Global Head of Pre-Launch Excellence 

Job title: Global Head of Pre-Launch Excellence

Location: Cambridge, MA

30% of travel expected 

About the Job

We are an innovative global healthcare company, committed to transforming the lives of people with immune challenges, rare diseases and blood disorders, cancers, and neurological disorders. From R&D to sales, our talented teams work together, revolutionizing treatment, continually improving products, understanding unmet needs, and connecting communities. We chase the miracles of science every single day, pursuing progress to make a real impact on millions of patients around the world.

Strategic context:

Sanofi has currently the best and more robust pipeline of R&D and consequent new launches of our history. As new phase of Play-To-Win strategy, funding this pipeline and new launches is key to materialize the miracles of the science to improve people lives. Thus, as we enter the next phase of modernization, we are in the beginning stages of organizing the Go-to-Market Capabilities (GTMC) team at a global level. 

GTMC organization will help us to drive best-in-class capabilities across the board and bring value and excellence in our commercial operations. This move is a key part of the aimed modernization of Sanofi and will allow us to focus on our priorities across our products, market and pipeline through the reallocation of resources and realizing the efficiencies of removing silos that exist between our business units, avoiding the duplication and overlapping of resources, standardizing our processes and tools, operating with a One Sanofi approach to accelerate our key capabilities development, and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit by speeding up the decision making. 

As part of GTMC, the vision of the Launch Excellence / Marketing Excellence (LEX/MEX) pillar is the establishment of a new Sanofi wide Launch excellence cross functional framework, ensuring excellence in Medico Marketing fundamentals and upskilling the Medico Marketing teams with cutting edge new technologies, capabilities and ways of working. The LEX/MEX will not only be a center for expertise and thought leaders but also an important support to execute on those best-in-class capabilities.  ​

Key dimensions - Scope & Scale:

GTMC organization aims for: 

• Establishing Best in Class Launch capabilities to win in the top priority launches, while ensuring excellence in execution in Medico-Marketing fundamentals. 

• Centralization of Go-to-Market excellence and operational tasks across GBUs. 

• Standardizing best in class capabilities with strengthened global support while verticalization of reporting within GTMC from local to global. 

• Defining clear ways of working and bringing clarity on interfaces with GBUs, Digital, and executional support on commercial operations from Sanofi hubs to optimize process excellence and efficiency.  

As a leadership team member of LEX/MEX organization, Head of Strategic Prelaunch will be accountable to: 

• Lead Sanofi transformation for a Best In Class launch organization with main focus on early assets with launch targets from 3-5 years.  

• Ensure that the launch framework is applied early on in the launch journey for a robust shape the market and shape the brand for launch targets with a 3-5 year timeframe. 

• Strategic Pre-Launch team leadership, providing clarity on the ambition for a Best-in-class (BiC) launch organization and coordination of all team activities. Support the team elements in their development journey.  

• Engage with senior leadership and guarantee full cross GBU alignment with Sanofi strategic priorities. 

• Partner with R&D-GPT, Medical and NPP teams defining the standards of excellence for the pre-launch and ensure strong strategic cross functional alignment with Market Access, Public & Corporate Affairs team from long term launch targets, towards unparallel and deep understanding of the market and one integrated strategy. 

• Ensure alignment with other GTMC pillars, Digital and other MEX/LEX functional areas guaranteeing seamless strategic and operational alignment. 

• Supports the execution of new BiC (best in class) capabilities such as best in class patient experience journeys informed by insights and integrated evidence generation. 

• Implement a robust launch measurement framework defining the critical milestones and expected outcomes along the pre-launch lifecycle.  

• Partner with Launch team in the development of the LEX framework across GBU. 

• Drive continuous improvement for Prelaunch excellence, elevating launch quality and impact across the organization.  

• Partner with Commercialization Academy in the development of launch curriculum in order to upskill the NPP and cross functional teams. 

• Partner with Strategic Launch and Commercialization Fundamentals for a seamless asset management across the brand lifecycle. 

