Associate Director, Strategic Engagements

Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 178,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work policy

401k plan with company match

Paid parental leave

Healthcare benefits

Job summary

Ferring Pharmaceuticals US is seeking an Associate Director, Strategic Engagements to lead strategic external engagement with community-based urology practices and high-impact accounts. You will translate insights into commercial actions and partner with cross-functional teams to drive NMIBC therapy adoption.

The role requires pharma marketing experience and strong relationships with uro-oncology thought leaders, with national travel (50–65%) to support senior leadership and account plans.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (PhD/ PharmD/ MD/ MBA) preferred.
• 5–8+ years in pharma with sales/medical affairs/marketing experience.
• Experience building strategic relationships with urology/uro-oncology stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic engagement across community urology practices and priority accounts.
• Develop engagement strategies with physicians, admins, and leaders; translate insights to actions.
• Coordinate with Marketing, Medical Affairs, Market Access, and Sales to align objectives.
• Plan and support advisory boards, roundtables, and peer-to-peer education events.
• Travel nationally (approximately 50–65%) to prioritize accounts and key congresses.

Skills

Pharma marketing

Thought leader engagement

Executive communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree required

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

As a privately-owned, biopharmaceutical company, Ferring pioneers and delivers life-changing therapies that help people build families and live better lives. Our independence helps us cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit and long-term perspective that enables us to achieve growth and scale, while remaining agile and true to our 'people first' philosophy. Built on a 70-year plus commitment to science and research, Ferring is relentless in its pursuit of science that drives powerful discoveries and therapies to help people build families, stay healthy, and stand up to the world's oldest enemy: disease.

Our ambition is for our novel, first-in-class treatment for bladder cancer to become the new standard of care and backbone therapy for patients across the non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) disease spectrum. In 2024, our intravesical gene therapy achieved over 1,500 patients treated across the country at most major medical centers and community care centers. This exceptional first-year performance has made it among the top five best-selling gene therapies, and its uptake reflects a movement within the category toward innovative therapies and new hope for patients and their families.

Our Uro-Oncology team is expanding with a variety of rewarding opportunities in commercial, medical affairs and technical operations. If you are energized by the prospect of bringing the benefits of cutting-edge science to meet the needs of patients, we may have the perfect role for you.

This is a highly visible, strategic role for a commercially minded leader with deep urology experience, strong executive presence, and a track record of driving impact through influential customer engagement.

The Associate Director, Strategic Engagements is responsible for developing and executing strategic external engagement initiatives across community-based urology practices, large independent urology groups, and other high-impact stakeholders supporting the brand.

This individual will serve as a commercial liaison to key urology and uro-oncology opinion leaders cultivating relationships with influential healthcare professionals, health system leaders, and operational stakeholders to generate actionable market insights, identify opportunities to improve patient access and adoption, and inform commercial strategy.

Working in close partnership with Marketing, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Sales, Leadership, and Strategic Engagement colleagues, this individual will drive initiatives that strengthen community engagement, enhance stakeholder collaboration, and accelerate adoption of the brand across priority account settings.

Must have pharmaceutical marketing experience, experience working closely with thought leaders (preferably in Urology), superior communication skills, including listening, written, verbal, and presentation skills. Experience communicating with leadership; and a track record of project completion and success.

This role will provide national coverage (must be in close proximity to a major airport).

This is your opportunity to play an important role in making available to patients a novel therapy that has the potential to set a new benchmark for what's possible in bladder cancer care.

