VP, Account Director (Pharma Agency, Learning and Development)
Avalere Health
Apply to this job New York, NY remote Until 10/7/2026 10+ years exp H-1B sponsor history First posted August 8, 2026 Last posted August 8, 2026
Job description
About Avalere Health
Established in 2001, Avalere Health is a purposefully built commercialization partner for the biopharmaceutical, medical technology, and wellness industries.
Our 1,500+ experts combine their knowledge and expertise across our core disciplines — Consulting; Medical; Policy; Value, Evidence, and Access; Marketing; and Digital Experience Technology — to create the connections that make better health happen.
Avalere Health partners with its clients to navigate the complex and rapidly changing healthcare ecosystem. Together, our experts help clients connect patients with life-changing therapies, realizing the potential of strategies and solutions to accelerate innovation that improves lives.
We live and breathe our five values in everything we do: We are authentic. We act with integrity. We value difference. We play for the team. We enjoy the journey. At Avalere Health, we imagine a healthier world and create the connections to make it happen.
We take pride in being part of the Disability Confident Scheme. This helps make sure you can be interviewed fairly if you have a disability, long term health condition, or are neurodiverse. If you'd like to apply and need adjustments made, you can let us know in your application.
About the role
We are seeking a VP, Account Director to successfully lead key Learning and Development accounts at a global pharma agency by providing sound, innovative, and strategic leadership. This individual will be required to establish and maintain effective senior-level client relationships. The VP, Account Director is responsible for client success and satisfaction, brand planning, strategic and tactical deliverables, and profitability of all assigned brands. The VP, Account Director will also play a significant role in new business activities and initiatives.
At Avalere Health, our Learning & Development discipline partners with pharmaceutical and biotech clients to help their teams build the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to successfully bring therapies to patients. We work across therapeutic areas including oncology, rare disease, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, and many others.
What makes our L&D team different is that we don't simply create training materials. We combine learning science, instructional design, behavioral change principles, and deep scientific expertise to create learning experiences that actually improve performance in the field.
What you’ll do
- Serve as the senior relationship lead across key accounts, embedding as a true extension of the client team and bring transformative training solutions to life.
- Drive annual account planning and long-term strategic roadmaps focused on modernizing learning.
- Build trust with senior stakeholders across Training, Sales, Medical Affairs, Compliance, and HR.
- Facilitate quarterly business reviews, visioning workshops, and innovation planning sessions.
- Identify whitespace opportunities and lead strategic upsells based on a deep understanding of evolving client needs, industry trends, and future learning needs.
- Oversee pitch and proposal development, pitch strategy, and contract negotiation for new and expanded work.
- Collaborate with internal teams to co-create modern, tech-enabled solutions that set us apart.
- Collaborate closely with solution architects, creative, and learning strategists to develop compelling, integrated offerings.
- Cultivate a “builder” mindset within the team, prototyping new services, piloting AI tools, and unlocking new revenue streams.
- Ensure flawless execution of complex programs across learning modalities, immersive workshops, digital platforms, virtual experiences, simulation, and field enablement.
- Work cross-functionally with project managers, designers, and analytics teams to maintain quality and alignment with client goals.
- Champion client satisfaction, retention, and measurable business outcomes.
Client Leadership & Strategic Partnership
Growth & Innovation
Delivery Oversight
About You
- Must possess a deep and thorough understanding of the pharma/healthcare advertising industry
- Digital marketing acumen and demonstrated experience in leading an integrated agency team in brand planning, budget development, execution, and measurement
- Demonstrated effectiveness in managing multiple clients and account teams
- Demonstrated success at developing valued relationships with senior-level client management
- Demonstrated success as strategic partner to clients
- Digital and multi-channel experience
- Must have participated actively in new business initiatives including planning and pitch presentations
- Must have proven success at identifying opportunities and securing organic client growth
- Superior presentation skills
- 12+ years of Brand AOR account experience, 5+ years of pharmaceutical advertising agency experience preferably in unbranded, disease awareness, patient marketing and education.
- 5+ years of leadership and supervisory experience
- Experience developing, producing, and leading multi-channel marketing plans and initiatives required
- Candidates must demonstrate hands-on proficiency in developing and delivering presentations in PowerPoint
- Must be able to travel based on client business needs (client meetings, market research, etc.)
