Senior Manager/Associate Director, Marketing Operations & Commercial Review

About the Company

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) is a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company dedicated to drug discovery, clinical development, and commercialization of life-changing therapeutics for patients with high unmet medical needs. The company is advancing an exciting product pipeline, including a Phase 3 azetukalner program for epilepsy, depression, and pain. Recent milestones include positive topline data from the Phase 3 X-TOLE2 study in focal onset seizures (FOS) and anticipated FDA New Drug Application submission in Q3 2026. Xenon also has Phase 3 trials underway for major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar depression (BPD), alongside early-stage programs targeting pain. Backed by a strong balance sheet, Xenon is building a fully integrated neuroscience company with robust discovery, clinical development, corporate, and commercial operations.

About the Role

Xenon is seeking a Senior Manager/Associate Director, Marketing Operations & Commercial Review to lead the commercial review committee and enable scalable, compliant, and high-quality delivery of marketing programs and tactics. This role partners closely with Marketing, Regulatory, Legal, Medical Affairs, Compliance, and IT to ensure seamless coordination, efficient processes, and strong governance across all marketing activities. The position is critical in a fast-paced, pre-launch environment and reports to the Vice President, Commercial Operations. The role is based in Needham, MA (Boston area) with a hybrid schedule requiring a minimum of two onsite days per week.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, optimization, and execution of the Commercial Review Committee (CRC/MLR) process, ensuring alignment with Marketing, Regulatory, Legal, Medical, and Compliance stakeholders.
• Continuously assess and improve CRC workflows, identifying bottlenecks, redundancies, and cycle-time challenges; propose and implement solutions to enhance efficiency and quality.
• Serve as primary CRC operations lead, coordinating reviews directly or managing an outsourced/vendor-supported model based on business needs.
• Establish and manage CRC governance forums, including coordinating steering committees, setting agendas, and aligning stakeholders on process improvements.
• Lead and coordinate the Executive Review Committee escalation governance committee.
• Partner with IT and cross-functional teams to manage systems supporting CRC workflows (e.g., Veeva PromoMats), including user access, license management, and system enhancements.
• Develop and deliver training programs for CRC processes, systems, and ways of working across Marketing and cross-functional partners.
• Stay current on industry best practices and emerging technologies (including AI-enabled content and review solutions); identify opportunities and drive adoption of new capabilities.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to evaluate and enhance the end-to-end content lifecycle, including:
  • Content intake and planning
  • Content creation and modular content strategy
  • Digital asset management (DAM) and content libraries
  • Content reuse and optimization
• Develop and align stakeholders to a forward-looking roadmap for content operations maturity and implement prioritized enhancements.
• Lead vendor selection, process development, and day-to-day coordination for materials printing and fulfillment management.
• Partner with Marketing leadership to forecast review volume, assess capacity, and plan for workload fluctuations.
• Proactively identify risks related to throughput, timelines, or resource constraints and develop mitigation plans.
• Drive integrated planning and scheduling of marketing materials through the CRC process to ensure timely delivery of campaigns, launches, and field materials.
• Act as a central point of coordination across Marketing, Regulatory, Legal, Medical, and Compliance to align priorities and timelines.
• Manage external vendors and agency partners supporting CRC operations, print, fulfillment, and material distribution.
• Define scope of work, performance expectations, and service-level agreements (SLAs) for vendors; monitor performance against KPIs and drive continuous improvement.
• Track budgets related to marketing operations and vendor services, ensuring efficient and compliant resource utilization.
• Define, implement, and track KPIs for marketing operations and CRC performance, including cycle times, approval rates, rework levels, and throughput.
• Develop and maintain operational dashboards and reporting to provide transparency into process performance and identify improvement opportunities.
• Use data-driven insights to continuously refine processes and improve effectiveness.
• Develop and propose short- and long-term objectives for the function aligned with company strategies and plans.
• Recruit, lead, direct, develop, coach, and evaluate direct reports, if any, in accordance with company policies.
• Act in accordance with company policies, including the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, and ensure compliance among direct reports.
• Some international travel may be required.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 6–10+ years of experience in marketing operations within pharmaceutical/biotech or agency environments.
• Demonstrated experience with:
  • MLR/CRC processes and governance
  • Campaign operations and asset lifecycle management
  • Vendor and agency management
• Strong understanding of regulatory and compliance requirements in pharmaceutical marketing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in launch or pre-launch environments, particularly in specialty or rare disease.
• Experience with Veeva PromoMats or similar systems.
• Exposure to omnichannel marketing and modular content strategies.
• Experience implementing process improvements or transformation initiatives.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary, target bonus, and stock options.
• Comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, short- and long-term disability, accidental death & dismemberment, and life insurance.
• Employee Assistance Program and travel insurance.
• Retirement savings programs with company matching contributions.
• Paid time off including vacation, personal days, sick days, and an end-of-year company shutdown.
• Employee development programs, including tuition assistance for advanced degrees.