment, making decisions with incomplete data.
• Lead team through change, ambiguity, and new ways of working, including evolving engagement models.
• Identify and implement new approaches to account engagement and performance optimization.

Required

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree desirable
• 12+ years of progressive experience in pharmaceutical/biotech sales leadership
• 7 years of leadership experience
• Proven rare and/or ultra‑rare disease launch experience
• Demonstrated success in leading high‑stakes launches with urgency and accountability
• Proven success in building and leading high‑performing sales/account management teams
• Experience working in strategic account management in complex healthcare ecosystems including centers of excellence
• Strong working…