Vice President, Head of Payer Accounts (US Field based)

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Job Description

This role can be field based in the US.

The Vice President, Head of Payer Accounts will lead U.S. payer account strategy and execution to optimize payer access, reimbursement, and affordability for Takeda’s portfolio across commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid segments. This role is accountable for developing and executing a unified payer engagement model across national and regional health plans, PBMs, employer groups, and government payers to support product access, coverage, and patient continuity of care.

The role ensures alignment of payer strategy, contracting, field execution, and analytics with USBU commercial objectives, driving optimized access outcomes, contract performance, and value realization. The VP, Head of Payer Accounts provides strategic leadership, operational excellence, and cross functional collaboration to advance Takeda’s access position across therapeutic areas and lifecycle stages.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Lead U.S. payer account strategy and execution across commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid payer segments, ensuring effective coverage, reimbursement, and access outcomes for Takeda products.
• Oversee national and regional payer account teams, ensuring coordinated field execution, pull through of payer contracts, access issue identification and escalation, and consistent engagement across account types.
• Own payer engagement with national and regional health plans, PBMs, employer groups, and government payers, serving as senior executive sponsor for key payer relationships.
• Drive development and execution of payer contracting strategies in close partnership with Contracting & Pricing, ensuring alignment with brand, lifecycle, and portfolio objectives.
• Partner with Franchise teams, Medical, Patient Services, and Commercial Operations to ensure payer strategies are integrated with brand plans, patient support models, and launch readiness.
• Ensure data driven decision making through robust analytics, dashboards, KPI monitoring, and performance reviews across payer accounts and access initiatives.
• Serve as primary executive escalation point for payer access barriers, coverage challenges, reimbursement issues, and policy driven access risks.
• Represent the USBU in internal governance forums related to payer strategy, access performance, and reimbursement policy; communicate payer strategy and results to senior leadership.
• Lead cross functional collaboration with PAMA, Finance, Legal, Compliance, and Government Affairs to ensure payer activities are compliant, scalable, and aligned with Takeda standards.

CORE ELEMENTS RELATED TO THIS ROLE

• Expert knowledge of U.S. payer access dynamics, reimbursement pathways, and managed care models across commercial and government segments.
• Strong leadership capability to unify payer strategy, field execution, and analytics into a cohesive national access function.
• Executive presence with ability to influence across enterprise stakeholders and external payer leadership.
• Deep understanding of regulatory, compliance, and operational requirements impacting payer contracting and reimbursement.

TECHNICAL / FUNCTIONAL EXPERTISE

• Extensive expertise in U.S. Managed Markets, payer contracting, formulary access, utilization management, and reimbursement strategies.
• Strong understanding of payer economics, rebate and fee for service structures, value based arrangements, and access tradeoffs.
• Experience leveraging analytics, data aggregation, and performance measurement to drive payer strategy and execution

LEADERSHIP

• Proven ability to lead large, geographically dispersed teams and drive consistent execution across national and regional payer accounts.
• Skilled communicator and influencer across executive leadership, cross functional partners, and field based teams.
• Demonstrated success leading organizations through change, growth, and increasing complexity.

DECISION MAKING AND AUTONOMY

• High level of autonomy in payer strategy decisions, contract positioning, and escalation management.
• Decisions directly impact product access, revenue forecasts, patient affordability, and market competitive