Senior Director, Market Access

Position Title: Senior Director, Market Access

Department: Commercial

Reports To: VP Marketing. As the organization grows, this role is expect to transition to reporting to Chief Commercial Officer or Head of Market Access.

Location: Princeton, NJ or South San Francisco, CA – On-site 4 days per week (Mon to Thurs)

Job Overview

Kardigan is seeking a Senior Director of Market Access to help build the commercial foundation for our late-stage cardiovascular portfolio. This is a rare opportunity to join a pre-launch biotech with strong science, an experienced leadership team, and a clear path toward bringing transformative therapies to patients with serious heart disease. Reporting to the VP Marketing, this individual will be a key architect of Kardigan’s payer strategy, coverage policy, and access infrastructure - shaping how patients and providers can access our medicines from day one. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise across managed care, payer strategy, health economics, and patient services, and thrives in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment where building from the ground up is the norm.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of market access strategies for multiple late-stage cardiovascular assets from pre-launch through commercialization, including coverage and reimbursement planning, payer value proposition, and pricing and contracting frameworks across commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid segments.

• Build and maintain relationships with national and regional payers, PBMs, and IDNs; lead payer advisory boards and negotiate formulary positioning for launch products.

• Partner with Medical Affairs and HEOR to define evidence generation priorities and to develop and communicate the clinical and economic value story that supports favorable coverage decisions and formulary placement.

• Design and oversee patient services programs including hub services, prior authorization support, patient assistance programs (PAP), and co-pay support to minimize access barriers and reduce time to therapy.

• Develop and execute a channel strategy spanning specialty pharmacy, specialty distributors, and hospital/institutional settings appropriate for a cardiovascular launch.

• Develop and lead the government affairs and policy strategy, including monitoring and responding to coverage policies, CMS proposals, and legislative dynamics that could affect product access.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Commercial, Medical, Legal, Finance, and Regulatory to align on launch readiness milestones, pricing strategy, and access timelines.

• Build, manage, and mentor a high-performing market access team as the organization grows, including external vendors and agency partners as needed.

• Establish metrics, dashboards, and reporting frameworks to monitor payer coverage, patient access, and field reimbursement performance.

• Represent market access perspectives in launch planning, LCM activities, and pipeline asset development to ensure early integration of access considerations.

Qualifications and Preferred Skills

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MPH, PharmD, or equivalent) strongly preferred.

• 10+ years of pharmaceutical/biotech industry experience with at least 6 years in market access, managed care, payer strategy, or a closely related function.

• Prior experience with at least one US product launch is required; cardiovascular, cardiometabolic or specialty launch experience is strongly preferred. Rare/orphan disease experience preferred but not required.

• Deep knowledge of the US payer landscape including commercial health plans, PBMs, Medicare Part D, and Medicaid, including formulary management, prior authorization, and step therapy protocols.

• Demonstrated success in establishing and managing payer relationships and leading payer negotiations or contracting processes.

• Experience developing and implementing patient services programs, including hub/SP management, PAP, co-pay card, and field reimbursement support.

• Familiarity with HEOR principles and the ability to translate health economic data into payer-relevant messaging and dossiers.

• Strong strategic thinking, analytical skills, and executive presence, with the ability to influence cross-functional partners and present to senior leadership.

• Comfortable operating in a small, pre-commercial company environment; demonstrated ability to build programs and teams from early-stage through launch.

• Ability to travel up to 30% as needed to support payer meetings, industry conferences, and internal team collaboration.