Lead - Global Forecasting

• Location: Barcelona – Sanofi Business Services

About the job

Currently, Sanofi has the most robust pipeline and forthcoming product launches in the company’s history. As the next phase of our Play-To-Win strategy, Sanofi must appropriately support this pipeline to materialize our vision of delivering scientific miracles to patients worldwide. Thus, modernizing the Sanofi operational structure is also required. In line with this, project DRIVE is shepherding change throughout the organization and created the development of the Go-to-Market Capabilities (GTMC) team within the company.

The new GTMC organization is charged with delivering best-in-class capabilities to bring speed and increased value to commercial operations. It will refine priorities across products, markets, and the pipeline through dynamic resources allocation and efficiencies. Silos that existed between business units as well as duplicative and overlapping resources will be replaced with standardized processes and tools. Operating with a One Sanofi mindset and entrepreneurial spirit, GTMC will accelerate and improve key capabilities to do more with less and facilitate the best-informed strategic decision making across the organization.

The GTMC organization aims to:

• Centralize Go-to-Market operational tasks across GBUs
• Standardize best in class capabilities, strengthen global support, and implement a better vertical reporting structure within GTMC from local to global
• Define ways of working, bringing clarity on the interactions across GBUs, Digital, and Commercial executional support teams from Sanofi hubs to optimize process excellence and efficiency

Our Hubs are a crucial part of how we innovate, improving performance across every Sanofi department and providing a springboard for the amazing work we do. Build a career and you can be part of transforming our business while helping to change millions of lives. Ready?

The Lead, Forecasting – Model  will be responsible for leading forecasting activities of treatments within the Sanofi portfolio as a part of the broader Insights and Analytics (I&A) team. This individual will be an integral partner to the Sanofi’s Commercial team, developing short & long-range sales forecasts for in-line and future indications, while providing strategic insights on potential threats / opportunities.

This position will report to the Lead, Forecasting – Model/Automated and will be based in Barcelona, Spain.

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Collaborate with Marketing/Brand teams and cross-functional partners to develop, document, and communicate accurate long-term patient / volume / revenue forecasts for annual Strategic Planning & Budget cycles 
• Collaborate with Finance business partners and forecasters in other therapeutic areas to coordinate forecast cycle deliverables and promote harmonization across assets & functions
• Support model enhancements to ensure forecasts for in-line & launch products reflect strategic direction of each brand (e.g., segmentation, patient flow, etc.) 
• Collaborate with Market Research to plan & design studies that provide key forecast inputs (e.g., demand study / conjoint exercises) 
• Partner with Finance and Market Access teams to incorporate latest GTN and access assumptions, conduct payer mix analyses, and generate price / volume waterfalls
• When necessary, use resources such as analogue analyses & external forecasts (e.g., syndicated / analyst reports) to pressure-test forecast assumptions  
• Develop forecast scenarios to quantify potential risks & opportunities  
• Contribute to Brand / Commercial leadership reviews by explaining key forecast assumptions & outputs, from epidemiology through ex-factory unit volumes 
• Partner with Finance to develop & deliver forecast review presentations for US Commercial and Global leadership 
• Work with local/regional stakeholders to ensure that deliverables across markets align to Global guidance and properly integrate with Global forecast aggregation process
• Collaborate with Commercial & Finance leadership to revise near-term forecast, accounting for latest actuals & emerging market opportunities / threats 
• Conduct ad-hoc meetings with brand leads to review key updates, monitor areas of focus, and proactively provide data-driven insights 
• Work with Finance and Demand Planning to ensure the most appropriate forecast (by SKU) is delivered for monthly supply chain planning activities  
• When necessary, attend S&OP meetings to speak to forecast variances or events (e.g., launches, new indications, new devices, etc.) 
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, Patient Support Services and Finance teams to assess the value of proposed initiatives & interventions; deliver ad-hoc analyses that leverage forecast models to answer key business questions, e.g., co-promotion potential or ROI analysis 
• Collaborate with Data Management, Analytics, and external data providers to conduct periodic reviews of key model inputs to ensure forecast accuracy 
• Directly supervise day-to-day operations of Hub teams, ensuring contributors are successfully implementing GTMC processes for Sanofi. Consistent oversight of related Hub activities is performed whether Hub contributors report to this role or not.
• Collaborate with Hub contributors to fulfill business needs, conduct regular meetings with the Hub to review completed work and manage Hub activity timelines / prioritization
• Advise Hub contributors on GTMC processes, involved I&A tools, inputs and outputs as well as business principles.
• Partner with the Hub on development of projects in support of forecasting and commercial assessment

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• BA/BS with a minimum of 7-years of experience in pharmaceutical / biotech forecasting; equivalent combination of education (MS / MBA / PhD) & experience may be considered 
• Strong business acumen, with well-developed communication & presentation skills 
• Excellent analytical and forecasting skills, with demonstrated ability to design, develop, and maintain short and long-term forecast models; Microsoft Excel expertise required 
• Proven strategic thinking ability, with deep understanding of the pharmaceutical / biotech landscape; experience working in relevant therapeutic areas is a plus 
• Proactive in nature, detailed and structured thinker, and self-motivated
• Promotes a good working relationship with supervisors, co-workers, and staff; ability to self-manage time and to meet deadlines

​PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s Degree or MBA preferred
• Experience in relevant Therapeutic Area
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, comfortable with ambiguity, and with a track record of delivering exceptional results 
• Authentic, humble team-player with a strong desire to learn & develop new skills 
• Excellent project management skills, able to deftly balance multiple projects / priorities 
• Ability to work in a matrixed environment with many cross-functional partners to understand and influence key business decisions 
• Experience in applying AI / Machine Learning / data science methodologies to complex quantitative problems
• Familiarity with data visualization and business intelligence tools (e.g., PowerBI, Tableau, etc.)
• Experience with VBA or programming languages (e.g., SQL, R, Python, etc.) is a plus, as is proficiency accessing and manipulating large data sets via cloud-based data warehouse / analytics platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Databricks, etc.)
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical industry data sources (e.g., IQVIA anonymous patient-level data, IQVIA syndicated reports, internal patient services & specialty pharmacy data, etc.) and payer / health insurance environment