Sr. Director/Executive Director, Commercial Operations

About the role

The Sr. Director or Executive Director, Commercial Operations leads the analytical and operational backbone of the commercial organization. The role owns three interconnected workstreams — Market Research and Insights, Sales Operations, and Analytics — building the data, systems, and processes that translate market intelligence into disciplined commercial decision-making. As a senior member of the Commercial leadership team, this individual serves as a single source of truth for commercial performance, market dynamics, and field execution quality. The role establishes the infrastructure and insight capabilities required to support the Company through its pre-launch, launch, and post-launch phases — equipping Sales, Marketing, Market Access, and executive leadership with reliable analytics, forecasts, and operational tools that inform strategy, resource allocation, and investor communications.

Responsibilities

• Designing and directing primary and secondary market research programs — including qualitative and quantitative studies — to size market opportunity, validate assumptions, and inform brand and launch strategy.

• Translating market insights, physician and payer research, epidemiological and claims data, and competitive intelligence into actionable inputs for commercial planning and forecasting.

• Establishing and maintaining a competitive intelligence function that monitors the market landscape, emerging therapies, and shifting prescriber, payer, and patient dynamics.

• Partnering with Marketing and Medical Affairs to convert insights into positioning, segmentation, targeting, and messaging that support commercial execution.

• Leading the design and administration of sales operations capabilities — including territory design and alignment, field force sizing, targeting, and call planning aligned to prescriber opportunity.

• Developing and managing incentive compensation frameworks, quota-setting methodologies, and performance management systems that drive accountability and align field behavior with corporate priorities.

• Overseeing CRM strategy, configuration, and adoption, ensuring field teams have the tools, data, and reporting needed to execute effectively.

• Establishing sales operations processes, governance, and field communications that enable a consistent, compliant, and efficient commercial operation.

• Supporting Sales leadership in the planning and execution of Plan of Action meetings, national sales meetings, and field incentive programs.

• Building and owning the commercial analytics function — including field analytics, performance dashboards, and reporting systems that support real-time business decisions.

• Developing and defending short- and long-range commercial forecasts using recognized pharma methodologies (patient-flow, prevalence- and incidence-based, analog-based, and TRx-based approaches), including scenario and sensitivity analysis.

• Serving as a single source of truth for commercial revenue expectations, partnering with Finance on gross-to-net modeling, channel economics, and long-range projections that inform corporate planning and capital markets communications.

• Instituting data and reporting governance across commercial data sources, ensuring quality, consistency, and appropriate access for field-based and executive inquiries.

• Delivering timely, accurate performance reporting to the executive team and Board, capturing prescriber adoption trends, launch indicators, and field execution quality.

• Leading build-versus-buy evaluations for commercial data infrastructure, analytics platforms, and outsourced commercial services appropriate to the Company’s stage and resource constraints.

• Designing and integrating the commercial data architecture — spanning specialty pharmacy, claims, prescription, and syndicated data sources — to enable a connected view of commercial performance.

• Prioritizing ruthlessly, allocating to highest-leverage activities, and building a team that treats cost discipline as a competitive advantage.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required, ideally in a quantitative or life-sciences discipline (e.g., Finance, Economics, Statistics, Engineering, Life Sciences, or Pharmacy); MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred.
• 12–15 years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, with deep expertise across sales operations, market research/insights, and commercial analytics.
• Demonstrated commercial experience supporting or leading U.S. specialty pharmaceutical or biotech product launches, including pre-launch analytics, forecasting, and sales operations build-out.
• Proven track record of building forward-looking commercial forecasts using established pharma/biotech methodologies and defending assumptions to senior leadership.
• Hands-on expertise with CRM platforms, commercial data sources, and analytics/reporting tools; strong command of pharmaceutical data (prescription, claims, specialty pharmacy, and syndicated data).
• Experience designing incentive compensation, territory alignment, and field force sizing frameworks.
• Experience building and leading commercial operations teams through key biotech milestones — from pre-commercial through commercial stage.
• Public company or Nasdaq-listed company experience a plus; comfort supporting Board-level and investor communications.

Key Competencies

• Analytical Rigor: Applies disciplined, data-grounded reasoning in environments with limited real-world data and evolving competitive, payer, and prescriber dynamics.
• Strategic and Operational Range: Equally comfortable framing a forecast for the Board and reviewing a field territory alignment — holding insight and execution simultaneously.
• Single Source of Truth: Builds analytics and reporting that leadership trusts; presents ranges rather than point estimates and names risks rather than minimizing them.
• Cross-Functional Credibility: Earns influence with Sales, Marketing, Market Access, Medical Affairs, and Finance through reliable data and strong business logic.
• Ownership Mindset: Takes initiative, drives matters to completion, and holds self and team accountable to outcomes.
• Resource Discipline: Prioritizes ruthlessly, allocates to highest-leverage activities, and builds a team that treats cost discipline as a competitive advantage.

Compensation

The anticipated base salary range for this position is $270,000–$285,000 annually. This range represents a good-faith estimate of what Achieve reasonably expects to pay for this position at the time of hire. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors including relevant experience, skills, qualifications, and internal equity. This position is also eligible for an annual target bonus and equity compensation as determined by the Company’s compensation committee.

Benefits

Achieve offers a comprehensive benefits package, which currently includes: medical, dental, and vision insurance; a 401(k) retirement plan; participation in the Employee Stock Purchase Plan; company-paid life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage; paid time off, and paid company holidays.

About Achieve Life Sciences

At Achieve, we are committed to bringing medicines forward that contribute to a healthier world. Achieve is a specialty pharmaceutical company committed to advancing cytisinicline as a widely available treatment option to help people battling nicotine dependence. If you enjoy working in a dynamic team environment and are passionate about making a difference, we invite you to apply. We strive to attract, develop, and retain highly qualified individuals representing the diverse communities we serve.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Achieve Life Sciences is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.