Payer Account Manager

Thea Pharma Inc.; Massachusetts; On-site; USD 200,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employer-paid medical, dental, vision

Paid time off (PTO)

Life and disability insurance

Paid parental leave

401(k) match

Job summary

Thea Pharma Inc. is seeking a Payer Account Manager to lead national payer strategies for the U.S. portfolio, accelerating access for CYKLX and ZOLYMBUS while building durable relationships with national and regional payers.

You will engage with health plans, PBMs and MACs, leveraging launch experience and deep payer expertise to optimize coverage, coding and reimbursement pathways across Thea brands.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success directly managing national and/or regional payer accounts within pharma/biotech.
• Current credible relationships with commercial health plan, PBM and/or payer decision-makers.
• Launch experience: support at least one pharmaceutical/biologic product launch with pre-launch readiness and post-launch access.
• Strong understanding of U.S. payer dynamics, pharmacy and medical benefits, specialty products and utilization management.
• Ability to translate market access strategy into practical account plans and execute independently.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute account-specific strategies for a national portfolio of priority payer accounts.
• Drive payer readiness and access for product launches and major access initiatives (CYKLX, ZOLYMBUS).
• Leverage relationships with payer directors, pharmacy leaders and formulary stakeholders to advance discussions.
• Address barriers related to formulary placement, medical policy, utilization management and prior authorization.
• Collaborate with Medical Affairs, Marketing, Patient Services, Finance and Legal/Compliance on payer execution.
• Monitor payer policies, benefit designs and market dynamics; provide field insights to inform decisions.

Skills

Payer account

Payer relationships

Launch experience

Market access

Strategic execution

Communication

Entrepreneurial agility

Compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree (business/healthcare/pharmacy/public health)

Tools

CRM platforms

Microsoft Office

Job description

Thea Pharma Inc. is the newly established US commercial organization of French-based pharmaceutical company, Laboratoires Théa (Clermont-Ferrand). Thea Pharma markets a suite of leading eye-care drugs that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including CYKLX™ , ZOLYMBUS™, IYUZEH™, Zioptan®, Cosopt®, Cosopt® PF, Azasite®, Akten®, and Betimol®, as well as AcellFX™ Acellular Amniotic Membrane and the portfolio of iVIZIA dry-eye drops and eyelid hygiene products. By focusing its parent company’s passion and expertise within the U.S. market, Thea Pharma’s goal is to deliver uncompromising care that enables all stakeholders to envision the future of ophthalmic treatment with eyes wide open.

SUMMARY

The Payer Account Manager is an experienced, field-based member of Thea Pharma’s Payer Strategy team responsible for developing and executing payer account strategies across the U.S. portfolio. This national role will manage an assigned portfolio of priority payer accounts based on business needs, account opportunities, established relationships, and individual expertise. Immediate priorities will include accelerating launch readiness and access for CYKLX and ZOLYMBUS while developing durable payer relationships and capabilities that support all Thea brands and future commercialization opportunities.

The successful candidate will be an established payer account professional who can contribute quickly with limited ramp time, bringing direct relationships with national and regional health plans, PBMs and other key payer decision-makers; demonstrated launch experience, and strong working knowledge of pharmacy and medical benefit access. Experience with Medicare, Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), buy-and-bill reimbursement, coding, coverage policy and specialty products is highly valued.

As Thea continues to expand its U.S. market access capabilities, the Payer Account Manager will play an integral role in building an agile, high-performing payer organization. The successful candidate will bring an enterprise mindset, operating with urgency, accountability, sound judgement, and a strong bias for action. This individual must thrive in an entrepreneurial environment, navigate ambiguity effectively, and contribute beyond traditional account responsibilities when needed to advance portfolio and organizational priorities. A collaborative, team-first approach and commitment to shared success are essential. This role reports to the Director, Payer Strategy.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Payer Account Management: Develop and execute account-specific strategies for an assigned national portfolio of priority payer accounts, including national and regional commercial health plans, MACs, PBMs and other strategically important payer organizations, in alignment with portfolio and brand access objectives.

Launch & Access Execution: Drive payer readiness and account execution for product launches and major access initiatives, with immediate focus on CYKLX and ZOLYMBUS. Anticipate access barriers, establish account-specific action plans and support timely progression from pre-launch engagement through post-launch coverage optimization.

Payer Relationship Management: Leverage and expand established relationships with payer medical directors, pharmacy leaders, formulary and medical-policy stakeholders, contracting partners and other decision-makers to advance productive access discussions.

Coverage & Policy Execution: Assess and address account-level barriers related to formulary placement, medical policy, utilization management, prior authorization, step therapy and other coverage requirements, partnering internally on compliant and evidence-based solutions.

Medical & Pharmacy Benefit Expertise: Apply strong knowledge of pharmacy and medical benefit models, specialty pharmacy, buy-and-bill, ASP reimbursement, J-codes, coding and claims pathways, site-of-care dynamics and provider economics to payer account planning.

