National Account Director, Medicaid (West) - Job ID: 1694

Ascendis Pharma is a dynamic, fast-growing global biopharmaceutical company with locations in Denmark, Europe, and the United States. Today, we're advancing programs in Endocrinology Rare Disease and Oncology.

Here at Ascendis, we pride ourselves on exceptional science, visionary leadership, and skilled and passionate colleagues.

Guided by our core values of Patients, Science, and Passion, we use our TransCon® drug development platform to fulfill our mission of developing new and potentially best-in-class therapies to address unmet medical needs.

Our culture fosters a place where skilled, adaptable, and highly resourceful professionals can truly make their mark. We offer a dynamic workplace for employees to grow and develop their skills.

The National Account Director, Medicaid (West) position reports to the Senior Director, National Accounts and Payor Strategy and is responsible for developing and leveraging relationships with the FFS Medicaid Program stakeholders and influencers to gain and maintain access for Ascendis products.  This role is responsible for the implementation of short- and long-term business plans that will optimize appropriate coverage, payment of and patient access to Ascendis products. This individual will assess sales implications of short- and long-term actions with each FFS Medicaid Program customer and take action to move decisions in a direction that continues to open patient access to care aligned with the respective package inserts. Efforts will include working with Medicaid program decision makers including DUR and P&T committees, as well as the following influencers:  Medicaid Pools, PDL Vendors, POS and PA Vendors, etc.   There will also be internally focused responsibilities of executing pull-through and supplemental contracting strategies when needed to optimize coverage. 

The Medicaid National Account Director (WEST) is expected to work with minimal supervision and demonstrate strategic independent thought. This individual will work closely with Pricing & Contracting, HEOR, Advocacy, Patient Services, Marketing, Finance, Operations and Sales Leadership, to ensure consistent exchange of important coverage information, marketplace dynamics, and messages that should be consistently communicated. This role will provide periodic market updates to Sales Management that link important provider, payer and health care reform trends and issues as well as documents initiatives and their outcomes.

Key Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Leading contract pricing committee discussions regarding approvals for contracting requests for targeted accounts.
• Support business development opportunity assessments for market access considerations.
• Influence the development of strategies and solutions to address marketplace opportunities and barriers while proactively considering future market events (ie competitor launch)
• Independently seek analysis to support negotiations as a backbone for fact-based decision making working in partnership with finance, business analytics and medical affairs (HEOR)
• Provide customer insights and expertise in combination with analytics for support of key business decisions and strategies.
• Implements strategies and tactics to support appropriate formulary placement, reimbursement (coverage, coding, payment and patient access) across payer customers
• Negotiates cost effective contracts that allow access to all Ascendis products for providers and their patients
• Full understanding of outcome goals in Medicaid payers assigned
• Creates clear messages for dissemination to sales on important payer trends, reimbursement changes, and billing requirements that will affect product utilization
• Represents the Ascendis Market Access Team at priority national Medicaid organizations
• Attends/participates in assigned state-based DUR and P&T meetings
• Work with the Ascendis Patient Services Field Reimbursement Managers to assure accurate coverage determinations are rendered and resolve customer issues.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's/advanced degree preferred; Minimum 10 years field-based pharmaceutical/biotech Market Access, Sales and/or Marketing experience, with at least 5 years of direct managed care experience in the Medicaid channel.
• Established and current relationships with Pharmacy Directors and Medical Directors within key assigned accounts (i.e., Medi-Cal).
• Role models behaviors consistent with the company vision, mission and values (Patients, Science, Passion).
• Therapeutic experience in Endocrine marketplace preferred.
• Demonstrated kn