Description Description Real World Data Consulting Lead Senior Director / Vice President 3 Norstella 3 Remote (US)
Function RWD Services and Consulting Practice Lead
Level VP, RWD Consulting
Location Remote - United States
Revenue Scope $10M PL; 25% year-over-year growth target
Reports To SVP MA Services
Team Growing consulting practice (current + planned hires)
THE OPPORTUNITY We are seeking a leader to build and scale Norstella's Real World Data consulting practice. This practice focuses on supporting both commercial and HEOR use cases to provide meaningful insights to our customers leveraging the Norstella RWD data assets. This is a high-impact role for a leader who combines deep RWD expertise with a commercial mindset. You will define the service offerings, partner with our commercial team, drive service excellence, provide our customers with meaningful insights, and grow a world-class team. You will serve as the senior-most expert and executive sponsor for our largest clients. This role owns a $10M revenue line with a mandate to drive 25% year-over-year growth through a combination of account expansion and collaboration with commercial sales team to grow consulting/services business.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Practice Leadership & Strategy - Define and execute the multi-year vision and go-to-market strategy for Norstella's RWD services.
- Build and continuously innovate the consulting service portfolio-spanning commercial and provider analytics, evidence generation, and advanced analytics.
- Serve as internal champion for RWD methodology and scientific excellence, ensuring rigor and fast time to value across all client engagements
- Partner with Norstella's product, data, and technology teams to integrate proprietary data assets into differentiated consulting solutions
Revenue Growth & Commercial Execution - Own the $15M consulting PL with accountability for achieving 25% year-over-year revenue growth and achieve contribution margin targets.
- Drive land-and-expand strategy-securing new clients through consultative selling and deepening wallet share within existing accounts
- Develop trusted, executive-level relationships with our clients, serving as a strategic advisor rather than a transactional vendor
- Collaborate with our commercial team to co-lead the development of proposals, capability presentations, and responses to RFPs across the full business development lifecycle
- Collaborate with Norstella's commercial team to align sales motions, identify cross-sell opportunities, and build a healthy pipeline
- Establish and track KPIs for revenue, margin, utilization, and client satisfaction; report progress to executive leadership
Delivery Excellence & RWD Leadership - Oversee our existing verticals: commercial and provider analytics, evidence generation, and advanced analytics to provide differentiated capabilities by combining our Norstella data assets with meaningful insights and high-impact consulting and services deliverables.
- Oversee the design and execution of high-quality RWD studies including retrospective cohort analyses, HEOR evaluations, comparative effectiveness research, and safety/epidemiology studies
- Provide services that offer high-impact meaningful insights to commercial analytics with fast time to value to serve multiple use cases such as: HCP targeting, patient journey, patient finding, brand performance, launch analytics, and more.
- Ensure methodological rigor and regulatory defensibility across all deliverables, particularly for FDA RWE submissions and HTA dossiers
- Drive innovation in analytical approaches-incorporating machine learning, NLP, and AI-driven methods where they add meaningful client value
- Lead quality review of key deliverables; maintain accountability for client outcomes and satisfaction
- Cultivate and leverage Norstella's data assets (claims, EHR, specialty pharmacy, oncology registries, etc.) to create differentiated evidence and commercial solutions
People Leadership & Culture - Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing team of RWD consultants, analysts, and scientific experts
- Establish a culture of innovation, intellectual curiosity, and client-centricity within the practice
- Leverage staffing models, capacity planning, and performance management processes for optimal business performance.
- Foster strong cross-functional collaboration with Norstella's RWD data science and data delivery, market access, commercial and product teams
Thought Leadership & Market Presence - Represent Norstella at industry conferences (ISPOR, ASCO) through presentations, panels, and publications
- Author white papers, case studies, and points-of-view that establish Norstella as a leading voice in RWD/RWE
- Engage with regulatory agencies, key opinion leaders, and payer stakeholders to shape the broader RWE conversation
- Build and maintain an external network of academic collaborators, KOLs, and data partners
QUALIFICATIONS Required - Advanced degree in a relevant discipline (PhD, MD, PharmD, ScD, or MPH preferred; MBA with strong scientific background considered)
- 12+ years of progressive experience in real-world data, health economics & outcomes research (HEOR), commercial analytics, epidemiology, or life sciences consulting
- Demonstrated PL ownership or significant revenue responsibility in a consulting, analytics, or professional services environment
- Proven track record of growing client accounts and winning new business-comfortable operating as scientist, commercial executive, and a seller
- Deep expertise in RWD sources: claims (commercial, Medicare, Medicaid), EHR, specialty pharmacy data, patient registries, and linked datasets
- Strong knowledge of regulatory frameworks for real-world evidence (FDA RWE Action Plan, PCORI methodology standards, NICE DSU guidance)
- Experience designing and overseeing observational studies: cohort design, propensity score methods, IPTW, survival analysis, indirect treatment comparisons
- Experience leading and developing multi-disciplinary teams of 10+ people
- Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills; able to translate complex analytics into compelling business narratives
Preferred - Experience at a top-tier life sciences consulting firm, CRO, Commercial Analytics, HEOR consultancy, or analytics company (e.g., IQVIA, Evidera, Analysis Group, Avalere)
- Therapeutic area depth in oncology, rare disease, immunology, or neuroscience
- Familiarity with AI/ML applications to RWD, including NLP for unstructured EHR data and predictive modeling
- Existing relationships with senior decision-makers at top 20 pharmaceutical and biotech companies
LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES We are looking for a leader who embodies the following:
- Entrepreneurial Drive - you see white space, build things from scratch, and are energized by building a business, not just managing one
- Scientific Credibility - clients trust your expertise; you earn it through rigor, intellectual honesty, and staying close to the science
- Commercial Analytics - clients trust you expertise to help guide impactful commercial decisions that find and reach patients quickly
- Commercial Instinct - you understand what clients need before they articulate it, and you can translate that into a winning engagement or proposal
- Creative Problem-Solving - you approach evidence challenges with ingenuity, designing novel analytical approaches where standard methods fall short
- People Magnets - you attract and develop talent, and your teams consistently outperform because of the culture you create
- Executive Presence - you are equally at home presenting to a pharma CMO, testifying to a payer panel, or mentoring a first-year analyst
