Global Commercial Strategist

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases. We bring together scientific, clinical, and commercial expertise to advance medicines that have the potential to change standards of care and improve patients’ lives. At Vertex, employees work in a collaborative, purpose-driven environment focused on innovation, excellence, and meaningful impact.

About the role

Vertex is seeking short-term support (6-9 months) at the Associate Director level in Global Commercial Strategy (GCS) to support the chronic pain pipeline. This role will be responsible for leading commercial opportunity assessments for future pain assets across DSP, LSR, and MSK markets. The individual in this role will develop an integrated view of commercial opportunities in several chronic pain markets by building foundational market insights, understanding the treatment landscape and competitive environment, and generating customer insights that inform strategic decision-making. This work will help define where future assets may have the greatest potential and support pipeline prioritization, portfolio planning, and broader commercial strategy.

The ideal candidate will bring experience in commercial strategy, market assessment, new product planning, consulting, healthcare, or related business functions, along with the ability to synthesize complex information into clear, actionable recommendations for cross-functional teams and senior leadership.

Work model: Hybrid
Duration: 6-9 months full-time

Responsibilities

• Lead assessment of the commercial opportunity for future chronic pain assets across several chronic pain markets, including DSP, LSR, and MSK.
• For each market, develop an integrated view of market attractiveness, unmet need, treatment dynamics, competitive intensity, and future asset potential. This includes generating and synthesizing market and customer insights into clear recommendations that inform pipeline prioritization, strategic planning, and investment decisions.
• Develop executive-level leadership presentations to support sharing and aligning Disease State teams and the Commercialization Committee (EC members) on recommendations.
• Build an integrated view of priority chronic pain markets—DSP, LSR, and MSK—to determine where future assets have the strongest commercial potential. Define market attractiveness, unmet need, patient segments, treatment dynamics, and where future assets can create differentiated value:
  • Assess current and evolving standards of care, prescribing behavior, patient flow, competitors, pipeline assets, and adjacent treatment approaches.
  • Synthesize HCP, patient, payer, and cross-functional input to identify decision drivers, adoption barriers, access considerations, and evidence needs.
  • Translate insights into clear recommendations on opportunity size, target patient, positioning, risks, evidence gaps, and implications for development and portfolio decisions.
  • Pressure-test future launch potential by assessing target customer segments, channel strategy, access and reimbursement considerations, evidence generation needs, adoption barriers, field force implications, and key commercial milestones.
• Partner with Commercial, Clinical Development, Medical, Market Access, Forecasting, and Business Intelligence & Analytics to align recommendations with development strategy and business decisions.
• Prepare concise executive updates and governance materials that clarify choices, tradeoffs, and next steps.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, consulting, healthcare, commercial strategy, marketing, analytics, or a related business function.
• Ability to support assessment of commercial opportunity and contribute to strategic decision-making for pipeline or in-line assets.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to synthesize information from multiple sources into clear insights and recommendations.
• Ability to interpret data and derive insights in partnership with cross-functional teams, including Business Intelligence & Analytics and Forecasting.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic and evolving environment.

Skills

• Commercial opportunity assessment.
• Strategic analysis and insight development.
• Customer, market, and competitive insight synthesis.
• Data interpretation.
• Executive communication and presentation development.
• PowerPoint and Excel proficiency.
• Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, life sciences consulting, healthcare strategy, or new product planning.
• Ability to work effectively across cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment.
• Familiarity with pharmaceutical market dynamics, treatment landscapes, and competitive analysis.
• Experience in pain, neuroscience, musculoskeletal, inflammation, or adjacent therapeutic areas.
• Familiarity with DSP, LSR, and MSK market segments.
• Experience supporting pipeline commercial strategy, market assessment, or portfolio planning.
• Experience working closely with Business Intelligence & Analytics, Forecasting, Market Research, Medical, Clinical, or Market Access teams.
• Knowledge of U.S. and/or global pharmaceutical market access considerations.
• Advanced degree preferred but not required.

Pay

$120–$140/hour