Lead, Upstream Marketing - IZERVAYPurpose & Scope The Lead, Upstream Marketing position will serve as the primary marketing lead responsible for driving awareness, identification, diagnosis, and referral of Geographic Atrophy (GA) patients within the community eye care setting. Reporting to the Lead, Patient & Upstream Marketing, this individual will develop and execute integrated healthcare professional marketing strategies focused on educating and engaging Optometrists and Comprehensive Ophthalmologists to appropriately identify patients with GA and facilitate timely referral to Retina specialists. This position is expected to operate with a high degree of independence, serving as a subject-matter expert for upstream HCP marketing and translating customer insights into strategic recommendations and execution.
The Lead, Upstream Marketing will be responsible for developing customer-centric messaging, channel strategies, and tactical plans that address barriers to diagnosis and referral while supporting the overall growth objectives of the IZERVAY brand. This individual will lead personal and non-personal promotion, peer-to-peer educational initiatives, congress strategy and execution, customer insight generation, and agency management. The role will collaborate closely with Sales, Medical Affairs, Market Development, Training, Commercial Operations, Market Access, Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance to deliver impactful customer engagement programs and drive meaningful behavior change across the eye care ecosystem.
Role and Responsibilities - Independently own the development and execution of integrated upstream marketing strategies designed to increase awareness, identification, diagnosis, and referral of GA patients among Optometrists and Comprehensive Ophthalmologists.
- Lead development of customer segmentation, targeting, positioning, messaging, and tactical plans across upstream healthcare professional audiences.
- Create customer-centric messaging and educational resources that support recognition of GA, appropriate diagnosis, patient conversations, and timely referral to Retina specialists.
- Develop and execute annual personal promotion strategies, including visual aids, leave-behinds, customer engagement tools, and field communications that support effective customer interactions.
- Lead non-personal promotion strategy and execution across digital, email, online, social, website, and other omnichannel engagement platforms.
- Partner with Commercial Operations and Omnichannel teams to design customer journeys and optimize promotional performance across channels.
- Lead planning, content development, and execution of peer-to-peer educational initiatives designed to improve disease awareness and referral confidence among eye care providers.
- Partner with Medical Affairs and Market Development to identify educational gaps and develop programs that address unmet customer needs.
- Support speaker bureau strategy by identifying educational opportunities, developing customer-focused content, and partnering with external experts to deliver impactful programs.
- Develop and execute congress strategies for key ophthalmology and optometry meetings, including exhibit planning, customer engagement activities, sponsorship opportunities, and insight gathering initiatives.
- Collaborate with Market Research and Business Intelligence teams to generate actionable customer insights and translate findings into strategic recommendations and tactical plans.
- Collect, synthesize, and communicate customer feedback, market trends, and competitive intelligence to inform brand strategy and business planning.
- Partner closely with Sales, Field Medical, Market Development, Market Access, Training, and other cross-functional teams to ensure coordinated and consistent customer engagement.
- Lead agency relationships and external vendor partnerships to ensure high-quality execution of marketing initiatives within approved budgets and timelines.
- Establish objectives, KPIs, and measurement plans for upstream initiatives and optimize strategy, channel mix, and investment based on performance and customer insights.
- Manage assigned budgets and project plans while ensuring effective prioritization and resource allocation.
- Present strategic recommendations, business updates, and performance results to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Maintain highest integrity by ensuring compliance with all regulations, company policies, and promotional review requirements.
Key Success Measures:
- Increased awareness and understanding of Geographic Atrophy among Optometrists and Comprehensive Ophthalmologists.
- Increased identification of appropriate GA patients for Retina referral.
- Strong execution and performance of personal and non-personal promotional initiatives.
- Successful delivery of peer-to-peer educational programs and congress activities.
- Effective integration of customer insights into brand strategy and tactical planning.
- Achievement of agreed-upon brand and business objectives.
Required Qualifications - Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Life Sciences, or related discipline.
- 7+ years of experience within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, or healthcare industries.
- 4+ years of progressive responsibility in pharmaceutical or healthcare marketing with demonstrated success developing and executing healthcare professional marketing initiatives.
- Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex marketing initiatives, make strategic recommendations, and deliver results with high degree of autonomy.
- Experience developing integrated marketing campaigns across personal and non-personal promotional channels.
- Strong strategic thinking skills with demonstrated ability to translate customer insights into effective marketing strategies and business actions.
- Experience leading cross-functional projects in a matrixed environment.
- Excellent communication, presentation, organizational, and project management skills.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to leverage data and customer insights to drive decision-making.
- Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders and deliver results without direct authority.
- Willingness and ability to travel as required.
Preferred Qualifications - MBA or advanced degree.
- Optometry, Ophthalmology, Retina marketing experience strongly preferred
- Demonstrated depth in either personal promotion & field-facing HCP marketing, or non-personal promotion, omnichannel strategy, and digital customer engagement, with the ability to contribute across both.
- Experience supporting disease awareness, diagnostic, patient identification, or referral-focused initiatives.
- Experience developing omnichannel and digital customer engagement strategies.
- Experience with congress planning and execution.
- Experience supporting speaker programs and peer-to-peer educational initiatives.
- Experience working with agency partners and managing external vendors.
- Knowledge of the ophthalmology and optometry customer landscape.
Location and Working EnvironmentThis position is based in Northbrook, Illinois. Remote work from anywhere in the US is available.
- This position is based within the United States and may require up to 25% travel.
- Travel may include national sales meetings, advisory boards, congresses, customer engagements, field travel, and internal business meetings.
At Astellas we recognize the importance of work/life balance, and we are proud to offer a hybrid working solution allowing time to connect with colleagues at the office with the flexibility to also work from home. We believe this will optimize the most productive work environment for all employees to succeed and deliver. Hybrid work from certain locations may be permitted in accordance with Astellas' Responsible Flexibility Guidelines.
Salary Range$136,857-195,510 (Final compensation will be determined based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to skills, experience and organizational equity considerations.)
Benefits:- Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
- Generous Paid Time Off options, including Vacation and Sick time, plus national holidays including year-end shut down
- 401(k) match and annual company contribution
- Company paid life insurance
- Annual Corporate Bonus and Quarterly Sales Incentive for eligible positions
- Long Term Incentive Plan for eligible positions
- Company fleet vehicle for eligible positions
- Referral bonus program
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