Associate Director Launch Excellence

About the role

The Associate Director, Launch Excellence will partner with U.S. Brand/Launch Leads and key functions to lead assigned launch excellence workstreams, drive adoption of tools and best practices, and strengthen cross-functional execution.

Responsibilities

• Partner with U.S. Brand/Launch Leads to develop, optimize, and execute launch readiness plans for assigned launches, ensuring alignment to U.S. business objectives and key milestones.
• Identify, adapt, and apply best practices/tools to improve launch excellence and commercial agility.
• Lead and facilitate defined U.S. cross-functional launch workstreams (e.g., readiness reviews, risk/issue management, launch planning cadence) across Marketing, Sales, Market Access, Regulatory, Medical, Legal/Compliance, and Supply Chain to drive coordinated execution.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with U.S. brand teams and key functions to gather insights, align on priorities, and secure sponsorship for launch workstreams; escalate key risks, trade-offs, and decisions as needed.
• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure U.S. launch readiness and launch success (e.g., milestone achievement, operational readiness, and early performance vs. plan) and build dashboards and insights for leadership review.
• Support U.S. launch budget planning/forecasting by providing inputs, assumptions, and tracking; monitor spend vs. plan and coordinate with Finance and budget owners to ensure appropriate visibility and controls.
• Proactively identify launch risks/issues, facilitate mitigation planning with owners, track progress to resolution, and escalate barriers that could impact U.S. launch timing, readiness, or performance.
• Conduct post-launch reviews for assigned U.S. launches; document learnings, update templates/tools, and recommend process improvements to strengthen future launch execution.
• Partner with U.S. launch teams and stakeholders to identify barriers to execution, clarify decision points/owners, and improve launch ways of working.
• Lead special projects assigned by the Director, Commercial Excellence that improve U.S. launch readiness, tools, reporting, or operating mechanisms.
• Translate complex U.S. business obstacles/opportunities into clear workplans, options, and recommendations that support timely decisions and execution.

Requirements

• Strong U.S. commercial acumen.
• The ability to influence without direct authority.
• Comfort operating in a matrix environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of 8–10 years of pharmaceutical experience, including experience supporting U.S. commercial launch planning and execution; launch management and/or project leadership experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience supporting and influencing complex U.S. product launches in a matrix environment (e.g., Marketing, Sales, Market Access, Medical, Regulatory, and Supply Chain).

Skills & Knowledge

• Matrix Leadership / Influence: Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, facilitate cross-functional forums, align stakeholders on priorities, and drive execution without direct reports.
• U.S. Market Knowledge: Strong understanding of U.S. pharmaceutical market dynamics, including commercialization planning, supply chain considerations, regulatory requirements, medical/legal/compliance review processes, and market access.
• Communication & Facilitation: Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex inputs into concise, executive-ready updates, options, and recommendations; effective meeting facilitation skills.
• Adaptability: Ability to adapt to changing priorities and work effectively under pressure to meet tight deadlines.
• Collaboration: Strong people skills and a collaborative approach to collaborating with diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Analytical & Continuous Improvement Mindset: Demonstrated ability to define/track KPIs, identify drivers of readiness gaps, and implement practical process improvements, tools, and templates to improve launch execution.