Director, Marketing Technology & Platform Lead

Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, and with offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and Dublin, Ireland, Ionis has been at work for more than three decades discovering medical breakthroughs that have redefined life for people with serious diseases. We’re pioneers in RNA-targeted medicines, and our platform continues to revolutionize drug discovery and transform lives for patients with unmet needs. With multiple marketed medicines and a leading pipeline in neurology, cardiology and select areas of high patient needs, we continue to drive innovation in RNA therapies in addition to advancing new approaches in gene editing to provide greater value to patients and are well positioned financially to deliver on our strategic goals. At Ionis, we pride ourselves on cultivating a challenging, motivating and rewarding environment that fosters innovation and scientific excellence. We know that our success is a direct result of the exceptional talents and dedication of our employees. With an unprecedented opportunity to change the course of human health, we look to add diverse individuals, skill sets and perspectives to our exceptional team. We continue to invest time, money and energy into making our onsite, hybrid and remote work environments a place where solid and lasting relationships are built and where our culture and employees can thrive. We’re building on our rich history, and we believe our greatest achievements are ahead of us. If you’re passionate about the opportunity to have meaningful impact on patients in need, we invite you to apply and join us. Experience and contribute to our unique culture while you develop and expand your career! DIRECTOR, MARKETING TECHNOLOGY & PLATFORM LEAD SUMMARY: We are seeking a marketing technology leader who will own the commercial customer experience platform that powers digital and omnichannel HCP and patient engagement across our portfolio. This role partners closely with brand, omnichannel and CX operations, commercial analytics, IT, and external partners to develop and translate engagement strategy into reliable, compliant, and scalable execution across CRM, marketing automation, web, and emerging channels. You will elevate Ionis’ customer experience capabilities by owning the platform roadmap, integration architecture, consent and data-governance standards, and Customer Experience Platform (CXP) delivery model — ensuring a scalable ecosystem supporting a spectrum of specialty to mass-market indications, including future therapeutic launches across new disease areas. You will own the platform, the architecture, and the standards, and manage the engineers who execute within it. In this role, you will exercise wide latitude in determining objectives and approaches, devising solutions from incomplete information and applying sound judgment to complex, ambiguous trade-offs. Decisions made in this role carry longer-term implications that span and impact multiple functions. WORK LOCATION: Carlsbad, CA; open to remote KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: Martech Strategy & Roadmap Own the marketing technology roadmap across the stack, including Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), Salesforce Data Cloud (DC), analytic data architecture, website tracking management, and marketing data – including what is added, replaced, or sunset sized to Ionis stage and budget. Lead build-vs-buy evaluations and drive defensible platform recommendations for commercial leadership. Own the CXP roadmap, focused on optimizing digital and omnichannel enablement for ongoing and upcoming launches via tailored orchestration, automation, personalization, deliverability and domain/IP reputation, and scalable journey design. CXP Delivery Management Manage the CXP development team as an extension of the function, owning scope, SOWs, backlog, sprint cadence, and capacity planning across launch and in-line brands. Set and enforce build standards, QA gates, and release management so deployments are correct, on time, and compliant. Serve as the quality and accountability owner for outsourced output — reviewing architecture and configuration decisions, preventing technical debt, and ensuring knowledge and documentation remain with Ionis. Manage the developer vendor relationship commercially, including performance, scope discipline, escalations, and renewal, and flex capacity up or down around launch peaks. Integration & Data Architecture Own the integration architecture connecting CRM, CXP, web, paid media/search/social, and the commercial data warehouse, in partnership with IT and Commercial Analytics. Ensure a clean, shared data foundation across HCP and patient audiences for optimized measurement and analytics for all marketing and real-world data channels. Partner with Commercial Analytics to enable advanced segmentation, targeting, and next-best-action across execution platforms and partners. Platform Governance, Enablement & Cross-Functional Leadership Own platform governance — environments, access controls, naming conventions, tagging