Executive Director, Commercial Strategy

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Executive Director, Commercial Strategy will lead the development of commercial and brand strategy across Rigel’s portfolio and oversee the capabilities that enable high-quality strategic decision-making, including commercial analytics, brand analytics and market research.

In the near term, the role will primarily focus on accelerating VEPPANU growth and supporting the continued evolution of Rigel’s commercial strategy in breast cancer, while also providing strategic planning, analytics and insights support across the company’s established commercial portfolio. Over time, the role will evolve with Rigel’s commercial priorities, including supporting launch-readiness activities for designated assets as directed by Commercial Leadership.

This role will integrate market, customer, competitive, clinical and business insights into clear strategic choices that drive brand growth and inform commercial investment decisions. The Executive Director will lead long-range commercial strategy, annual brand planning, strategic business assessment, competitive planning, lifecycle strategy and the development of insights that inform key commercial decisions.

The individual will serve as a senior strategic thought partner to Commercial Leadership and cross-functional brand teams and will lead a team responsible for commercial and brand analytics and market research. The role will ensure that insights are not only generated, but translated into clear business implications, strategic recommendations and actions.

Employees designated as onsite or hybrid are expected to be onsite at Rigel’s South San Francisco headquarters during business hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays each week. Employees designated as remote are expected to be onsite during business hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays at least twice per month, and more frequently as business needs require.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Commercial & Brand Strategy

• Lead the development and evolution of commercial and brand strategies, with an immediate emphasis on VEPPANU growth and the evolving breast cancer market.
• Partner with brand and cross-functional teams to define clear strategic imperatives, critical success factors and priorities that guide annual planning and resource allocation.
• Lead the commercial and brand planning process and establish a consistent, rigorous strategic planning framework across the portfolio.
• Ensure brand strategies are grounded in market dynamics, customer needs, competitive developments, clinical evidence and business performance.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen product differentiation, positioning, market development and competitive advantage.
• Identify strategic alternatives and develop actionable responses to emerging opportunities, competitive threats and changes in the treatment landscape.
• Ensure strong linkage among long-range strategy, annual objectives, critical success factors and tactical priorities.
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to brand leadership while maintaining clear accountability between strategy development and marketing execution.

Strategic Planning & Business Performance

• Lead annual and long-range commercial planning processes across Rigel’s portfolio.
• Lead periodic health-of-business and strategic reviews to assess performance against key assumptions, priorities and objectives.
• Partner with other functions to identify the underlying drivers of business performance and implications for strategy.
• Develop frameworks and key measures to assess progress against strategic priorities and critical success factors.
• Identify areas where market evolution or business performance warrants a change in strategy, investment or execution.
• Provide strategic input into forecasting assumptions, scenario planning, investment decisions and business cases.
• Provide analytical and strategic input to Commercial Leadership on prioritization and commercial resource-allocation decisions.
• Develop clear, concise and evidence-based recommendations for Commercial Leadership and other senior stakeholders.

Insights, Analytics & Market Research

• Lead the Commercial and Brand Analytics and Market Research functions, ensuring that insight-generation capabilities are aligned with the organization’s most important strategic and business questions.
• Establish an integrated insights agenda that identifies critical knowledge gaps and determines the appropriate use of analytics, primary market research, secondary data, competitive intelligence and other information sources.
• Ensure that data and research are translated into clear business implications, strategic recommendations and actions.
• Oversee analyses of market opportunity, brand performance, customer behavior, patient dynamics, segmentation, targeting and competitive performance.
• Lead development of the market research plan, including identification of research priorities, appropriate methodologies, vendor selection and application of findings to business decisions.
• Integrate primary market research, secondary data, commercial analytics, field intelligence, advisory board insights and competitive intelligence to develop a comprehensive view of the market.
• Partner with brand teams and Commercial Leadership to anticipate emerging business questions and ensure the organization has the insights necessary to support timely decision-making.
• Build capabilities and processes that strengthen Rigel’s ability to move from data to insight and from insight to action.
• Ensure appropriate analytical rigor, consistency and governance across commercial analyses and insight-generation activities.

Market, Customer & Competitive Strategy

• Maintain a forward-looking perspective on treatment paradigms, customer behavior, competitive developments and other market dynamics.
• Translate evolving market dynamics into implications for current strategy and future commercial opportunities.
• Lead competitive scenario planning and development of strategic responses to significant market events.
• Partner with Marketing, Sales and Commercial Analytics to inform customer segmentation, targeting, patient opportunity and market-development strategies.
• Identify unmet customer and market needs and translate them into potential commercial opportunities.
• Ensure customer, patient and market insights are incorporated consistently into commercial and brand strategy.
• Identify important gaps in market understanding and initiate the research or analytics necessary to address them.

