Senior Director, Sales

Company Description

Deciphera, a member of ONO, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing important new medicines to improve the lives of people with cancer. We are leveraging our proprietary switch-control kinase inhibitor platform and deep expertise in kinase biology to develop a broad portfolio of innovative medicines.

Enabled by our proprietary drug discovery platform, Deciphera has developed a diverse pipeline of wholly-owned drug candidates. QINLOCK® (ripretinib) is Deciphera’s switch control inhibitor developed for the treatment of fourth-line GIST. QINLOCK is approved in Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.  We wholly own QINLOCK and all of our drug candidates with the exception of a development and commercialization out-license agreement for QINLOCK in Greater China. In addition to QINLOCK, we have identified and advanced multiple product candidates from our platform into clinical studies, including vimseltinib and DCC-3116.  

See here for more details on our portfolio.

We offer an outstanding culture and opportunity for personal and professional growth guided by our “PATHS” Core Values and how we work together. We are proud to be Great Place to Work Certified 2023 and rank #25 on Fortune’s Best Places to Work Small and Midsized Biotech Companies in 2023. Find more details about our award-winning culture here. 

Job Description

The Role:

Deciphera is seeking a seasoned, dynamic commercial leader with significant oncology and/or rare disease launch experience to grow and guide the company’s field sales organization.  The Senior Director of Sales will be responsible for the sales strategy and execution for the company’s oncology portfolio.  This position plays a pivotal role in driving revenue growth for QINLOCK® as well as the launch of Deciphera’s second commercial product vimseltinib, an orally administered, potent and highly-selective switch-control kinase inhibitor of CSF1R currently in development for the treatment for tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT).  The Senior Director of Sales is a critical commercial leadership role that will be instrumental in Deciphera’s evolution into a fully-integrated, multi-product commercial-stage oncology company. 

This position will report to the Vice President, Sarcoma Franchise Head and is a remote, field-based position which will require business travel.

What You’ll Do:

• The Senior Director of Sales will play a critical role in leading the sales organization including the vision, structure, talent base, infrastructure, and selling skills/capabilities.  This individual will lead the execution of the launch of the company’s second pharmaceutical product, vimseltinib, and the implementation of multi-product selling.  Success in this role will require not only growing and leading a high-performing oncology sales organization, but also partnering with fellow members of the sarcoma franchise function to:
  • Execution of the commercial strategy
  • Develop and implement new organizational capabilities, including evolving ways of working to support two commercial products
  • Cultivate a positive culture based on respect, trust, integrity, professionalism, humility, continual improvement, putting patients first, and “doing the right thing.”  Cultural leadership and stewardship will be a high priority for this position.
• Partner with Commercial Insights & Operations to optimize critical sales operations capabilities and resources including:
  • CRM optimization
  • KPIs and reporting
  • IC philosophy, strategy, and plan design
  • Ensuring that achievement of cultural objectives is part of our rewards and recognition philosophy
  • Sales administrative requirements (IT, fleet, T&E, compliance SOPs, Sunshine reporting, etc.)
• Partner with Commercial Training & Effectiveness (which reports to the Sarcoma Franchise Head) to build a differentiated approach to sales training and development:
  • Cultivate the concept of continual improvement as a core value of the sales organization
  • Provide input into the design of a comprehensive sales training curriculum that includes:
    • Multiple phases – e.g., onboarding (new hires), launch preparation, continuing education
    • Cross-functional content – e.g., clinical, market access, business planning, selling strategies & methods, compliance, etc.
    • Complimentary delivery channels – in person meetings, online modules, telecons/webexes, etc.
    • Latest adult learning principles
  • Develop and implement methods for measuring the impact of sales training initiatives and identifying and a