Senior Manager, US Commercial Learning – Rare Disease

Apellis Pharmaceuticals; United States; Hybrid; USD 147,000 - 206,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with match

Family building benefits

Flexible time off

Summer and winter shutdowns

Paid family leave

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Job summary

Apellis Pharmaceuticals is seeking a Senior Manager, Commercial Learning to design, develop, and deliver customer-facing learning programs for Rare Disease launches. The role partners with Sales, Marketing, Medical, and Legal to create field-ready content, while steering onboarding and ongoing learning initiatives across live, virtual, and blended formats.

The ideal candidate demonstrates a strong background in commercial pharma learning, ADDIE methodology, and the ability to influence across

Qualifications

• BS/BA degree required.
• 6+ years of professional experience, including 3-5 years in Commercial Learning, Sales, Marketing, or Consulting.
• Experience supporting product launches and/or Rare Disease brands preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deliver learning curricula and training programs for customer-facing teams within the Rare Disease business.
• Lead onboarding and day-to-day learning initiatives, optimizing the learning experience through stakeholder and field feedback.
• Facilitate engaging training delivery across live, virtual, and blended formats, adapting style to audiences.
• Partner with vendors and cross-functional stakeholders to design accurate, field-relevant learning content and manage PRC approvals.
• Maintain close connections with Medical Affairs to ensure alignment between medical and learning functions.
• Assess training effectiveness using surveys, field feedback, and performance data; adjust content based on evidence.
• Engage regularly with field teams and managers to understand evolving needs and skill gaps.
• Develop and deliver learning content for major business events and launches.
• Manage program timelines, budgets, and vendor partners to ensure high-quality, on-time execution.
• Ensure all training complies with company values, code of practice, and SOPs.

Skills

Learning & Development

Stakeholder management

Facilitation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

ADDIE methodology

Job description

Opportunity awaits those up to the challenge of developing transformative therapies across a broad range of debilitating diseases.

Summary:

Biogen is seeking a seasoned learning and development professional with commercial, customer-facing experience for the role of Senior Manager, Commercial Learning, supporting our Rare Disease business. This is an outstanding opportunity to make a significant business impact within a growth-oriented commercial organization, partnering closely with sales and brand leadership to build and deliver learning solutions that drive field readiness and performance.
The role requires a leadership mindset, strong communication, planning, and facilitation skills, the ability to work cross-functionally with key stakeholders, and the ability to execute with rigor and agility in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

This role reports to the Director, US Commercial Learning & Development, and can be either hybrid position located in Cambridge, MA, or a remote position.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, and deliver learning curricula and training programs for customer-facing teams within the Rare Disease business, applying adult learning principles and ADDIE methodology.
• Lead execution of onboarding and day-to-day learning initiatives, continuously optimizing the learning experience through stakeholder and field feedback.
• Facilitate engaging training delivery across live, virtual, and blended formats, adapting style to new hire and experienced field audiences.
• Partner with vendors and cross-functional stakeholders (Sales, Marketing, Medical, Legal/Regulatory/Compliance) to design accurate, field-relevant learning content and manage approval through the Promotional Review Committee (PRC) process.
• Maintain close connections with Medical Affairs to ensure alignment between medical and learning functions.
• Assess training effectiveness using surveys, field feedback, and performance data; adjust content based on evidence and share insights with leadership to inform broader capability-building strategy.
• Engage regularly with field teams and managers to understand evolving needs, identify skill gaps, and recommend learning interventions.
• Develop and deliver learning content for major business events, including launches, label updates, Fast Starts, POAs, and ad hoc business initiatives.
• Manage program timelines, budgets, and vendor partners to ensure high-quality, on-time execution across multiple concurrent projects.
• Ensure all training complies with Biogen values, code of practice, and other relevant SOPs.

Education, Registration & Certification

• BS/BA degree required.

Experience

• 6+ years of professional experience, including 3-5 years in Commercial Learning, Sales, Marketing, or Consulting.
• Experience supporting product launches and/or Rare Disease brands preferred.

Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

• Deep understanding of the commercial pharmaceutical/biotech landscape, customer behaviors, and adult learning principles.
• Track record of delivering end-to-end learning processes, including curriculum design, development, and classroom facilitation.
• Passion for championing the needs of field teams to drive customer impact and field team satisfaction.
• Ability to navigate and execute independently in a fast-paced, results-driven environment, managing through ambiguity.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to influence across functions and levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated success collaborating in a matrix environment and with external vendor partners.
• Demonstrated integrity on the job, including understanding of relevant rules and regulations.

Travel

Limited domestic travel, expected to be no more than 25% (e.g., field rides, regional meetings, headquarter visits).

Travel Requirements:

Limited domestic travel, expected to be no more than 25% (e.g., field rides, regional meetings, headquarter visits).

Education:

Bachelor’s Degree

Pay Information:

Base salary for this role will consider multiple factors, including but not limited to, candidate qualifications, relevant expertise, specialized skills, and industry experience in complement-targeted therapies. The targeted base salary range for this position is $147,000-$206,000. This range represents the base salary only and reflects Apellis’ commitment to competitive compensation within the biopharmaceutical industry. The final salary offered may vary based on individual qualifications, business needs, and current market conditions.

Work Arrangement:

Hybrid

Benefits and Perks:

Apellis offers a comprehensive benefits package, including a 401(k) plan with company match, inclusive family building benefits, flexible time off, summer and winter shutdowns, paid family leave, disability and life insurance, and more! Visit https://apellis.com/careers/benefits/ to learn more.

Company Background:

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company leading the way in complement science to develop life-changing therapies for some of the most challenging diseases patients face. We ushered in the first new class of complement medicine in 15 years and now have two C3-targeting medicines approved to treat four serious diseases. Breakthroughs for patients include the first-ever therapy for geographic atrophy, a leading cause of blindness, and the first treatment for patients 12 and older with C3G or primary IC-MPGN, two severe, rare kidney diseases. We believe we have only begun to unlock the potential of targeting C3 across many serious diseases.

For more information, please visit http://apellis.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X.

EEO Statement:

Apellis is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state and local fair employment practices laws. Apellis strictly prohibits and does not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants or any other covered persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex (including pregnancy), gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, marital status, AIDS/HIV status, smoker/nonsmoker, and occupational pneumoconiosis or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law.

For San Francisco postings: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.