Overview
Associate Director, Commercial Strategy. Reports to: Group Director, Commercial Strategy. The Global Strategy Team within VML Health is a diverse collective of bold, curious strategic thinkers operating in an agile model. The team partners with clients and collaborates as part of integrated agency teams to unlock transformative impact in healthcare. The role sits within the Commercial Strategy team, based within the VML Health EU Hub.
About The Position
Title: Associate Director, Commercial Strategy
Location: London (based in our London office with close collaboration across core hubs and strategic disciplines).
Overview: We are looking for an established Associate Director with strong client engagement and delivery leadership skills to help lead Commercial Strategy engagements and support growth across key accounts. The ideal candidate understands the healthcare and pharmaceutical landscape, and can lead cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, insight-led strategy that meets client objectives, budgets and timelines. This role plays a key part in delivery excellence – setting clear project structure and ways of working, managing dependencies and risks, and guiding teams to produce consistent, client-ready outputs. The Associate Director will also contribute to organic growth and net new business activity by supporting proactive account planning and helping translate opportunities into well-scoped programs of work. In addition, the role supports talent development through mentoring, coaching and supervision/line management of team members as required.
The candidate should have experience shaping and delivering commercialization strategy work from early pipeline through launch and/or indication expansion, across projects such as; category leadership & ecosystem shaping activities, clinical to commercial strategy, competitive differentiation, evidence generation strategy and early strategic scientific narrative & value architecture development. They should demonstrate commercial acumen and strategic context, connecting asset-level strategy to a broader franchise/portfolio/category story and anticipating relevant ecosystem and macro-environment considerations. Experience should be underpinned by strong primary and secondary research capability, and comfort working with external experts (e.g., KOLs, HCPs, patient advocates, policymakers) to generate insight and drive alignment.
Responsibilities: This role is based in our London office with close collaboration across our core hubs and strategic disciplines.
Responsibilities
- Lead delivery across workstreams with strong governance (scope, resourcing, risk) and day-to-day financial stewardship
- Consultative client partnership: clarify objectives and translate them into a practical engagement roadmap/ways of working
- Lead and develop junior strategists through coaching, feedback, and where applicable line management
- Identify opportunities to deepen work and support proposals/pitches in partnership with senior leads
- Manage integrated teams in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment; escalate stakeholder issues as needed
Experience
- 7+ years’ experience in healthcare strategy/consulting or closely related pharma/biotech roles
- Global and/or regional client experience across multiple therapy areas
- Track record delivering commercialization strategy work, owning defined workstreams and/or smaller engagements
- Experience directing primary research components and leading facilitation/expert engagement
- Experience engaging with external stakeholders (HCPs/KOLs, payers, patient advocates, policymakers) and translating input into actionable strategic direction
- Demonstrated contribution to business development (supporting and shaping proposals/pitches; progressing organic growth opportunities into scoped follow-on work)
Knowledge And Skills
- Commercial acumen and strategic context: link asset-level strategy to broader narratives and ecosystem/macro dynamics
- Strong research craft across secondary and primary methods with rigorous synthesis
- Excellent strategic storytelling and slide craft
- Strong program leadership and proficiency in PowerPoint, Excel and Word
- Comfort with leveraging technology (including AI) to improve efficiency and governance
Personal characteristics
- Consultative, client-focused, and professional
- Accountable delivery leader with strong ownership
- Collaborative and inclusive team player
- Proactive and growth-oriented
- High standards, detail-minded, resilient under pressure
- Willingness to travel as required (UK/EU/USA)
Qualifications
- Degree-level qualification (Life Sciences, Pharmacy, Medicine, Public Health, or similar). Advanced degree is a plus but not required.
WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.
VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit www.vml.com and follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.
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