- BA/BS degree required
About You
- 10+ years in client services, consulting, or account leadership, ideally within a pharma agency, medical communications, or learning and training-focused environment.
- Deep familiarity with the life sciences industry and regulated training environments.
- A track record of growing multimillion-dollar accounts and influencing senior client stakeholders.
- Strong training acumen, you understand business goals and translate them into learning strategy and the idea of possibilities.
- Entrepreneurial & Forward-Thinking: You’re energized by ambiguity and innovation.
- Strategic & Consultative: You elevate conversations and challenge the status quo.
- Growth-Oriented: You look for opportunities and aren’t afraid to test new ideas.
- Collaborative Leader: You know how to mobilize teams and solve adaptive challenges, inspiring and bringing the teams together toward a shared vision.
- Experience with AI-powered learning tools or omnichannel training strategies.
- Exposure to medical affairs, clinical development, or compliance training challenges.
- Experience managing hybrid or remote teams in scaling environments.
Mindset
Bonus Points If You Have
What we can offer Avalere Health aims to empower every employee to develop and thrive. We empower our team with the tools, skills, and support needed to think differently and to solve healthcare’s most complex challenges. At the center of our people-led culture is our Career Experience team, whose mission is to provide every employee with a purpose-driven career. We also pride ourselves on our personalized learning approach to ensure you receive the training you need to help you grow within the company and take advantage of our global scale and scope. We are committed to embedding diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our organization. We encourage diversity of thought, inclusive behavior, and break down barriers to ensure every individual feels valued and encouraged to contribute their unique abilities and potential. As part of our commitment to building a healthier world, every employee is also encouraged to participate in our community engagement efforts, which support a wide range of healthcare programs and wellbeing causes worldwide. We have city hubs across North America, Europe, and Asia, geared toward collaborating, training, socializing, and coming together as a global organization while maintaining and fully supporting flexible working practices. Our compensation and benefits package is benchmarked across the industry. We offer a generous company pension/retirement plan, private medical insurance, comprehensive employee wellbeing initiatives, compelling time-off policy, plus many other excellent employee benefits. We encourage all applicants to read our candidate privacy notice before applying to Avalere Health.
What we can offer
Avalere Health aims to empower every employee to develop and thrive. We empower our team with the tools, skills, and support needed to think differently and to solve healthcare’s most complex challenges.
At the center of our people-led culture is our Career Experience team, whose mission is to provide every employee with a purpose-driven career. We also pride ourselves on our personalized learning approach to ensure you receive the training you need to help you grow within the company and take advantage of our global scale and scope.
We are committed to embedding diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our organization. We encourage diversity of thought, inclusive behavior, and break down barriers to ensure every individual feels valued and encouraged to contribute their unique abilities and potential. As part of our commitment to building a healthier world, every employee is also encouraged to participate in our community engagement efforts, which support a wide range of healthcare programs and wellbeing causes worldwide.
We have city hubs across North America, Europe, and Asia, geared toward collaborating, training, socializing, and coming together as a global organization while maintaining and fully supporting flexible working practices. Our compensation and benefits package is benchmarked across the industry. We offer a generous company pension/retirement plan, private medical insurance, comprehensive employee wellbeing initiatives, compelling time-off policy, plus many other excellent employee benefits.
We encourage all applicants to read our candidate privacy notice before applying to Avalere Health.
About this role
Summary
Lead pharma learning accounts, develop client relationships, oversee strategic initiatives and growth.
Job title
VP, Account Director (Pharma Agency, Learning and Development)
Experience level
12+ years in client services, consulting, or account leadership
Minimum experience
10+ years exp
Industry
healthcare
Location requirements
New York, NY, remote work allowed
Salary
Not specified
Visa sponsorship
H-1B sponsor history
Management role
Yes
Skills & keywords
Required skills
client relationshipsstrategic partnershipaccount managementmultichannel marketingpresentations
Preferred skills
AI learning toolsmedical affairsremote team management
Specializations
pharmalearning and developmentbrand planningmultichannel marketingdigital marketing
Locations
Structured locations inferred from the posting.
New York, NY, USA
Remote City