Manager, Market Access

Position Summary

The Senior Manager, Market Access serves as the business owner of Vericel's patient support program, MyCartilageCare®, ensuring the program delivers an exceptional experience for patients, providers, and the commercial organization while supporting Vericel's business objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the business owner for the MyCartilageCare® program, ensuring alignment with Vericel's patient access, reimbursement, and commercial objectives.

• Continuously evaluate program performance and identify opportunities to improve the patient, provider, and customer experience.

• Develop and implement process improvements that simplify workflows, improve operational efficiency, and support commercial growth.

• Identify opportunities to leverage technology, automation, and standardization to enhance program performance.

• Lead implementation of approved program enhancements and operational initiatives.

• Develop business cases and recommendations supporting future program improvements.

• Serve as Vericel's primary business relationship manager for the MyCartilageCare third-party vendor.

• Establish, monitor, and continuously refine program Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and operational scorecards.

• Conduct regular business reviews to evaluate vendor performance, responsiveness, quality, productivity, customer satisfaction, and overall program effectiveness.

• Hold the vendor accountable for contractual commitments, operational expectations, and continuous improvement objectives.

• Partner with vendor leadership to identify innovative solutions that improve patient access, reimbursement support, case management, and provider experience.

• Review, approve, and monitor program invoices and contractual deliverables.

• Develop meaningful dashboards, scorecards, and performance metrics that measure program effectiveness and business impact.

• Analyze patient access, reimbursement, case management, provider support, and operational performance data to identify trends, opportunities, and risks.

• Translate data into actionable business recommendations for senior leadership.

• Support strategic planning through forecasting, performance analysis, and business insights.

• Partner closely with Sales, Commercial Operations, Marketing, Finance, Medical Affairs, and the patient services organization to optimize program performance.

• Design and implement operating processes that enable Sales and MyCartilageCare representatives to work directly together while ensuring appropriate governance, visibility, and accountability.

• Provide program expertise, operational guidance, and business insights to internal stakeholders.

• Facilitate effective communication and collaboration across cross-functional teams to support program success.

• Champion a culture of continuous improvement across all aspects of the MyCartilageCare program.

• Evaluate existing workflows and identify opportunities to improve speed, quality, scalability, and customer satisfaction.

• Lead cross-functional improvement initiatives using data, customer feedback, and operational insights.

• Ensure operational processes remain compliant with applicable regulations, contractual requirements, and company policies.

• Continuously evaluate industry best practices and recommend improvements that strengthen Vericel's patient services capabilities.

Qualifications, Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Healthcare Administration, Life Sciences, Public Health, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in patient services, reimbursement, specialty pharmacy, market access, healthcare operations, commercial operations, or related healthcare environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing third-party vendors and holding external partners accountable for contractual commitments, performance metrics, and service level expectations.
• Strong program and project management experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives.
• Advanced analytical capabilities with demonstrated experience developing KPIs, dashboards, scorecards, and operational reporting.
• Proven ability to identify operational improvement opportunities and successfully implement process enhancements.
• Strong understanding of reimbursement, specialty pharmacy, patient support programs, and buy-and-bill methodologies.
• Excellent communication, presentation, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Salesforce CRM, and business reporting tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting specialty pharmaceutical, biotechnology, biologic, regenerative medicine, or cell therapy products.
• Experience working with patient HUB services, reimbursement support programs, or specialty pharmacy providers.
• Experience utilizing Power BI or similar business intelligence tools.
• Leverage Lean, Six Sigma, Operational Excellence, or Project Management certification.