Senior Director, Rare Disease Marketing

Lead a landmark rare disease launch and help redefine what's possible for patients. 

Your Role: 

You will build and lead the US marketing strategy and launch readiness for a rare disease brand in the pre-launch phase, with anticipated launch next year. The role leads assigned marketing priorities and collaborates with cross-functional partners to support coordinated planning and execution, consistent with established roles and decision rights. The individual will develop financial and operational objectives, is recognized as an expert for the brand and disease area, and provides leadership, mentoring and guidance to the brand team and cross-functional partners – including medical affairs and market access – to ensure a best-in-class rare disease launch. 

Your Responsibilities: 

• Own and lead development of the US brand strategy and integrated pre-launch marketing plan for a rare disease brand, including customer insight discovery, positioning, segmentation and targeting, messaging platform, and creative campaign development and testing, ahead of anticipated launch next year. 

• Lead, coach and develop direct reports : set clear objectives and job expectations, provide regular feedback, conduct timely performance and development reviews, and build a high-performing, accountable and launch-ready marketing team. 

• Drive disease education and market-shaping strategy to build disease awareness, shorten the diagnostic journey and support appropriate patient identification in a rare disease population, in close partnership with medical affairs and patient advocacy. 

• Oversee development of the HCP marketing strategy and omnichannel engagement plan, including journey orchestration and coordinated personal and non-personal promotion, delivered across an integrated network of digital, remote and in-person channels. 

• Collaborate with relevant functional partners to incorporate customer and stakeholder insights and support alignment with the overall brand strategy, consistent with established roles and decision rights. 

• Lead US launch readiness planning: define the launch roadmap, milestones and KPIs; spearhead development of day-1 launch materials; and serve as primary marketing liaison to Sales and Training in support of the launch. 

• Establish strong relationships with US and global opinion leaders and patient advocacy organizations; lead advisory boards, congress planning and KOL/stakeholder engagement to establish LEO as an important partner in the disease area and to obtain disease, clinical and market insights. 

• Develop and manage the brand marketing budget; own agency-of-record and key vendor relationships, managing budgets, SOWs and performance. 

• Develop presentations for senior management and internal stakeholders on brand priorities, launch readiness, brand plans and performance. 

Your Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or other advanced degree preferred. 

• 12 plus years of experience in the US pharmaceutical/biotech industry, including 8 plus years of marketing experience; rare disease, orphan drug or specialty marketing experience strongly preferred. 

• Previous US product launch experience required; experience leading pre-launch/launch readiness for a rare disease or specialty brand strongly preferred. 

• Agency and vendor management experience required; demonstrated ability to manage budgets and resources. 

• Previous people management experience required, with demonstrated ability to recruit, coach, develop and retain high-performing marketers. 

• Experience across both HCP and patient/consumer marketing preferred, as well as experience with disease education and market development in low-prevalence patient populations preferred. 

• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and achieve results in a highly matrixed organization. 

• Experience partnering with medical affairs, market access and patient services on integrated launch planning. 

• Demonstrated analytical skills, including experience guiding market research and driving metrics-based optimization. 

• The ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required (up to 25%). 

What Will Help You Succeed: 

Success in this role requires a highly collaborative leader who can balance strategic vision with flawless execution in a complex, matrixed environment. You are energized by building high-performing teams, navigating ambiguity, and influencing diverse stakeholders around a shared goal. You demonstrate agility, accountability, and intrapreneurship, bringing an entrepreneurial mindset, a strong sense of ownership, and the ability to adapt quickly in a dynamic pre-launch environment. You are self-aware, results-oriented, and passionate about making a meaningful impact for patients and caregivers. 

Your New Team:  

Reporting to the VP, Rare Disease, you will lead a talented marketing team and serve as a key member of the Rare Disease leadership team. You'll collaborate closely with cross-functional partners across Medical Affairs, Market Access, Patient Services, Sales, Analytics & Insights, Regulatory, Legal, and Compliance, co-leading the Product Team with Medical to shape brand strategy and deliver a successful launch. You will also partner with key opinion leaders, patient advocacy organizations, professional societies, agencies, and external vendors to generate insights and help establish LEO Pharma as an important partner in the rare disease community. 

Compensation: 

The base salary range for this position is $230,000-320,000 per year. The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high of the LEO Pharma range for this position. Salary will vary based on various factors such as the candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. In addition, some positions may include eligibility to earn commissions/bonus based on company and / or individual performance. 

Let’s pioneer together! 

At LEO Pharma, we help people with skin diseases live fulfilling lives by advancing dermatology beyond the skin. We drive dermatology with our knowledge, collaboration, and curiosity, and we are at the forefront of science in developing new medicines. For us, pioneering together is about constantly improving and extending what’s possible for each other, our company, and our patients.  

We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates because we believe that our different perspectives, backgrounds, and attitudes are what enable us to make the best decisions for LEO Pharma and meet the needs of the wonderfully diverse marketplace we operate in.