Senior Director, Sales

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. 

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 addressing education gaps
  • Develop and implement processes to identify and pursue individual and team development opportunities
• Recruit, motivate, develop, and retain a high-performing sales team responsible for a broad spectrum of critical relationships across multiple oncology healthcare settings:
  • Develop and execute a strategic hiring plan to expand the field organization and ensure launch readiness.
  • Maintain a comprehensive approach to performance management to ensure optimal execution at all levels of the sales organization – setting objectives/goals, designing incentives, developing plans, working/progressing the plans, measuring impact, implementing changes to optimize impact, etc. 
  • Set and achieve aspirational goals by developing an impactful plan, gaining alignment throughout the sales organization, and inspiring flawless execution.
• Maintain a high degree of engagement and visibility in the field with sales team and key customers.
• Ensure regular, effective communication with sales leadership to identify challenges and opportunities and deliver solutions as needed.
• Develop and cultivate close, collaborative relationships with Market Access and Medical Affairs leadership to ensure teams are working together both effectively and compliantly internally and in the field.
• Partner with fellow members of the commercial leadership team to develop objectives, agenda, and plans for POA and related meetings.  Serve as the executive champion for coordination and execution of these meetings to ensure optimal impact.
• Partner with fellow members of the sarcoma franchise leadership team to develop and deliver periodic, cross-functional business reviews that present a fact-based, data-driven state of the business and thoughtful recommendations for future plans (what to keep doing, what to change, rationales for both, and what will be achieved).
• Role involves travel including customer visits, team meetings, key industry meetings, and commitment to regular time in the home office

What You’ll Bring:

• BS/BA degree in business, life sciences, or related discipline.  Advanced degree preferred (e.g., MBA, MPH, PharmD, PhD).
• Ten (10) or more years of experience within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries including at least 7+ years in sales or related functions and ~5 years in sales leadership roles. 
• Oncology launch experience is required; oral oncolytic or rare/orphan market experience strongly preferred.
• Existing relationships with key oncology-specialty customers are highly valued (e.g., KOLs, key account leadership, oncology societies, GPOs, etc.)
• Experience developing teams and new commercial capabilities in preparation for product launches is required.
• Experience leading sales teams/regions that are responsible for multiple products is highly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results in competitive markets.
• Experience in and understanding of other commercial functions (e.g., marketing, market access, sales operations, sales training, insights/analytics, business development, etc.) will be an important consideration for this role.
• Must be highly analytical.  Must be comfortable formulating and delivering data-driven, fact-based analyses of the business and utilizing these insights to propose effective strategies to meet corporate objectives.
• Must be a resourceful, creative problem solver who seeks out, and is receptive to, new ideas and approaches to solving persistent challenges.
• Must be a true team player – authentic, humble, professional, flexible, and coachable – able to build a positive team spirit and lead teams through the ups and downs of drug development, puts success of the company and the overall commercial organization above own interests and supports everyone’s efforts to succeed, grow, and develop.
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and lead teams.  Must have the managerial courage to make and stand by difficult and/or unpopular decisions if it is what is right for patients and for the business.
• Highly skilled at influencing cross-functional teams as an equal partner, including interfacing with key internal and external stakeholders across commercial and medical/clinical teams.
• Ability and willingness to work effectively and seamlessly at multiple “altitudes” within the organization.  Maintains a “no job is too big or too small” attitude necessary to succeed in a startup environment and ensures direct reports do the same.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills (including ability to successfully convey insights and recommendations via PowerPoint), including ability to synthesize data and deliver a clear overview of the state of the business, drivers of performance, opportunities and risks, and recommended action plans.  Strong executive presence and comfortable presenting to CEO and board of directors.
• Demonstrated ability to attract top talent with diverse backgrounds and to build cohesive, high performing teams
• Demonstrated ability to adapt to changes in the work environment. Manages competing demands. Changes approach or method to best fit the situation. Able to deal with frequent change, delays, unexpected events, or uncertainty/ambiguity with maturity and professionalism.

Deciphera offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes but is not limited to the following:

• Non-accrual paid time off
• Summer vacation bonus
• Global, company-wide summer and winter shutdowns
• An annual lifestyle allowance
• Monthly cell phone stipend
• Internal rewards and recognition program
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match
• Life and Supplemental life insurance for family
• Short and Long Term Disability insurance
• Health savings account with company contribution
• Flexible spending account for either health care and/or dependent care.
• Family planning benefit
• Generous parental leave
• [if applicable] Car allowance

Deciphera, a member of ONO, is a company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Our state-of-the-art research facility is located in Lawrence, Kansas and our European operations are run out of Switzerland.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION

Deciphera is committed to equal employment opportunity and values diversity. To ensure that we comply with reporting requirements and to learn more about how we can increase diversity in our candidate pool, we invite you to voluntarily provide demographic information in a confidential survey at the end of this application. Providing this information is optional. It will not be accessible or used in the hiring process, and has no effect on your opportunity for employment. This information will also be treated confidentially.  Our commitment to increasing diversity in our candidate pool does not affect our commitment to equal employment opportunity, including our ongoing commitment to make all hiring and other employment decisions solely on a nondiscriminatory basis.