Associate Director, US Marketing Ophthalmology, Patient Support Program Access and Affordability Lead

Job Description

Associate Director, US Marketing Ophthalmology, Patient Support Program Access and Affordability Lead

Job Description:

Our US Ophthalmology team is dedicated to improving the lives of patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) through a pipeline of two investigational therapies. We pursue this mission through patient focus, innovation, expanded access to transformative treatments, and collaboration with healthcare systems, governments, and payers. Grounded in scientific rigor and flawless execution, we aim to bring breakthrough therapies to the patients who need them most.

Position Summary:

Reporting to the US Ophthalmology Patient Support Strategy lead, the Associate Director, Access & Affordability Programming is responsible for the strategic design, implementation, optimization, and ongoing management of access, reimbursement, and affordability programs that support patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and retina practices across the US Ophthalmology portfolio.

This individual will be responsible for translating ophthalmology-specific patient, provider, and business needs into differentiated access and affordability solutions. Specifically, this role will lead the development of patient support capabilities that reduce barriers to therapy initiation and continuity, including hub services, reimbursement support, benefit verification, prior authorization support, copay programs and other financial assistance solutions.

The role provides strategic direction and oversight for access and affordability initiatives while leveraging cross-functional capabilities, operational expertise, and vendor partnerships for execution. The individual in this role will partner closely with the Patient Engagement COE, US Hubs/Patient Services Operations, Field Reimbursement, Data & Analytics, Compliance, Legal, Privacy, Finance, and external vendors to deliver a seamless and integrated patient support experience.

The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking, patient support expertise and cross-functional leadership to translate patient, practice, and business needs into scalable solutions that improve access and enhance the overall patient experience.

Key Responsibilities:

• Affordability & Access Strategy

• Lead the development of the access and affordability vision and strategy for the US Ophthalmology portfolio.
• Identify patient, caregiver, provider, and account-level barriers that may impact treatment access, initiation, adherence, and persistence.
• Translate ophthalmology market insights into patient support strategies that support brand objectives and optimize the treatment experience.
• Serve as the primary brand representative for access and affordability strategy within cross-functional planning and launch teams.
• Ensure patient support priorities are integrated into annual brand planning and long-range portfolio strategy.

• Program and Design Leadership

• Own execution of affordability- and adherence-related strategic decisions and lead end-to-end process mapping and cross-functional coordination to ensure seamless go-to-market implementation, disciplined post-launch follow-through, and continuous optimization of all program components.
• Translate brand priorities into program requirements, business rules, patient experience objectives, and success metrics.
• Collaborate with the Patient Engagement CoE to identify opportunities to enhance patient support capabilities and incorporate innovative industry best practices.
• Act as the key ophthalmology subject matter expert within patient support program development efforts.

• Data Measurement and Performance Management:

• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to define and oversee measurement frameworks; establish affordability and access KPIs, data requirements, and performance dashboards that enable consistent reporting, performance tracking, and data-driven decision making.
• Integrate internal and external data sources and synthesize and translate insights including patient experience, operational, and vendor performance data, to identify drivers, risks, barriers, and opportunities that improve affordability and access programming.
• Use data-driven insights to optimize customer experience strategy, optimize patient touchpoints and channels, improve launch readiness and PSP evolution, and generate actionable recommendations for continuous program improvement.

• Launch Planning and Readiness:

• Lead patient support strategy development for new product launches and major indication expansions.
• Ensure access and affordability strategies are aligned with payer, provider, contracting, reimbursement, and field engagement strategies.
• Partner with Marketing, Market Access, Field Reimbursement, Provider Strategy, and the CoE to ensure launch readiness.
• Support development of patient support positioning, messaging, training, and field-facing materials related to access and affordability programs.

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