Vice President, Sales - Rare Disease

Overview

The Vice President of Sales–Rare will lead and drive the strategic direction, development and execution of the sales strategy across the rare disease business. This role is responsible for achieving sales targets, building the market, expanding market share, developing key partnerships and ensuring sustainable growth in the rare disease space. The incumbent will lead a national field sales team that includes Area Vice Presidents, Regional Business Directors, and sales professionals.

This is a highly collaborative position working closely with multiple functions including Marketing, Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Market Access, Commercial Operations, and other internal and external stakeholders. This role requires a strategic thinker with deep biopharmaceutical and rare disease experience, strong leadership capabilities, and a proven track record in building markets, changing behaviors and developing successful sales teams. The VP will play a critical role in aligning sales execution with brand vision to improve patient outcomes and achieve organizational objectives.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and implement a high-performing sales strategy aligned with corporate goals and revenue targets to include territory coverage, sales model, pull through framework, and compensation strategy through various quarterly, annual and long-range planning cycles.
• Identify market trends, competitive threats, and business opportunities to inform sales tactics and long-term planning.
• Lead commercial planning initiatives including revenue forecasting.
• Provide strategic direction and inspirational leadership to the rare disease sales organization.
• Build, lead, and sustain a high-performance culture focused on accountability, collaboration, and results.
• Serve as a key member of the commercial leadership team, contributing to enterprise-wide strategy and decision making.
• Lead change management initiatives and ensure organizational agility in a dynamic market environment.

Team Leadership

• Recruit, develop, mentor, and retain a high-performing sales organization.
• Set clear performance expectations and ensure accountability through KPIs and regular performance reviews.
• Drive a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement and ethical conduct.
• Foster a culture of inclusion, engagement, and professional growth.
• Identify succession pipelines and ensure leadership continuity within the organization.

Operational Excellence

• Work cross-functionally with Commercial Operations, Marketing, Market Access, Medical Affairs, and other stakeholders to ensure alignment of sales activities with company objectives.
• Partner closely with Commercial Operations team in the oversight of pipeline management, CRM utilization, territory optimization and incentive programs.
• Work with Sales Training team to develop and integrate training programs for sales team.
• Ensure compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements in promotional and sales activities.
• Work with key team members to design sales metrics including sales team effectiveness, ROI, KPIs, analytics, and dashboards to provide performance measurement and business insight.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, MBA or other advanced degree preferred
• A minimum of 15 years in sales roles of increasing responsibility in the healthcare industry
• A minimum of 10 years of experience leading diverse teams; leadership experience in both startup and large pharma environments is a plus
• A minimum of 3 years of experience leading people managers
• A minimum of 3 years of rare experience
• Experience with specialty and retail pharmaceuticals
• Deep understanding of pharmaceutical sales dynamics, compliance regulations, and product launch strategy
• Proven ability to design and execute growth strategies that align with complex market dynamics
• Proven track record of strong sales results, combined with the ability to succeed at a strategic, tactical and operational level, with excellent life sciences industry experience
• Exceptional track record of developing and implementing sales strategies and programs
• Outstanding internal and external communication skills, leadership and an inclusive pro-active approach
• Exceptional leadership and teambuilding skills with a passion for fostering a performance based and results driven organization
• Competencies: Functional and Strategic Leadership, Decision-making skills, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Adaptability, Written and Verbal Communication skills, Problem Solving, Professionalism, Integrity, Organizational skills, Interpersonal Skills, Relationship Building.
• Travel required (50%+) to include attendance at remote meetings and conferences.
• as well as travel throughout the field to support sales meetings, customer engagement, sales initiatives, and team development is required.