Title:Field Access Director, Rare Disease
Company:Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Inc.
Job Description:The Field Access Director (FAD) is a field-based, individual contributor role with primary accountability for patient access and reimbursement across Ipsen's US Rare Disease portfolio. The FAD serves as the central point of contact of the patient access ecosystem - coordinating across the Ipsen CARES hub, limited specialty pharmacy (SP) network, and sales layer to help remove barriers and support pull-through for appropriate patients.
This role demands deep expertise in payer policy, prior authorization, denials and appeals, billing and coding, limited distribution, and formulary dynamics across commercial, Medicare Part D, and Medicaid channels. The FAD provides education and reimbursement support to Healthcare Providers (HCPs), healthcare institutions, prior authorization staff, and financial counselors, and addresses patient-specific access challenges including affordability, prior authorization, coverage gaps, and reimbursement.
This position collaborates closely with Sales, Marketing, Value & Access, Patient Services, and Medical Affairs when appropriate, delivering exceptional customer experience and actionable field intelligence. This FAD will have regional responsibility for the Northeast region.
WHAT - Main Responsibilities & Job ExpectationsPatient Access & Pull-Through- Ensure access pull-through for all Ipsen Rare Disease therapies by proactively educating HCPs, office staff, and specialty pharmacy partners on coverage requirements, payer policies, prior authorization pathways, and patient out-of-pocket costs across commercial, Medicare Part D, and Medicaid channels.
- Identify and help resolve access barriers for individual patients in a timely manner, including preauthorization, step therapy, denials, appeals, and affordability challenges.
- Support processes for enrolling patients in Ipsen patient support programs; work directly with Patient Access Managers (PAMs) to resolve complex cases.
- Clearly communicate available distribution options - including the limited SP network and any site-of-care channel alternatives - to HCPs, hospitals, and Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs).
- Monitor formulary positioning for Ipsen Rare Disease products and proactively communicate unexpected changes to Payer team.
Account Management & Stakeholder Engagement- Develop and manage structured communication channels with key account stakeholders including providers, office staff, financial counselors, and specialty pharmacies to facilitate ongoing patient access.
- Apply account prioritization and influence mapping to identify high-impact accounts and ensure FAD time is deployed against the highest patient need.
- Engage in both in-person and virtual education with defined accounts on a wide range of access, reimbursement, billing, and coding topics relevant to Ipsen's Rare Disease portfolio.
- Support appropriate patient access across a range of account types, including:
- Private physician practices
- Hospitals and academic institutions
- Thought leaders and patient advocates
- Regional and state society advocates
- Represent the Rare Disease Value & Access team and provide reimbursement and access support at professional conferences and healthcare events.
Hub & Specialty Pharmacy Collaboration- Serve as a primary field liaison to the Ipsen CARES Patient Support Hub; increase provider and staff awareness of hub capabilities and streamline communication channels between the FAD and PAM.
- Collaborate with specialty pharmacies and the CSS layer to ensure seamless patient onboarding, timely drug access, prescription renewals, and refill continuity.
- Utilize CRM and data portal tools (e.g., case triaging platforms, access dashboards) to monitor high-need cases, identify bottlenecks in the patient journey, and coordinate timely resolution.
- Identify stages in the patient access journey causing delays - including benefit verification, PA initiation, prior authorization, or SP fulfillment - and partner with hub and internal stakeholders to resolve proactively.
Payer Intelligence & Field Insights- Collaborates with payer team, providing insights or for troubleshooting unexpected payer barriers
- Serve as the field expert on local and regional payer coverage policies, benefit design, and reimbursement trends; advise internal sales and account management teams on specific payer access challenges.
- Support strategic analysis and escalation to payer team related to changes in local payer coverage policies, including commercial formulary updates, Medicare Part D changes and their implications for Ipsen's portfolio.
- Conduct regular pulse-check engagement with accounts to monitor customer perceptions of Ipsen access support; surface competitive intelligence and emerging access barriers to home office V&A leadership.
