HEAD OF COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS & ANALYTICS
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Head of Commercial Operations & Analytics will report to the SVP of Commercial Strategy and lead the development of Zentalis' commercial operations and analytics capabilities in preparation for launch. This role will oversee forecasting, commercial analytics, launch readiness, sales operations, data strategy, and performance management to support executive decision-making and commercialization planning.
The ideal candidate brings deep oncology and launch experience, strong analytical and operational leadership skills, and the ability to build scalable processes in a fast-paced biotech environment.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Commercial Operations Leadership
- Build and lead the commercial operations function, including the operating model, governance forums, launch planning processes, business review cadence, vendor management, field enablement infrastructure, and cross-functional commercial workflows.
- Establish scalable launch-readiness processes across commercial planning, customer targeting, field deployment, data management, CRM, incentive compensation, performance reporting, and executive-level decision support.
- Serve as a strategic partner to the SVP Strategy and senior leadership team, translating complex market, customer, operational, and financial data into clear recommendations, risks, trade-offs, and action plans.
- Develop a disciplined commercial operating cadence that supports accountability, transparency, rapid decision-making, and alignment across functions.
Analytics, Insights & Executive Decision Support
- Create and lead a commercial analytics and insights capability that provides rigorous, timely, and actionable intelligence to support launch strategy, market development, customer engagement, and resource allocation.
- Develop executive-ready dashboards, KPI frameworks, launch readiness scorecards, and performance reporting tools for senior leadership, Board-level updates, and cross-functional business reviews.
- Integrate primary market research, secondary data, claims, customer engagement data, epidemiology, competitive intelligence, payer insights, biomarker testing dynamics, and field activity data into a cohesive commercial decision-support framework.
- Establish a single-source-of-truth approach to commercial data, reporting definitions, governance, and performance interpretation.
Forecasting, Scenario Planning & Long-Range Planning
- Lead commercial forecasting, scenario planning, and long-range planning in partnership with Finance, Commercial Strategy, Market Access, Medical Affairs, and executive leadership. Role includes adoption, refinement, and management of a Commercial Revenue Model and market research to support all model assumptions.
- Develop robust bottom-up and top-down forecasting models that incorporate patient flow, biomarker testing, treatment eligibility, site activation, referral dynamics, adoption curves, payer access, pricing, gross-to-net assumptions, and competitive scenarios.
- Support strategic planning through sensitivity analyses, launch scenarios, business cases, market expansion assessments, and investment prioritization.
- Ensure forecasting assumptions are well documented, cross-functionally aligned, and appropriately governed before executive review.
Launch Readiness & Commercial Infrastructure
- Lead the design and implementation of core launch infrastructure, including CRM, field reporting, customer master data, segmentation, targeting, territory alignment, call planning, and promotional effectiveness analytics.
- Partner with Commercial Strategy, Market Access, and Medical Affairs to define the customer engagement model for a biomarker-driven oncology launch, including account prioritization, field team structure, site-of-care dynamics, and key stakeholder mapping.
- Develop launch performance indicators across patient identification, biomarker testing, referral pathways, account activation, field execution, market access, and brand performance.
- Support the build-out of commercial systems, data partnerships, vendor relationships, and operational processes that can scale as Zentalis evolves from clinical-stage to commercial-stage.
Sales Force Effectiveness, Targeting & Incentive Compensation
- Lead and partner with head of sales to manage sales force sizing, structure, territory alignment, targeting, call planning, and deployment analytics in preparation for launch.
- Design and manage incentive compensation strategy, governance, payout processes, and performance measurement in alignment with company objectives and compliance requirements.
- Develop field force effectiveness metrics, including reach, frequency, account engagement, territory productivity, customer adoption, and quality of execution.
- Partner with Sales Leadership, Training, Compliance, Legal, and HR to ensure field operations processes are practical, compliant, motivating, and aligned with launch priorities.
Data Strategy, Governance & Technology Enablement
- Own the commercial data strategy, including data sourcing, vendor selection, master data management, data quality processes, reporting architecture, and analytics platforms.
- Partner with IT/Data teams to implement and optimize systems such as CRM, BI tools, data warehouses, reporting platforms, and workflow solutions.
- Evaluate opportunities to use advanced analytics, automation, and AI-enabled workflows to improve speed, quality, consistency, and impact of commercial insights.
- Establish governance for data definitions, reporting standards, vendor deliverables, dashboard integrity, and cross-functional use of commercial data.
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES REQUIRED:
- 15+ years of pharmaceutical or biotechnology experience in commercial operations, analytics, forecasting, sales operations, or commercial strategy.
- Deep oncology experience required; launch experience strongly preferred.
- Experience launching with a companion diagnostic preferable.
- Proven ability to build or scale commercial operations and analytics functions in pre-launch or early commercial-stage environments.
- Strong expertise in forecasting, commercial analytics, CRM/data systems, and sales force effectiveness.
- Excellent cross-functional leadership, communication, and executive presentation skills.
