Associate Director, Competitive Strategy & Readiness

Associate Director, Competitive Strategy & Readiness

Atacana Group, Inc. is a global competitive strategy and readiness firm that primarily partners with Top 10 Pharma companies. Joining our fast-growing team offers a unique opportunity to contribute to high-impact outcomes within a culture that prioritizes results over hours spent. We are a 100% remote organization, with team members spanning four continents and over eleven countries, offering unparalleled freedom of location.

You will make a high-stakes impact, supporting some of the world’s most significant pharmaceutical assets, from high-potential pre-launch molecules to global blockbusters. Atacana is driven by a passion for innovation in healthcare and continuously seeks to innovate its working methodologies. As a hyper-growth organization, Atacana has doubled in size year over year with a continued trajectory of expansion, embodying a true growth mindset.

Purpose of the Role

As an Associate Director, Competitive Strategy & Readiness, you will play a pivotal role in supporting biopharma clients to optimize their late-stage clinical development and commercial strategies. Your work will also contribute to the continued growth and differentiation of marketed assets. Your expertise will be crucial in guiding clients through the complexities of market entry, competitive positioning, and launch execution for assets nearing commercialization, or in enhancing the market position and competitive advantage for established products.

Specifically, you will:

• Support biopharma clients' "Competitive Readiness" initiatives.
• Dive into complex market insights, transforming them into high-conviction strategic scenarios.
• Act as a master facilitator, breaking down functional silos to bring R&D, Clinical, Medical, Access, and Commercial teams together, aligning them on a unified path to success.
• Support the development of tools and training to drive local implementation and strengthen execution across client organizations.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Navigation: Support clients in developing winning strategies at global, regional, and local levels by synthesizing competitive data into actionable foresight.
• Master Facilitation: Design and lead high-impact strategic engagements and workshops to identify solutions for client challenges.
• Public Speaking & Thought Leadership: Serve as a high-visibility partner to client executive teams, confidently presenting complex strategic roadmaps and de-risking investment scenarios.
• Asset Lifecycle Management: Help clients optimize late-stage clinical development, commercial strategies, and market entry for assets nearing commercialization.
• Execution Excellence: Support continued growth and differentiation for marketed products, enhancing market position and competitive advantage for established assets.
• Business Development & P&L: Undertake P&L responsibility and work towards meeting profit targets, including identifying additional engagement opportunities.

Minimum Requirements

• Education: PhD or Master’s Degree in a scientific field, or an MBA.
• Pharma Marketing Experience: 10+ years of relevant work experience, with at least 5 years in pharma marketing or other commercial roles.
• Competitive Market Expertise: Proven track record navigating high-stakes, competitive markets and driving cross-functional cohesion.
• Communication Mastery: Fluent in English with exceptional public speaking, storytelling, and facilitation abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Market Access Expertise: Deep understanding of payer landscapes, pricing, and reimbursement strategies to ensure a winning value proposition.
• Commercial Sales Experience: Direct experience in pharmaceutical sales to better bridge the gap between strategy and field execution.
• Strategic Market Research: Background in designing or interpreting complex pharmaceutical market research to drive insight generation.
• Global & US Market Exposure: Experience working within the US market or across Global functions to support international asset strategy.

Key skills/competency

• Competitive Strategy
• Pharmaceutical Marketing
• Market Access
• Strategic Facilitation
• Business Development
• P&L Management
• Biopharma Commercialization
• Market Insights
• Cross-functional Alignment
• Product Lifecycle Management