Senior Director, Field Strategy & Enablement

Xenon Pharmaceuticals • Needham, MA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) is a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company dedicated to drug discovery, clinical development, and commercialization of life-changing therapeutics for patients in need. We are looking for great people who thrive in a respectful, collaborative, inclusive, and productive culture to join the Xenon team.
We are advancing an exciting product pipeline to address indications with high unmet medical need, including epilepsy and depression. Our Phase 3 azetukalner program represents the most advanced, clinically validated potassium channel modulator in late-stage clinical development for multiple indications. Building upon the positive results and compelling data from our Phase 2b X-TOLE study in adult patients with focal epilepsy, our Phase 3 epilepsy program includes multiple clinical trials evaluating azetukalner in patients with focal onset seizures and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures. In November 2025, we announced the completion of patient enrollment in our Phase 3 X-TOLE2 study, and topline data are anticipated in March 2026. We also have multiple Phase 3 azetukalner clinical trials in major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar depression (BPD) underway, based on topline data from our Phase 2 X-NOVA clinical trial. In addition, we are proud of the leading-edge science coming out of our discovery labs, including early-stage research programs that leverage our extensive ion channel expertise and drug discovery capabilities to identify validated drug targets and develop new product candidates. We have recently initiated Phase 1 studies for our follow-on Kv7 channel opener, XEN1120, and our lead Nav1.7 development candidate, XEN1701, in pain. Backed by a strong balance sheet to support our growth plans, we continue to build a fully integrated, premier neuroscience company with strong discovery, clinical development, corporate, and commercial operations.
The Senior Director, Field Strategy & Enablement will be responsible for driving the execution of strategy and operational excellence across Sales & Marketing, coordinating with leadership to define priorities, translate growth strategies into actionable plans, and ensure accountability for initiatives. Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, this role leads annual and quarterly planning, manages the operating cadence, and partners with cross-functional teams to optimize pipeline health, forecasting, and revenue performance. Additional responsibilities include developing executive dashboards for data-driven decisions, identifying and resolving process gaps, organizing national and regional meetings, leading sales training and enablement, and measuring training effectiveness. The Senior Director will recruit and develop team members, oversee budget planning, uphold company policies, and support both short- and long-term objectives, with some international travel required.
This position will be based out of “Boston, MA, USA in our Needham office”. We will consider remote locations for exceptional candidates. Hybrid positions require a minimum of two onsite days per week.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree required; advanced degree in business a plus
• 12+ years of combined pharmaceutical and/or bio-pharmaceutical marketing, sales or operations experience
• Highly self-motivated and comfortable operating in an entrepreneurial environment
• Demonstrated track record leading high-performing teams within the biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical industry and have a comprehensive understanding of best practice across the pharmaceutical industry
• Experience leading cross-functional teams in a matrix environment, managing large projects involving multiple functions and shared accountabilities
• Demonstrated experience in leading teams through changing business needs
• Strong knowledge of pharmaceutical industry including product positioning, brand plan development, market research, operations, launch planning and execution
• Highly resilient and achievement-oriented, with the ability to succeed in an environment that demands fast, but well-founded decision-making
• Proven experience in demonstrating strong collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Market Access, and Medical leaders to design support curriculums to meet business needs
• Outstanding interpersonal, collaboration and communication (verbal / written) skills
• Excellent presentation and time management skills
• Demonstrated track record of strong business acumen and pursuit of excellence
• Strong solutions orientation with a track record of strategic thinking, planning and organization
• Approximately 15–20% travel required

Responsibilities

• Drive strategy execution, operational excellence, and enablement across Sales & Marketing
• Coordinate, advance and implement field excellence while partnering with Sales & Marketing leadership
• Partner with Sales and Marketing leadership to define priorities, drive execution, and ensure accountability across initiatives
• Translate go-to-market and growth strategies into operating plans, milestones, and KPIs
• Lead annual and quarterly planning for Sales & Marketing, including targets, capacity modeling, and resource allocation
• Own the Sales & Marketing operating cadence
• Lead development of IC strategy, In partnership with Head of Sales and Commercial operations
• Drive rigor around pipeline health, forecasting accuracy, and revenue performance in partnership with Commercial Operations and Finance
• Develop and maintain executive dashboards and insights to support data-driven decision-making
• Identify and resolve process gaps, inefficiencies, and execution risks across the revenue engine
• Act as a primary point of coordination across Sales, Marketing, Commercial Operations and Finance
• Lead the development of strategy, objectives, planning and organization of national and regional meetings, including partnership and alignment with cross-functional partners
• Lead Sales Training and Enablement, including onboarding, ongoing training, and role-based skill development
• Partner with Sales leadership to define core competencies, methodologies, and performance standards
• Ensure consistent rollout and adoption of sales processes, tools, and messaging
• Measure effectiveness of training programs through performance metrics and business outcomes
• Continuously evolve enablement programs to support new products, segments, and go-to-market motions
• Partner with Marketing leadership to ensure strategy is pulled through via live and virtual training
• Develop and propose short- and long-term objectives for the function in accordance with overall Company strategies and plans
• Plan and manage budget proposals and approved budgets in accordance with the Company’s strategic and operating plans and Finance policies
• Recruit, lead, direct, develop, coach and evaluate direct reports, if any, in accordance with the Company’s Human Resource policies and practices
• Act in accordance with Company policies, including, for example, the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and ensure policies are understood and followed by direct reports, if any
• Some international travel may be required
• Other duties as assigned

Benefits

• Our Total Rewards program includes base salary, target bonus, and stock options, as well as a full range of benefits including medical, dental, vision, short-& long-term disability, accidental death & dismemberment, and life insurance programs, Employee Assistance Program, travel insurance, and retirement savings programs with company matching contributions.
• Xenon encourages time to rest and re-charge through vacation, personal days, sick days, and an end-of-year company shutdown. Xenon highly values employee development and has an expanding Training, Learning & Development program, including a Tuition Assistance program for advanced degrees.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director