The posting
Job Description
The Director, Patient Strategy & Marketing is a key member of the Alixorexton Brand Team, responsible for leading patient strategy, disease education, and patient marketing initiatives across narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia (IH).
Reporting to the Senior Director, Alixorexton Brand Lead, this individual will develop and execute patient-focused strategies that increase disease awareness, support diagnosis and treatment readiness, enhance the patient experience, and help shape market readiness and support successful launch execution. This role will lead a patient marketing team and partner closely with Market Access, Patient Services, Patient Advocacy, Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Legal, Corporate Communications, and Commercial Operations to deliver integrated programs aligned with brand objectives.
Alkermes has a hybrid working environment to support and meet the needs of employees and this role will operate in a flexible environment with 60% of time in the office and 40% from home.
Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:
Brand Strategy & Patient Engagement
- Lead development and execution of patient strategy aligned with Alixorexton brand objectives
- Serve as the brand team's expert on patient insights, barriers, motivators, and unmet needs
- Translate patient and market insights into actionable strategies, programs, and investment decisions
- Contribute to annual brand planning, launch planning, and lifecycle management activities
- Ensure the patient perspective is incorporated into key commercial decisions and brand strategies
Disease Education & Market Development
- Lead disease education strategies designed to improve awareness and understanding of narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia
- Develop initiatives that address barriers to diagnosis, treatment initiation, and disease management
- Partner with Medical Affairs and Patient Advocacy to ensure patient needs and clinical insights are reflected in engagement strategies
- Support market development initiatives that improve disease awareness, diagnosis, and patient activation
Patient Marketing & Experience
- Lead development and execution of patient and caregiver marketing initiatives across branded and unbranded channels
- Oversee development of patient messaging, content strategy, and omnichannel engagement programs
- Lead patient support and engagement initiatives across the treatment journey
- Monitor performance and apply customer insights and analytics to optimize program effectiveness
- Cross-Functional Leadership
- Partner across, Market Access, Patient Services, Patient Advocacy, Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Legal, Commercial Operations, Market Research, and Corporate Communications to drive aligned execution
- Lead agency and vendor relationships, ensuring delivery of high-quality work on time and within budget
- Support launch readiness planning and execution across the organization
- Influence stakeholders across functions to drive decision-making and business results
People Leadership
- Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing patient marketing team
- Provide coaching, mentorship, and performance management to direct reports
- Build capabilities, processes, and ways of working required to support launch and future brand growth
- Foster a collaborative, patient-centric, and results-oriented culture
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree required, MBA or other advanced degree preferred
- 12+ years of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, or related commercial experience
Preferred Qualifications:
- Minimum of 5 years of progressive marketing experience, including patient, consumer, customer, or brand marketing responsibilities
- Demonstrated success leading patient, customer, consumer, or brand marketing initiatives within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry
- Demonstrated success developing and executing commercial strategies that drive business results
- Proven ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives within a matrixed organization
- Prior people leadership experience with a track record of developing, coaching, and leading high-performing teams
- Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders and senior leaders across functions
- Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities
- Experience managing agencies, vendors, and external partners
- Launch experience
- Experience in neuroscience, neurology, sleep medicine, rare disease, or other complex therapeutic categories
- Experience developing disease education, patient engagement, or customer experience strategies
- Experience leveraging customer insights and analytics to inform commercial decision-making
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
- Experience operating effectively in a pre-launch or launch environment
- Strong strategic thinking and business acumen
- Deep understanding of patient engagement, disease education, customer experience, and omnichannel marketing
- Excellent communication, presentation, and influencing skills
- Ability to translate insights into actionable business recommendations
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
- Ability to balance strategic planning with operational execution
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Demonstrated ability to drive results through collaboration and influence
Travel Requirements:
- Approximately 20-30% travel
The annual base salary for this position ranges from $200k to $240k. In addition, this position is eligible for an annual performance pay bonus. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, training, knowledge, and experience. Alkermes offers a competitive benefits package. Additional details can be found on our careers website: www.alkermes.com/careers#working-here
#LI-TT1 #LI-hybrid
About Us
Why join Team Alkermes?
Alkermes applies its decades of deep neuroscience expertise to develop medicines designed to help people living with complex and difficult-to-treat psychiatric and neurological disorders. A global biopharmaceutical company, headquartered in Ireland with U.S. locations in Massachusetts and Ohio, we seek to make a meaningful difference in the way people manage their diseases. We have a portfolio of proprietary commercial products for the treatment of alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder and narcolepsy, and a pipeline of clinical and preclinical candidates in development for various psychiatric and neurological disorders.
We are proud to have been recognized as an employer of choice by many national organizations. In 2024 and 2025, we were certified as a Great Place to Work in the U.S. and named one of Massachusetts’ Top Places to Work by the Boston Globe, a Best Place to Work in Greater Cincinnati by the Cincinnati Business Courier and recognized as a Best Place to Work in BioPharma by Fortune Magazine.
Alkermes, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any qualified applicant or employee because of race, creed, color, age, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression and identity, disability, genetic information, veteran status, military status, application for military service or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law. Alkermes also complies with all work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act and IRCA. Alkermes is an E-Verify employer.