taxonomy, and release management — and define and report platform KPIs such as deliverability, uptime, time-to-deploy, data quality, and capacity utilization. Stand up and enable new capabilities, such as new channels and dynamic content, so brand and operations teams can use them at scale. Serve as the commercial point of contact to IT for stack-related prioritization and architecture decisions, and partner with brand omnichannels strategists to ensure the platform can deliver the journeys they design across brands and TAs. Represent Ionis externally with technology and agency partners, industry peers, and platform vendors. Demonstrate and uphold behaviors aligned with Ionis’s Culture, Core Principles, and Working with Each Other policy In this role, you will: Deliver a martech platform that scales reliably from specialty to a mass-market indication, with the deliverability, automation, and consent infrastructure that a broad launch demands. Optimize the outsourced CXP model into a predictable, well-governed delivery engine, protecting from technical debt and vendor lock-in. Establish the integration and data-governance foundation that lets brand, omnichannel operations, and commercial analytics work from a single trusted source. Shape and enforce the platform standards, taxonomy, and consent governance that keep execution compliant and comparable across brands, indications, and therapeutic areas. REQUIREMENTS: Typically requires a minimum of 15 years of experience in marketing technology, marketing operations, or digital platform roles with a bachelor’s degree; or 12 years with a master’s degree; or equivalent experience. 3+ years owning a marketing automation platform, with hands-on, deep CXP expertise (Journey Builder, Automation Studio, Email/Mobile Studio, Contact Builder, and data extensions). 3+ years of life sciences / pharma experience, ideally supporting HCP and/or patient marketing. Experience managing outsourced or agency developers and cross-functional delivery workstreams; direct people or vendor-team management preferred. Bachelor’s or master’s degree in marketing, business, information systems, computer science, or a related field. Advanced degree (master’s or equivalent) preferred; equivalent practical experience will be considered. Core Expertise Demonstrated ownership of a marketing technology stack and roadmap, including platform selection, integration, and vendor management. Proven ability to manage outsourced or agency developers — owning scope, quality, standards, and delivery rather than coding day to day. Strong working knowledge of consent and preference management and the compliance landscape for email and SMS, including CAN-SPAM, TCPA, and applicable privacy regulations. Experience integrating martech platforms with a CRM and/or data warehouse, with fluency in data architecture concepts and data quality. Proven ability to operate as the commercial counterpart to IT and to influence senior stakeholders and key decision makers, framing complex trade-offs, devising solutions with limited or ambiguous information, and driving decisions to closure in ways that advance longer-term strategic objectives. Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate between technical detail and commercial priorities and to right-size solutions for a growth-stage company. Technical Expertise Hands-on Salesforce configuration and administration, including Journey Builder, Automation Studio, Email/Mobile Studio, Contact Builder, and data extensions. Working command of martech and CRM integration patterns, data flows, consent/preference management, and email/SMS deliverability, including domain/IP reputation and authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). PREFFERED Familiarity with Veeva CRM SQL or equivalent experience querying, validating, joining, or troubleshooting CRM, web, or campaign datasets. CDP evaluation or implementation, tag management, and web/CMS platforms. SFMC/DC and/or relevant Salesforce certifications. Experience supporting a product launch, ideally a transition from specialty to a broader or mass-market indication, including the deliverability, scale, and automation demands that come with it. Experience supporting both HCP and patient/consumer (DTC) engagement and the differing data and consent requirements of each. Prior agency or consulting experience focused on martech delivery, platform implementation, or omnichannel enablement. Experience with pharmaceutical data, customer-level engagement data, and privacy-safe measurement approaches. Please visit our website, http://www.ionis.com for more information about Ionis and to apply for this position; reference requisition # IONIS003895 Ionis offers an excellent benefits package! Follow this link for more details: Ionis Benefits Full Benefits Link: https://ionis.com/careers#:~:text=Highly%20competitive%20benefits The pay scale for this position is $200,000 to $215,000 NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. PRINCIPALS ONLY. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and all its subsidiaries are proud to be EEO employers.