Senior Director/Director, Commercial IT Business Partner - Avidity Biosciences

Job Title:

Senior Director/Director, Commercial IT Business Partner

Location:

San Diego, CA / Hybrid / Remote

Position type:

FLSA:

Full time  

Exempt

Department:

Information Technology

At Avidity Biosciences, we are passionate about the impact of every employee in realizing our vision of improving people’s lives by delivering a new class of RNA therapeutics. Avidity is revolutionizing the field of RNA with its proprietary AOCs, which are designed to combine the specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the precision of oligonucleotide therapies to address targets and diseases previously unreachable with existing RNA therapies. If you are a committed, solution-oriented thinker, join us in making a difference and become part of our growing culture that is integrated, collaborative, agile and focused on the needs of patients. 

Avidity Biosciences, Inc.'s mission is to profoundly improve people's lives by delivering a new class of RNA therapeutics - Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs™). Utilizing its proprietary AOC platform, Avidity demonstrated the first-ever successful targeted delivery of RNA into muscle and is leading the field with clinical development programs for three rare muscle diseases: myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). Avidity is broadening the reach of AOCs with its advancing and expanding pipeline, including programs in cardiology and immunology through internal discovery efforts and key partnerships. Avidity is headquartered in San Diego, CA. For more information about our AOC platform, clinical development pipeline, and people, please visit www.aviditybiosciences.com and engage with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

The Opportunity

The Senior Director/Director, Information Technology (IT) Business Partner for Commercial is part of the IT Leadership Team and serves as a strategic partner and trusted advisor to Commercial teams globally.  He or she creates and maintains a Commercial IT strategy and roadmap, aligned to business goals and identifies opportunities where IT can bring about efficiencies, embed quality, and drive business innovation. As a business partner, he or she leads the delivery of the Commercial technology and data roadmap and ensures effective adoption of new solutions.  Through the roadmap, maintains a sharp focus on delivering operational efficiencies across the enterprise and promotes the best possible customer experience.  Business partners include, but are not limited to Sales, Marketing, Commercial Operations, Medical Affairs, Patient Advocacy, and Market Access.

What You Will Contribute

• This position ensures the strategic use of technology, data capabilities, and business process improvements to drive business growth and successfully enable the patient and health care practitioner journey.
• Serves as a visible transformational leader who builds and manages strategic and trust-based relationships with Commercial teams globally.
• Develops a detailed understanding of Commercial business processes to serve as subject matter expert on behalf of business stakeholders as new technology solutions and enhancements are implemented. 
• Partners with business functions to develop, maintain, and communicate aligned IT strategies while overseeing implementation of IT projects in support of the strategy. 
• Participates in the prioritization of the Commercial systems and data portfolio and represents the portfolio to stakeholders. 
• Deploys and supports capabilities such as: customer relationship management, medical information management, marketing campaign management, omnichannel, master data management, data analytics, and transparency reporting.
• Provides leadership over the implementation and support of commercial data governance, architecture, quality, warehousing, analytics, and third-party integrations.
• Serves as a change agent who helps the IT Team and supported stakeholders transform by focusing organizational effectiveness, improvement, and development.
• Provides oversight and hands-on portfolio/project management for Commercial IT initiatives.
• Manages internal/external team members in executing the project management & software development lifecycles, driving adoption, and measuring the value / effectiveness of implemented systems & processes. 
• Develops his or her team with the right leadership traits to become impactful business partners, ensuring teams engage their internal customers in the language of the business.
• Ensures teams embrace GxP, IT Compliance, IT Security, SOX, data privacy, and other risk management considerations, and that they are embedded in projects and operations.
• Instils a strong focus on Agile service delivery while maintaining high quality and compliant solutions.  Integrating Agile with the ERP transformation is a critical part of the program’s success.
• Stay informed on industry technology trends and initiatives, proactively identify and champion the adoption of emerging technologies, such as AI, to drive business innovation and maintain Avidity’s competitive edge. 
• Applies knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, maintains awareness of the competitive environment, and exhibits knowledge seeking and sharing best practices.
• Earns a seat at stakeholder meetings, serving as a contributing member beyond representing IT.

What We Seek

• Bachelor’s degree in a related technical or business discipline required.  Advanced degree is preferred.
• 15+ years of related experience in the pharmaceutical/medical device industry required with at least 5 years supporting commercial.  Experience with rare disease a plus.
• Served as a business relationship manager or consultant to Commercial functions within a global organization with a proven track record of delivering business and technical solutions.  This includes leading business process improvement initiatives and leading the selection and deployment of new technologies. Demonstrated experience in supporting Commercial Teams such as Sales, Marketing, Commercial Operations, Medical Affairs, Patient Advocacy, and Market Access.
• Recognized as a business leader first who is leading a technology function.
• Demonstrable experience overseeing the strategic planning for a technology services function aligning objectives to functional strategic imperatives.  Responsible for the annual budget and recurring forecasts.
• Service delivery experience using direct, contract, and matrixed resources.
• Experience in embracing a green field and selecting, deploying, and supporting a Commercial and Medical Affairs portfolio of capabilities required to successfully launch a product(s) at a rapid pace.
• Robust program and project management experience in an international, team-oriented cross-functional environment.  Managed project teams of varying size and resource mix / skill sets.
• Organizational change management experience, leveraging key change management principles and tools for the rollout of new capabilities and introduction of change to the business.  In addition, monitored and drove the adoption of new business processes and IT capabilities with a strong focus on user experience.
• Experience managing internal and external teams to deliver solutions leveraging AI and other emerging technologies. 
• Experience in both structured and agile SDLC methodologies.  Instills an agile and continuous improvement culture.
• Vendor management experience including vendor due diligence, contracting, and performance management.  Fosters partnerships and contracts which result in competitive investment for Avidity and maximizes the efficiency of vendor performance.
• Ability to creatively influence global stakeholders and IT colleagues to achieve objectives and realize business value.
• Strong leadership and decision-making skills, able to develop positive coaching/mentoring relationships with direct reports and global matrixed team members.
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills. Able to understand and absorb complex information and requirements.
• Ability to effectively facilitate meetings (e.g., status meetings, functional requirements gathering, process flow development workshops, end user training, etc.)
• Excellent organizational skills, meticulous and methodical. Good at prioritizing and flexible enough to adapt plans. Comfortable working to tight deadlines and within constraints.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong ability to lead change management initiatives and communicate complex information simply and effectively.

• Forms trusting, collaborative and strategic relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners with skills in assertion, negotiation, influencing, tact and diplomacy.

• The base salary range for this role is $200,600 - $221,800. The final compensation will be commensurate with such factors as relevant experience, skillset, internal equity and market factors.
• Avidity offers competitive compensation and benefits which includes the opportunity for annual and spot bonuses, stock options and RSUs, as well as a 401(k) with an employer match. In addition, the comprehensive wellness program includes coverage for medical, dental, vision, and LTD, and four weeks of time off.
• A commitment to learning and development which includes a variety of programming internally developed by and for Avidity employees, opportunities for job-specific training offered by industry, and an education reimbursement program.

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Avidity Biosciences

10578 Science Center Dr. Suite 125

San Diego, CA

92121

O: 858-401-7900

F: 858-401-7901