• Elevate launch quality and impact across the organization.  

Main Responsibilities: 

• Lead Sanofi transformation for a Best In Class launch organization, stablishing standards of excellence across the different launch archetypes. 

• Ensure strong collaboration, co-creation and strategic alignment across functions (NPP, R&D, IR, M&S, MA, CA…) 

• Strong collaboration with the Strategic launch team to ensure strong implementation of the new framework while capturing continuous improvement feedback.  

• Define and codify leading practices for key shifts to shape the brand, shape and develop the market towards best-in-class pre-launch capabilities. 

• Own customer and patient experience journeys capability and align cross functional team to elevate the way Sanofi is developing integrated evidence generation plans and customer and brand strategy. 

• Implement a robust launch measurement framework, with KPIs, KIIs aligned with external benchmarks and defining the critical milestones and expected outcomes along the pre-launch lifecycle. 

• Define and codify leading practices for key shifts for shape the brand and shape the market. 

• Benchmark launches combining internal and external (analysts) perspectives and provide guidance on BiC. 

• Drive launch innovation and implement an enhanced digital ecosystem, with innovative and cutting-edge technology and AI Led solutions.    

• Define capability gaps and needs and partnering with Commercialization Academy in the development of launch curriculum in order to upskill NPP and R&D teams 

• Partner with Strategic launch and commercialization fundamentals for a seamless asset management across the brand lifecycle. 

Ways of working 

• You will be a member of the LEX/MEX Leadership Team. 

• You will foster strategic alignment and close collaboration between cross-functional teams (R&D, NPP, IR, M&S, Marketing, Medical, GTMC, Corporate affairs, Digital…) and drive structured ways of working between teams to provide maximum value and efficiency to business teams. 

• You will ensure setting up agile and effective teams   

• You will build and develop a team that uses complementary strengths and develop dedicated, strong, diverse leaders. 

• You will establish standards across GBUs, brands and countries to deliver the new established LEX framework as true partner in enabling business growth. 

• You will work closely with the Launch Readiness team, Medico Marketing fundamentals and capability team to ensure E2E business continuity. 

About You

Work Experience:

• 15+ years in Commercial Operations environment, launch expertise and medical affairs 

• 5+ years of global experience 

• 10+ years in leading cross functional teams 

• Deep understanding of launch excellence, market and brand shaping to win in launches, evidence gaps identification   

• In-depth understanding of pharmaceutical industry 

• Experienced in leading by influence and drive in matrix driven project teams/organizations. 

• Agile mindset and practice: ensure the correct pace of the acceleration being outcome goal oriented. 

• Ability to leverage networks, to develop people, coach & give feedback, empower people. 

• Ability to lead change while achieving business goals & objectives, act for change - Challenge the status quo. Be persistent and resilient. 

Knowledge:

• Launch expertise and strong scientific background. 

• Strategic analysis and planning, project management, excellent English language knowledge and skills (written and oral), IT knowledge and skills, proven communication, presentation, persuasion, skills ability to work and influence cross-functionally.  

Skills and Competencies:

• Strategic Thinking: Makes decisions by analyzing current and future scenarios. Disrupts the status quo with innovation, develops new approaches to deliver results while remaining pragmatic and focused on priorities. 

• People Leadership: Engages and leverages everyone’s strengths, ensures active communication; Demonstrates a high-level drive, passion and ambition for optimal result. Sets high standards and Expectations. Shares authority and responsibility. 

• Relationship and Influence: Inspires trust through empathy and authenticity. Empowers and recognizes others to create powerful and trusted relationships while challenging the status quo. Effective stakeholder management.  

Personal Characteristics: Accountability, innovation, creativity, initiative, stress management, fast learner, result orientation, ability to work on one’s own continuous improvement; listening skills, co-creating with the different teams, GBUs and with key geographies.  

Why Choose Us?

• Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.
• Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.
• Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.
• Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.

Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.

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