- Provide regular field insight reports and access trend updates to internal stakeholders, including the V&A home office, brand teams, and Sales leadership.
Cross-Functional Leadership & Field Operations- Lead without authority across the Ipsen field ecosystem - educating Sales, coordinating with Trade teams, aligning with Medical Affairs, and partnering with Compliance to deliver integrated, compliant customer experiences.
- Assist in the design and development of access-related strategies, tactics, tools, and approved field materials in collaboration with the V&A home office.
- Assist in the development of access-related training programs for HCPs, administrative staff, and internal field teams.
- Achieve target metrics related to timely response to customer access requests, case resolution, account coverage, and field activity reporting.
- Coordinate with internal resources to support Ipsen presentations at pharmacy and healthcare conferences.
HOW - Knowledge, Abilities & ExperienceEducation / Certifications:- Bachelor's degree required
- Master's degree (MBA, MPH, MHA) preferred
- Clinical degree (PharmD, RN, PA, NP) a plus
Experience- Bachelor's degree: minimum 10 years of BioPharma industry experience, including at least 6 years of direct field access and reimbursement experience
- Master's degree or clinical degree: minimum 8 years of total industry experience, including at least 5 years of direct field access and reimbursement experience
- Previous experience in other functions in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry is preferred, e.g. product marketing, managed care marketing, field sales/sales management, field account management, etc.
- Proven track record for consistently meeting or exceeding goals and objectives
- Previous experience in completing & implementing attainable business plans
- Understanding of external laws, codes and company policies that apply to the healthcare industry.
- Rare disease access and reimbursement experience required; pediatric rare disease experience strongly preferred
- Demonstrated proficiency overcoming access-related issues at both the provider and payer level
- Deep experience with specialty pharmacies, limited distribution models, and hub/patient services environments
- Expert-level knowledge of commercial insurance, Medicare Part D benefit structure (including IRA changes, M3P, and catastrophic phase dynamics), and Medicaid coverage policies
- Experience with billing and coding in the specialty and/or rare disease context (J-code, NDC-level billing, site-of-care reimbursement)
- Experience supporting or launching a new specialty pharmaceutical, biologic, or rare disease product
- Familiarity with CRM platforms, case management systems, and data analytics tools used in field access functions
- Knowledge of applicable regulations governing patient privacy, patient support programs, and access offerings
Key Technical Competencies Required- Ability to orchestrate patient access across a complex, matrixed ecosystem (hub, SP, CSS, sales, payer) without direct authority over any stakeholder.
- Ability to translate complex payer and coverage policy into clear, compliant, actionable guidance for HCPs and office staff.
- Strong account prioritization and territory management skills; ability to manage a large geographic territory effectively.
- Data-driven approach to identifying access barriers and measuring impact; proficiency with CRM and field access technology platforms.
- Highest personal integrity and ethics; strong sense of compliance, judgment, and discretion.
- Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills; ability to engage credibly with both clinical and administrative audiences.
- Willingness to work independently in a fast-paced, fluid environment; ability to self-prioritize a significant and varied workload.
- PC literacy required: MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), CRM platforms, and mobile technology.
- Business travel up to 75-80% by air/car required; ability to maintain extensive overnight travel across a large geographic territory.
- Must live in Northeast geography for consideration.
- May require working from home, in car, or from customers' offices as needed.
The annual base salary range for this position is $165,000 - $235,000
This job is eligible to participate in our short-term incentives program. At Ipsen we are proud to offer a comprehensive employee benefits package, including 401(k) with company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance, as well as flexible spending accounts. Ipsen also provides parental leave, paid time off, a discretionary winter shutdown, well-being allowance, commuter benefits, and much more.
The pay range displayed above is the range of base pay compensation within which Ipsen expects to pay for this role at the time of this posting. Individual compensation within this range depends on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, prior education and experience, job-related knowledge and demonstrated skills.
