[Hiring] Director, Commercial Strategy & Operations @Emmes Group

Role Description

The Director, Commercial Strategy & Operations shapes and supports OptymEdge’s commercial growth strategy while leading a disciplined, data-driven commercial operations function. The role is accountable for:

• Commercial intelligence
• Qualified pipeline generation
• CRM and forecasting governance
• Effective proposal, budget and pricing processes

This role combines strategic thinking with hands-on leadership to improve commercial performance and enable sustainable new business growth.

The primary focus includes:

• Commercial strategy and growth plan
• Data-driven commercial operations
• Qualified pipeline and new business growth
• Pricing and contract governance
• Alignment between lead generation and the commercial teams
• Team performance and development

Responsibilities

• Commercial Strategy & Market Insight:
  • Work with the Head of Commercial to develop annual commercial plans, target segments, priority accounts and growth initiatives.
  • Analyse market trends, clinical development pipelines, customer needs and competitor activity to identify attractive opportunities and inform positioning.
  • Provide practical recommendations to leadership on pipeline quality, customer opportunities, pricing trends and commercial priorities.
  • Support account planning, qualification and win strategy for high-priority pursuits.
• Commercial Operations & Governance:
  • Lead commercial operations including Salesforce governance, pipeline reporting, forecast processes, performance dashboards and KPI definitions.
  • Own the governance and continuous improvement of proposal, budget and pricing workflows, ensuring timely, accurate outputs and appropriate approvals.
  • Develop clear commercial controls for pricing, discounts and non-standard terms in partnership with appropriate decision-makers.
  • Improve data quality, reporting consistency, win/loss analysis and adoption of effective commercial tools and processes.
• Lead Generation & Pipeline Development:
  • Lead and develop lead generation capability, setting measurable expectations for qualified meetings, accepted opportunities and pipeline contribution.
  • Define target account priorities and research-led prospecting approaches to create a reliable flow of relevant opportunities.
  • Engage prospective customers directly where senior-level involvement can improve access or accelerate qualification.
  • Establish practical qualification criteria, lead follow-up expectations and conversion feedback loops to improve the quality of pipeline generated.
• Commercial Collaboration & Execution:
  • Partner with commercial leadership to align prospecting priorities with sales capacity, customer strategy and opportunity conversion needs.
  • Coordinate with relevant marketing and enterprise stakeholders on campaigns, conferences and market engagement, while respecting their functional ownership.
  • Facilitate efficient collaboration across finance, scientific, operational and other teams to support commercial decision-making and timely execution.
• Leadership & Continuous Improvement:
  • Coach and develop assigned team members, establish clear deliverables and foster accountability for results.
  • Monitor commercial process effectiveness and recommend improvements to turnaround times, governance, reporting and productivity.
  • Promote a proactive, analytical and growth-focused commercial culture across the organisation.
  • Additional duties, as assigned.

Qualifications

• Typically 8–10+ years of progressive experience in commercial strategy, commercial operations or sales operations.
• Demonstrated capability in new-logo pipeline generation, prospecting strategy and development of customer relationships.
• Strong Salesforce, forecasting, commercial analytics, pricing governance and process improvement experience.
• Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, CRO, clinical trials or broader life sciences preferred.
• Experience building or leading a small team and influencing across a global organisation.
• Excellent commercial judgement, analytical, communication and presentation skills; ophthalmology or endpoint services experience advantageous.

Benefits

• Flexible Approved Time Off
• Tuition Reimbursement
• 401k Retirement Plan
• Work From Home Anywhere in the US
• Maternal/Paternal Leave
• Casual Dress Code & Work Environment