Vice President, Key Accounts

Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million.

At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them. 
Our tenacious, passionate employees' challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.

This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?

Akebia Therapeutics ("Akebia") is seeking an experienced Vice President, Sales for its Renal portfolio, and
will report directly to the SVP, Commercial Engagement. The Vice President, Sales is a key member of the
Commercial Leadership team. This position will work closely with and maintain an effective, collaborative
relationship with all internal stakeholders, including Marketing, Medical Affairs, Commercial Operations
and Analytics, Government Affairs, and Market Access to drive brand strategies and tactics for success, as
well as successfully drive business objectives and ensure patient access to Akebia's therapies and drive top-line revenue growth.

The Vice President, Sales will lead a highly effective commercial sales force and provide strategic vision
in managing all aspects of the sales function. The incumbent will lead the efforts to create and drive our
sales strategy, including hiring, training, launch execution, resource planning and allocation, data
analysis and application, overall performance management of the sales force and effective collaboration
across functions to meet the business needs. We are searching for an individual who has demonstrated
the ability to lead, inspire and motivate a sales organization and consistently deliver top-line results.

Responsibilities:

• Builds current and future competitive advantages by understanding and addressing customer needs
  and demonstrating a deep understanding of competitors' strategies.
• Fosters a leadership culture, which attracts, develops and retains high caliber candidates, fosters a
  culture of diversity, innovation and teamwork that will drive the future success of the organization.
• Develops and executes a comprehensive selling model, sales strategy, and national business plan to
  support the short and long-term revenue objectives.
• Provides customer insights and inputs into sales forecasting activities and manage US Sales budget.
• Analyzes both National and Regional trends; develop and implement strategies that align with a
  changing marketplace.
• Partners with the Sales Training & Development Team; this function is responsible for new
  hire sales training, ongoing sales training, developing workshops and training content for sales
  meetings, and creating development opportunities for sales representatives and managers.
• Partners with commercial counterparts as well as other functional leaders to effectively align sales
  objectives with brand and company goals.
• Coordinates and partners with Market Access to ensure the coordination of efforts and priorities
  between the payer and sales groups.
• Effectively communicates strategic direction to the field and fosters a culture of personal
  accountability for owning one's territory/region/area.
• Ensures Sales teams have optimal organizational structure, process, and communication. In
  partnership with the Area Sales Director(s) leads and develops sales directors and effectively
  manages succession planning.
• Works closely with all cross functional groups, providing input representing the field and ensuring
  any follow-on execution of sales program implementation.
• Understands and utilizes business analytics effectively assessing and diagnosing trends and
  behaviors to develop plans that support strategic sales objectives.
• Develops incentive compensation plans that drive performance and effective behaviors.
• Manages and adheres to all company policies and legal, compliance and regulatory guidelines.
  

Basic Qualifications:

•  Bachelor's degree and 12+ years of successful experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry.
•  Minimum of three to five years' experience in a senior sales management position(s).
• Proven ability to lead a US commercial organization and  manage cross-functional teams, with demonstrated success in developing commercialization strategies and managing a P&L.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Broad cross-functional experience in additional functional areas such as marketing, market access,
  sales training, and operations and analytics required.
• Demonstrated abilities to attract, develop and retain talent and a motivational leadership style that
  inspires others.
• Experience providing inspirational, large team leadership seasoned in managing and developing
  individuals and teams.
• Product launch experience, having successfully launched key products/brands and consistently
  achieving sales growth and market share objectives.
• Well established commitment to and proven track record of successful customer interaction and
  orientation toward customer success.
• Experience in developing and managing budgets.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively in a
  clear and organized manner with all levels of the Company.
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 60% of the time.

Compensation:

Targeted Base: $286,977 - $354,501*

*Base Compensation for this role will depend on a number of factors including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience, and may fall outside of the range shown. Base pay is only one component of the company's total rewards package, all regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or the incentive compensation program (if applicable), as well as equity. Additional benefits include health care, vision, dental, retirement, PTO, etc.

Are you an Akebian?

An Akebian is curious, empathetic, and values making connections to people and ideas. Akebian's aren't afraid of diving in and owning a process or a problem, because we all want to deliver a great solution. Akebian's believe that we are better together because we are all working toward a common purpose – to better the life of each person impacted by kidney disease. Want to learn more about what it means to be an Akebian? Visit our website: 

Akebia is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all job applicants.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.