Trade Account Associate Director

Job Description

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

Position Description

• Position: Trade Account Associate Director
• Department: Market Access, Trade & Distribution
• Reports To: Senior Director, National Trade & Distribution Accounts
• Location: Field-Based

Position Summary

The Trade Account Associate Director (TAAD) is responsible for leading strategic account management and executing Vertex’s U.S. trade and distribution strategy across assigned channel partners. This role leads the negotiation, implementation, and ongoing management of Specialty Pharmacy and Retail Master Purchase and Service Agreements, Enhanced Service Agreements, and Distribution Purchase and Service Agreements.

The TAAD plays a critical role in ensuring the effective distribution and availability of Vertex’s commercialized products and supporting the tactical execution of new product launches and label expansions. The role serves as a primary point of contact for assigned national and regional trade partners, including full-line wholesalers, specialty distributors, specialty pharmacies, retail pharmacy chains, independent community pharmacies, and other channel stakeholders.

This position requires a distinctive combination of deep, practical channel expertise and independent analytical and strategic capability . The successful candidate will understand trade, distribution, contracting, specialty pharmacy, and pharmaceutical distribution models in practice. Equally important, they will be able to independently structure ambiguous business questions, identify and analyze relevant data, assess alternatives and risks, and develop clear, defensible recommendations related to their aligned accounts.

The TAAD is expected to own complex account questions end to end—from problem definition through analysis, recommendation, stakeholder alignment, and execution. This individual will operate as a strategic business leader who strengthens Vertex’s ability to make data-driven decisions, solve complex channel challenges, and advance Market Access priorities.

Primary Responsibilities

Strategic Account Leadership

• •Lead strategic engagement and account management for assigned national and regional wholesalers, distributors, specialty pharmacies, retail pharmacy organizations, and other trade-channel partners.
• •Develop and maintain long-term, strategic relationships with key decision-makers within assigned accounts and across the healthcare distribution industry.
• •Create and execute strategic account plans that align account objectives, channel opportunities, and Vertex business priorities.
• •Lead regular account business reviews by synthesizing account performance, market trends, channel insights, and cross-functional input into clear priorities, recommendations, and actions.
• •Deliver an “above-the-agreement” customer experience through proactive relationship management, efficient issue resolution, and appropriate deployment of Vertex resources.

Contracting and Performance Management

• •Negotiate, implement, and manage all contracts in alignment with Vertex objectives, account needs, and compliance requirements.
• •Maintain detailed knowledge of contractual obligations, service commitments, and performance measures for assigned accounts; independently actioning on timebound contractual obligations without managerial direction.
• •Manage account performance against established KPIs and contractual obligations via scorecards, channel reports, and analytics dashboards.
• •Develop data-driven business cases to support compliant enhanced services, account-specific opportunities, and resolution of unique account scenarios with respective partners, such as Accounting, Quality.
• •Identify potential risks, service gaps, or contractual performance issues and lead timely, compliant resolution efforts.

Analytical and Strategic Problem Solving

• •Independently frame ambiguous trade, distribution, access, and account-management questions; develop hypotheses; identify relevant data sources; and produce actionable, evidence-based recommendations.
• •Analyze trade-channel data, inventory reports, purchasing trends, customer behavior, custom data offerings, and market intelligence to identify opportunities, risks, and emerging channel trends.
• •Translate complex data and analysis into clear business narratives, strategic recommendations, and executive-ready communications.
• •Evaluate strategic options by assessing financial, operational, customer, supply, and compliance implications; clearly articulate trade-offs and recommend a path forward.
• •Proactively identify issues and opportunities before escalation is required, applying sound business judgment and a solutions-oriented approach.
• •Partner with analytics, finance, and functional experts as appropriate while retaining accountability for defining the business question, interpreting results, and recommending action.

Distribution Operations and Product Launch Support

• •Coordinate account readiness for new product launches and label expansions, including operational planning, account education, product availability, and compliant deployment of Vertex resources.
• •Ensure timely, complete, and accurate receipt of channel data feeds in agreed-upon formats, including 844, 845, 849, 852, and 867 transaction data.
• •Lead resolution of data and reporting issues, including purchasing trends, class-of-trade integrity, inventory visibility, and days-on-hand reporting.
• •Monitor product availability, inventory levels, and supply-related trends to support appropriate distribution planning and minimize access disruptions.
• •Support organizational preparedness for Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) requirements and other applicable distribution regulations.

Enterprise and Cross-Functional Collaboration

• •Partner with Trade & Distribution and cross-functional stakeholders to inform distribution strategies for pipeline products and new therapeutic areas.
• •Provide recommendations regarding:
• •Distribution network design and composition
• •Services provided by wholesalers, specialty pharmacies, retail pharmacy chains, and specialty distributors
• •Innovative approaches to engaging distributors and retail community pharmacies
• •Class-of-trade capabilities across distributors, pharmacies, group purchasing organizations, and integrated delivery networks

• •Identify strategic opportunities across hospitals, retail community pharmacy, group purchasing organizations, and integrated delivery networks, in partnership with relevant internal Vertex account teams.
• •Provide compliant education and subject-matter expertise to internal stakeholders on distribution practices, purchasing insights, trade-channel dynamics, and 340B program considerations.
• •Collaborate closely with colleagues across Market Access, Sales and Marketing, Guidance & Patient Support, Global Insights, Analytics & Commercial Operations, Accounting, Legal, Medical, Finance, Data Technology & Engineering, Government Affairs, Patient Advocacy, Regulatory, Quality, and Commercial Manufacturing & Supply Chain.
• •Exercise sound judgment and uphold Vertex values, policies, and compliance standards in all activities. Foster collaboration, accountability, and enterprise thinking to drive business results.

Minimum Qualifications

• •At least 10 years of commercial experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical distribution or pharmacy, or related industry.
• •Preferred the candidate has at minimum of five years working directly with or at any combination of these organizations: McKesson, Cencora, Cardinal, Accredo, CVS, Optum SP, Frontier Therapies, Walgreens, Acaria, Orsini, Panther, Biologics, VytlOne, Morris & Dickson, Anda, Walgreens, Walmart, BioPlus, Onco360, CareMed, various Hospital Specialty Pharmacies (HSSPs)
• •Existing relationships with key trade and distribution organizations, including national and regional wholesalers, specialty distributors, specialty pharmacies, retail pharmacy