Vertex US Distribution Posted October 28, 2026

Director, Strategic Accounts - West Region (TX, CA, CO , AZ)

Field Based, United States Full time
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About this opportunity

Job Description

Vertex is seeking an experienced and talented commercial leader to join the US Pain Business Unit. The Area Director, Strategic Accounts will be responsible for leading the Strategic Accounts Team that supports the largest health systems in the Western US, with the adoption of Journavx, an oral non-opioid, inhibitor of NaV1.8 in the treatment of acute pain. We are seeking candidates with a strong track record of exceptional results, establishing a culture of performance that aligns with Vertex values, while expanding deep relationships across target health systems. The Area Director, Strategic Accounts, will lead a team of Strategic Account Leaders and report to the Senior Director, Lead of Strategic Accounts Pain BU.

The West Region covers the states of TX, CA, CO and AZ.

The preferred candidate ideally will reside in one of the West states and have access to a major airport.

Key Responsibilities

Lead the Strategic Account Management team in the Western US, including securing advocacy and product access while developing and retaining a high performing team

Partner with Strategic Account Leaders (SALs) at the account level to establish clear and actionable strategic business plans, tactics and performance metrics to achieve goals and expansion of Journavx use across service lines

Effectively collaborates and aligns with the commercial sales organization to execute pull through tactics in Health Systems while living into the Vertex, “We Wins” values

Engage and expand relationships across Health Systems account leadership, pharmacy teams, formulary decision makers, and population health stakeholders to ensure product uptake to the adoption of Journavx

Coordinate account engagement activities compliantly across the internal matrix team, including Regional Field Leaders, pain territory account managers, payer account directors, HEOR colleagues, medical, health systems marketing and virtual sales representative team members

Monitor area and account performance and business results, proving feedback, best practices and direction to optimize and foster consistent execution

Role model ethics and integrity in the work that you do to support our culture of compliance and earn trust with external stakeholders

Required Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree

10+ years of experience in healthcare/biopharmaceuticals in market access, strategic accounts, sales, or an equivalent combination of experience and education

3+ years of supervisory/management experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience

5 + years of experience in account management with IDNs, including deep knowledge of key IDN accounts and existing relationships at top IDNs

Experience in Acute and Ambulatory Care, Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Pain Management or Medical Device with a history of GPO contract pull-through

Experience successfully navigating large Health System P&T formulary process across multiple service lines

Required Skills

Fosters the highest level of teamwork, collaboration and execution

Minimum 5 years of Strategic Account Management Experience working with IDNs / Health Systems; with knowledge of how to influence both access and demand

Minimum of 5 years’ leading people experience, including coaching, developing and leading high-performance teams

Demonstrated success leading complex, cross functional initiatives within a matrix organization.

High clinical and business acumen

Excellent professional and strategic account management skills

Understanding of clinical and economic trends driving decision making in current healthcare market, specific to health systems including payer dynamics, reimbursement, contracting, formulary or service line expansion, health economics and reimbursement models in the inpatient and outpatient settings

At Vertex, we embrace continuous learning and encourage employees to stay informed on advances in AI, technology, automation, and industry trends. We seek talent who bring an external perspective, demonstrate curiosity and sound judgment, and thoughtfully adopt new capabilities that improve decision-making, drive innovation, increase efficiency, and help deliver better outcomes for patients.

Pay Range:

$166,400 - $249,600

Disclosure Statement:

The range provided is based on what we believe is a reasonable estimate for the base salary pay range for this job at the time of posting. This role is eligible for an annual bonus and annual equity awards. Some roles may also be eligible for overtime pay, in accordance with federal and state requirements. Actual base salary pay will be based on a number of factors, including skills, competencies, experience, and other job-related factors permitted by law.

At Vertex, our Total Rewards offerings also include inclusive market-leading benefits to meet our employees wherever they are in their career, financial, family and wellbeing journey while providing flexibility and resources to support their growth and aspirations.  From medical, dental and vision benefits to generous paid time off (including a week-long company shutdown in the Summer and the Winter), educational assistance programs including student loan repayment, a generous commuting subsidy, matching charitable donations, 401(k) and so much more.

Company Information

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation.

Vertex is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person's race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Vertex is an E-Verify Employer in the United States. Vertex will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.

Any applicant requiring an accommodation in connection with the hiring process and/or to perform the essential functions of the position for which the applicant has applied should make a request to the recruiter or hiring manager, or contact Talent Acquisition at ApplicationAssistance@vrtx.com

Job details

Seniority
Director
Function
BD&L & Strategic Planning
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Field Based, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active BD&L & Strategic Planning role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 116 comparable Director BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 55 biopharma companies.

116Comparable roles tracked
108Currently active
55Companies hiring similar roles
16Countries represented

Salary context

41 of 116 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $166,400/yr – $249,600/yr
Lowest disclosed · Principal Scientist II, Translational Biomarker Strategy Lead · Novartis $114,100/yr – $211,900/yr
Peer group range $163,000 – $300,000 (median $232,750)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 116 comparable roles

United States72
China18
United Kingdom5
Japan4
Switzerland3
Spain2

+ 10 more countries

Seniority mix

116 of 116 peers have a known seniority level

Director82
Senior Director27
Principal7

Therapeutic area mix

30 of 116 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology12
Immunology6
Neuroscience5
Dermatology & Aesthetics3
Respiratory2
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Cardiovascular / CVRM1

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The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

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Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new BD&L & Strategic Planning job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
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Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.