Medicare & MAC Knowledge: Apply working knowledge of Medicare Part B and Part D, MAC jurisdictions and coverage processes, and the relationship between coding, reimbursement and policy. Support Medicare/MAC priorities in collaboration with Payer Strategy leadership and other team members.

Account Planning & Performance: Maintain disciplined strategic account plans with clear objectives, stakeholder maps, milestones, risks and next actions. Account ownership and deployment will be aligned to organizational priorities, payer relationships, expertise, and business needs. Document interactions and provide timely visibility into account progress, opportunities and barriers.

Payer Intelligence & Insights: Monitor payer policies, competitive access, benefit design, and emerging market dynamics. Bring actionable field intelligence back to Payer Strategy and cross-functional partners to inform enterprise decisions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Parter effectively with Medical Affairs, Marketing, Patient Services, Finance, Legal/Compliance, Sales and other stakeholders to align payer execution with brand and enterprise priorities while maintaining appropriate functional boundaries.

Build-the-Business Mindset: Contribute to development of a growing U.S. payer capability, including account segmentation, launch tools, operating processes, dashboards and field-insight mechanisms. Steps beyond assigned accounts when needed to solve problems and advance team priorities.

Team-First Culture: Operate with urgency, curiosity, humility, and accountability. Share relationships and insights, support colleagues, challenge constructively and prioritize team and enterprise success over individual ownership.

QUALIFICATIONS

Direct Payer Account Experience: Demonstrated success directly managing national and/or regional payer accounts within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, with responsibility for advancing coverage, policy, formulary or access objectives.

Established Payer Relationships: Current, credible relationships with commercial health plan, PBM and/or other relevant payer decision-makers, with the ability to identify and engage appropriate stakeholders quickly.

Launch Experience: Demonstrated experience supporting at least one pharmaceutical or biologic product launch, including pre-launch payer readiness, early coverage development and post-launch access execution. Multiple launches strongly preferred.

Reimbursement & Market Access Knowledge: Strong understanding of U.S. payer dynamics, pharmacy and medical benefits, specialty products and utilization management. Experience with Medicare/MACs, Part B reimbursement, buy-and-bill, coding and J-code pathways strongly preferred.

Strategic Execution: Ability to translate broader market access strategy into practical account plans, prioritize opportunities and execute independently while escalating issues appropriately.

Communicate & Influence: Strong presentation, negotiation and communication skills, with the judgement and credibility to represent Thea with sophisticated external stakeholders and collaborate effectively with senior internal partners.

Entrepreneurial Agility: Demonstrated success operating in lean, fast-paced or evolving environments. Comfortable creating structure where needed, solving problems proactively and working with incomplete information without sacrificing execution quality.

Culture & Collaboration: High degree of self-awareness, humility and team orientation. Willingness to share expertise, accept feedback, support colleagues and perform work outside narrow role boundaries when business needs require.

Compliance: Strong commitment to applicable healthcare laws, regulations, OIG guidance and company compliance policies.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Education: Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in business, healthcare, pharmacy, public health or a related discipline preferred.

Experience: 10+ years of progressive pharmaceutical/biotechnology experience preferred, including significant experience in market access, managed markets, payer account management, national accounts or reimbursement. A minimum of 5+ years of direct payer account management experience with meaningful responsibility for external payer relations is strongly preferred.

Payer Portfolio: Demonstrated experience managing a portfolio of payer accounts and engaging multiple stakeholder types across complex organizations. National and major regional payer experience strongly preferred.

Specialty & Launch Background: Experience with specialty pharmaceuticals, biologicals, medical-benefit and/or buy-and-bill products strongly preferred. Prior launch experience is required.

Therapeutic Experience: Ophthalmology/retina experience preferred but not required. Proven payer relationships, market access expertise, launch capability and ability to contribute rapidly are prioritized.

Systems: Proficiency with CRM platforms and Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Teams and Outlook.

Travel: Ability to travel approximately 40-50%, including overnight travel and payer/customer meetings as business needs require.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT

This position requires prolonged sitting. Additionally, requires eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity enough to operate a keyboard, photocopier, telephone, and other office equipment. Requires normal range of hearing and vision to record, prepare, and communicate appropriately. Additional physical requirements include hearing spoken communication clearly.

BENEFITS AND PERKS

• employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance
• a generous schedule of paid time off (PTO)
• life and disability insurance
• paid parental leave
• a competitive 401(k) company match
• Thea is a flexible and entrepreneurial work environment where you will enjoy an inclusive culture and the opportunity to have your voice and ideas directly shape the future of the company

For U.S. locations that require disclosure of compensation, the starting pay for this role is between $200k to $220k. The estimated salary range reflects an anticipated range for this position. The actual base salary offered may depend on a variety of factors.

EEO STATEMENT

Thea Pharma Inc. is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. At Thea, we not only support the diversity of our employee population, we celebrate the way our team member’s unique backgrounds and experiences contribute to the success of our company. Thea does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Thea Pharma Inc. does not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Your information will be kept confidential according to EEO Guidelines.