Senior Manager, Centre Engagement Lead (CEL) – Hematology Benelux

Vertex Inc.; Haarlem; Hybrid; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Vertex Inc. seeks a Center Engagement Lead to drive activation of Authorized Treatment Centers for Casgevy in the Netherlands and Belgium.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams, contract management, onboarding and ongoing support for healthcare professionals and patients throughout the treatment journey. The role is field-based, hybrid-eligible or on-site, travelable internationally, and focused on operational readiness and process excellence rather than product promotion, with strong

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Extensive biotech/pharma or medical technology experience with cross-functional teamwork.
• Proven negotiation and contracting experience.
• Experience in Cell & Gene therapy desirable but not mandatory.

Responsibilities

• Leads ATC assessment and activation for Casgevy in Benelux.
• Acts as primary contact for ATCs and supports multiple centers.
• Leads ATC contracting and ensures timely execution.
• Defines onboarding strategy from ATC activation to order readiness.
• Engages with ATCs, physicians and management to support onboarding.
• Oversees training and audits of ATCs to ensure high quality service.
• Develops ATC operational readiness plans and reports progress.
• Guides ATCs to enable rapid treatment with our gene-editing tech.
• First point of contact for ATC issues and finds practical solutions.
• Plays leading role in cross-functional launch team.
• Presents progress to Senior Leaders and advises regional teams.

Skills

Communication

Negotiation

Cross-functional coordination

Adaptability

Entrepreneurial mindset

Project management

Compliance knowledge

Lifelong learning

IT skills

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Job Description

General Summary:

The Center Engagement Lead (CEL) is a Senior Manager role reporting to the Commercial Associate Director for Haematology, Benelux. In this role the CEL will identify transplant centres in the Netherlands and Belgium to become Authorized Treatment Centers (ATCs) for Casgevy, Vertex’s novel gene editing therapy for severe Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and Transfusion Dependent Thalassemia (TDT) patients. The CEL coordinates a cross functional Vertex team to contract and onboard ATCs, and through ongoing engagement, ensures that Healthcare Professionals and Patients are well supported throughout the treatment journey, from patient referral to infusion with Casgevy and post infusion support.

The role is a commercial, non-promotional role, solely focused on operational and technical aspects of the Casgevy treatment process and patient journey (ie operational support, onboarding, technical readiness, training coordination, and process support, not product promotion or demand generation).

The role is field based, supporting activities throughout Netherlands and Belgium, but will on occasions require travel to other locations internationally for meetings and events.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Leads the assessment and recommendation for potential ATCs to activate for Casgevy in Benelux
• Acts as primary point of contact for all stakeholders at ATC and proactively supports multiple ATCs.
• Leads ATC contracting process, ensuring alignment of Vertex internal cross-functional teams (especially Legal, Quality and Heme Commercial) as well as external ATC stakeholders (Physicians, ATC Legal counsel, ATC Quality Managers, Pharmacists, ATC apheresis and infusion teams) to ensure contracts are executed in a timely manner.
• Defines the on-boarding strategy leading from ATC activation (i.e. ATC contracted and quality assessed) to order readiness (i.e. ATC team training on Vertex order portal, ATC apheresis and infusion team trained by Vertex and ready to initiate Casgevy to patients)
• Engages with ATCs, physicians and management teams to support all centre onboarding and activation steps and provides ongoing support post activation to support ATC activities related to Casgevy, helping them to ensure a seamless journey for patients from referral to treatment
• Oversees and coordinates appropriate ongoing training measures or audits of ATCs to ensure consistent and high quality service is delivered by ATCs
• Develops and owns ATC operational readiness plans and objectives (excluding sales) and ensures regular reporting of progress made vs goals.
• Provides guidance to the ATCs to ensure patients can be treated with our gene-editing technology, rapidly and easily after their identification.
• Is the first point of contact for any issue that may arise at ATC level and is able to work quickly and with a solution orientated mind-set to find acceptable solutions for ATC and Vertex Pharmaceuticals
• Because of the unique insights gained in this position, the CEL will play a leading role in the cross-functional launch team
• The CEL will periodically present to Senior Leaders on progress towards goals and make recommendations to Regional teams overseeing Casgevy commercialization to continually improve systems and processes

Knowledge and Skills:

• Outstanding communication skills and the ability support customers on operational onboarding, contracting, technical readiness, training coordination, and process support.
• Strong negotiation and contracting experience gained in similar or other roles
• Ability to coordinate a cross-functional project team and ensure that deliverables are tracked and managed in a timely fashion, knowing when to scale issues..
• Comfortable navigating uncertainty and managing the demands of a dynamic and fast-growing organization.
• Entrepreneurial approach to problem solving and a hands-on ‘can do’ attitude.
• Superior project management, organisational and time management skills and able to prioritize and re-prioritize as new insights come to light.
• Solid understanding of the compliance framework with a high level of integrity
• Committed to learning and development.
• Good IT skills e.g., Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook).
• Fluent in English and excellent written and verbal skills with ability to present concisely to Senior Leaders.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelors Degree
• Requires extensive experience in the Biotech/Pharmaceutical or medical technology environment with a track record of successful cross-functional teamwork
• Will have demonstrated in previous roles successful negotiation and contracting experience
• Experience in Cell & Gene therapy desirable but not mandatory

At Vertex, we embrace continuous learning and encourage employees to stay informed on advances in AI, technology, automation, and industry trends. We seek talent who bring an external perspective, demonstrate curiosity and sound judgment, and thoughtfully adopt new capabilities that improve decision-making, drive innovation, increase efficiency, and help deliver better outcomes for patients.

Flex Designation:

Hybrid-Eligible Or On-Site Eligible

Flex Eligibility Status:

In this Hybrid-Eligible role, you can choose to be designated as:
1. Hybrid : work remotely up to two days per week; or select
2. On-Site : work five days per week on-site with ad hoc flexibility.

Note: The Flex status for this position is subject to Vertex’s Policy on Flex @ Vertex Program and may be changed at any time.

#LI-Hybrid

Company Information

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation.

Vertex is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person’s race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Vertex is an E-Verify Employer in the United States. Vertex will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.

Any applicant requiring an accommodation in connection with the hiring process and/or to perform the essential functions of the position for which the applicant has applied should make a request to the recruiter or hiring manager, or contact Talent Acquisition at [e-mail]