VP, Access Strategy and Payer Engagement

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCUL) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the formulation, development, and commercialization of innovative therapies for diseases and conditions of the eye using its proprietary bioresorbable hydrogel-based formulation technology, ELUTYX™. Ocular Therapeutix has built a robust product pipeline of drug delivery solutions developed to reduce the complexity and burden of the current standard of care and position itself to become a leader in the ophthalmic space. Outside of the ophthalmic realm and behind the doors of our headquarters in Bedford, MA, we strive to build a strong culture where employees can flourish and achieve their career goals. We encourage out of the box thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and creativity. Position Summary : As VP of Access Strategy & Payer Engagement, you'll play a pivotal role in defining how our products are valued, covered, and accessed across the US payer landscape. Your primary focus will be owning the Market Access and HEOR strategy across the portfolio, building the evidence, value narratives, and payer engagement plans that drive optimal formulary positioning, reimbursement, and patient access. You'll serve as a senior relationship owner with national and regional payers and PBMs, leading coverage negotiations and proactively shaping the market ahead of launch. Partnering closely across Market Access, Commercial, Medical and executive leadership, you'll ensure access strategy is fully integrated into brand planning, financial decision-making, and the patient journey from first prescription through ongoing adherence. This is a build-and-lead role — you'll support development of a high-performing market access team leading by influence while remaining a hands-on strategic contributor, setting the standard for how access, evidence, and payer engagement come together to support the company's growth. Principal Duties and Responsibilities include the following : Market Access Strategy Ownership • Own end-to-end market access strategy across the portfolio — from early lifecycle development through commercial execution — integrating access strategy, payer marketing, pricing, and contracting into one coherent plan. • Define payer value propositions, messaging, and positioning tailored to the specific access barriers and customer dynamics of each product and indication. • Build and continuously refine market access playbooks as the competitive landscape, category dynamics, and payer responses evolve. • Define and monitor access performance metrics including access quality, access speed, and gross-to-net performance relative to plan. Health Economics & Outcomes Research (HEOR) Strategy Ownership • Own the HEOR strategic agenda in service of market access, payer engagement, and value demonstration objectives • Define the evidence generation roadmap — including real-world evidence, burden of illness studies, comparative effectiveness research, and economic modeling — ensuring it anticipates payer evidence requirements across the product lifecycle • Partner with Medical Affairs and Clinical teams to integrate HEOR priorities into trial design and data collection from the earliest lifecycle stages • Develop and maintain core economic models including budget impact analyses, cost-effectiveness models, and value-based contract frameworks that underpin payer negotiations and formulary submissions • Translate HEOR outputs into accessible, compelling value narratives for payer, provider, and HCP audiences • Oversee the development of AMCP dossiers, value dossiers, and other payer-facing evidence packages • Engage with external health economics thought leaders, advisory boards, and payer medical directors to shape the evidence agenda and validate val