With Ferring, you will be joining a recognized leader, identified as one of "The World's Most Innovative Companies" by Fast Company, and honored by Fortune with inclusion on its "Change the World List," for addressing society's unmet needs. Ferring US is also Great Places to Work Certified, distinguishing it as one of the best companies to work for in the country.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support strategic engagement activities across the Bladder Cancer Healthcare Ecosystem; community-based urology practices, large independent urology groups (including LUGPA affiliates), and other priority accounts.
• Develop and execute engagement strategies that strengthen relationships with influential physicians, advanced practice providers, administrators, nurses, and operational leaders.
• Identify, prioritize, and monitor key opinion leaders, academic centers, and strategic accounts; ensure coordinated deployment of appropriate commercial resources
• Identify emerging trends, operational barriers, treatment pathway opportunities, and evolving customer needs, translating insights into actionable recommendations for cross-functional teams.
• Communicate complex scientific and clinical concepts with clarity and credibility to support strategic customer engagement and commercial objectives.
• Partner with Marketing, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Sales Leadership, and Commercial Operations to develop coordinated engagement strategies aligned with brand objectives.
• Support planning and execution of advisory boards, roundtables, executive engagements, and peer-to-peer educational initiatives.
• Translate field and thought leader insights into clear, actionable recommendations that inform brand strategy, lifecycle planning, evidence needs, and future growth opportunities.
• Partner cross-functionally with Sales leadership, Marketing, Market Access, and Field Medical to ensure aligned, effective execution across customer touchpoints.
• Collaborate and execute on at major congresses and priority scientific meetings by identifying high-priority stakeholders, supporting engagement planning, and synthesizing post-congress insights.
• Build trusted relationships with key opinion leaders, operational decision makers, and emerging influencers across assigned strategic accounts.
• Monitor competitive activity, treatment trends, practice evolution, and healthcare delivery changes impacting NMIBC management.
• Maintain a deep understanding of practice operations, referral patterns, reimbursement considerations, and treatment workflows.
• Partner with the Strategic Engagement team to ensure consistent insight generation, dissemination, and cross-functional communication.
• Support development of strategic account plans that align customer engagement activities with broader commercial priorities.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree PhD, PharmD, MD or MBA preferred.
• Minimum of 5-8 years of progressive pharmaceutical industry experience, prefer combination of sales, medical affairs and/or marketing.
• Demonstrated success developing strategic relationships within the Oncology Healthcare Ecosystem: urologists, uro-oncologists, and other healthcare stakeholders influencing patient care; oncology or urology experience required.
• Strong background in commercial strategy, brand planning, professional education, and society engagement preferred.
• Successful product launch experience strongly preferred; experience with first-in-class therapies a plus.Proven ability to generate and leverage customer insights to shape market development and brand strategy.
• Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Exceptional communication skills, including written, verbal, and presentation capabilities.
• Familiarity with promotional review processes and compliant external engagement required.
• Ability to travel frequently (approximately 50-65%).

Physical Requirements

• Sitting approximately 3 - 4 hours at a time while driving or as a passenger and operating an automobile up to 60% of the time depending upon the geography of the territory.
• Walking up to 15% of the time depending upon the geography of the territory.
• Climbing stairs and/or ramps may be required in certain urban territories where the use of public transportation may be necessary during the course of the work day.
• Standing, more than 1 -2 hours at a time.
• Lifting, carrying, pushing and/or pulling items such as laptop, iPad, printed material and product samples weighing up to 20 pounds, into and out of a car, train or airplane and into physician offices and/or medical facilities.
• Long distance travel via airplane or other commercial conveyance approximately 2-3 times per year. Additional overnight and/or longer distance travel may be required more frequently, depending upon the territory.

Ferring + you

At Ferring, we offer competitive total compensation along with an exceptional range of flexible benefits, personal support and tailored learning and development opportunities all designed to help you realize your full potential both in life and at work. From working hours that respect your lifestyle, a culture that is welcoming and equitable, and the chance to work with the industry's most impressive people, these are just some of the ways we live our "People First" philosophy.

Our Compensation and Benefits

At Ferring, base salary is one part of our competitive total compensation and benefits package and is determined using a salary range. The base salary range for this role is $178,000 to $218,000, which is the reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount paid may differ based on non-discriminatory factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, education and primary work location. Additional compensation for this role will be provided based on competitive annual incentive compensation targets in the form of an annual bonus - payouts are based on individual and company performance.

Benefits for this role include:

• comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with a premium differential, inverse to base salary, to be paid by employees
• a 401k plan and company match
• short and long-term disability coverage
• basic life insurance
• wellness benefits
• reimbursement for certain tuition expenses
• sick time frontloaded yearly of 40 hours, or higher if state or local law requires
• vacation time for full time employees to accrue between 112.5 and 150 hours yearly in the first four (4) years of employment, and additional accruals starting in the fifth (5th) year of employment
• 12 to 13 paid holidays per year
• 20 weeks of paid parental leave, learn more about the parental leave offering in our benefits package here.
• For roles that are not field-based, Ferring has a hybrid work policy that is four days in the office, with the option to work one day remotely.

Ferring is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment will be based on merit, competence, performance,