Launch & Lifecycle Strategy

• Lead lifecycle strategy for commercialized brands and support commercial readiness planning for designated future product launches, as directed by Commercial Leadership.
• Assess market opportunity, competitive positioning, customer needs, evidence requirements and commercialization considerations to guide commercial plans.
• Ensure commercial launch-readiness activities are aligned with intended product positioning and overall strategy.
• Identify and evaluate lifecycle opportunities designed to maximize the long-term value of Rigel’s marketed brands.
• Support development of launch assumptions, strategic scenarios, forecasts and key commercial milestones as appropriate.
• Partner with Medical Affairs and other functions to identify evidence gaps and insight needs that inform commercial strategy, while respecting Medical Affairs governance and decision-making responsibilities.

Organizational & People Leadership

• Lead, develop and mentor a team spanning commercial and brand analytics and market research, while building broader organizational capability in commercial strategy and planning.
• Establish clear priorities, roles and operating processes across the Strategy, Planning & Insights function.
• Serve as a senior strategic advisor to Commercial Leadership, brand leaders and cross- functional stakeholders.
• Lead high-priority strategic initiatives that span multiple commercial and cross-functional areas.
• Facilitate strategic discussions that enable teams to evaluate alternatives, make clear choices and align around priorities.
• Challenge assumptions constructively and help teams distinguish among strategic priorities, business objectives, critical success factors, initiatives and tactics.
• Build strong partnerships across Marketing, Sales, Market Access, Medical Affairs, Finance and other functions.
• Foster a culture of analytical rigor, strategic thinking, intellectual curiosity and disciplined decision-making.
• Develop talent and organizational capability in commercial strategy, insights and business planning.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree such as an MBA, MPH, PharmD, PhD or other relevant graduate degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology or related healthcare industry.
• Significant experience in commercial strategy, brand marketing, strategic planning, market research, analytics or related commercial roles.
• Demonstrated experience developing and leading commercial or brand strategy within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry.
• Experience leading or working closely with commercial analytics and market research functions.
• Significant oncology commercial experience strongly preferred; direct breast cancer experience, particularly in metastatic breast cancer, highly desirable.
• Experience supporting product launches, lifecycle planning and commercial launch readiness preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to apply strategy, planning and insights capabilities across brands, therapeutic areas or stages of the product lifecycle.
• Demonstrated success leading complex cross-functional initiatives and influencing senior stakeholders in a matrixed organization.
• People leadership experience required.

Knowledge, Skills & Capabilities

• Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear strategic choices and recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize quantitative and qualitative insights into actionable commercial strategies.
• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical commercialization, including brand planning, analytics, market research, competitive intelligence, forecasting, launch planning and lifecycle management.
• Strong business and financial acumen and the ability to evaluate opportunities through both strategic and commercial lenses.
• Ability to distinguish clearly among strategy, objectives, critical success factors, initiatives and tactics and translate strategy into organizational priorities.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills, including the ability to simplify complex issues and communicate recommendations effectively to senior leadership.
• Ability to challenge assumptions constructively and facilitate alignment among stakeholders with differing perspectives.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through both influence and direct authority.
• Ability to operate effectively in a dynamic, entrepreneurial environment and balance long-term strategic thinking with near-term business priorities.
• High degree of judgment, collaboration, intellectual curiosity and accountability.

Leadership Expectations

• The Executive Director will be expected to operate with broad organizational perspective and significant independence, including:
• Serving as a principal strategic advisor to Commercial Leadership.
• Bringing an enterprise and portfolio perspective to commercial decision-making beyond the needs of any individual brand.
• Anticipating strategic issues and emerging market developments before they become immediate business needs.
• Leading major cross-functional commercial strategy initiatives, with a near-term focus on VEPPANU and the breast cancer business.
• Influencing investment, prioritization and resource-allocation decisions across brands and assets. Representing Commercial Strategy, Planning & Insights in senior cross-functional forums.
• Building organizational capability in strategy, planning, analytics and insights.
• Developing and mentoring talent and creating a high-performing Strategy, Planning & Insights organization.

Measures of Success

• Success in this role will be reflected in:
• Clear, differentiated and actionable commercial and brand strategies.
• Strong linkage between insights, strategic choices, resource allocation and execution.
• Consistent and rigorous strategic planning across Rigel’s portfolio.
• High-quality analytics and market research that directly inform consequential business decisions.
• Early identification of meaningful market opportunities, competitive threats and strategic risks.
• Improved quality and speed of commercial decision-making.
• Strong cross-functional alignment around strategic priorities and critical success factors.
• Commercial strategy and insights that contribute to VEPPANU growth while supporting Rigel’s established brands and future launch readiness as needed.
• Development of a high-performing Strategy, Planning & Insights team and organizational capability.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

The anticipated salary range for this position is $285,000 to $335,000. The actual salary offered will depend on several factors, including experience, qualifications, geographic location, internal equity, and business needs.

This position is eligible to participate in Rigel's annual bonus program and is eligible for equity incentive awards, subject to the terms of the applicable plans. This position is not commission-based

Rigel offers eligible employees a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage; life and disability insurance; flexible spending accounts; a 401(k) plan; paid time off; paid company holidays; and other benefits.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• PHYSICAL DEMANDS: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand, walk; sit; talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.
• WORK ENVIRONMENT: The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Some travel may be required.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by the law.