Vice President, US Market Access

Vice President, US Market Access The VP, US Market Access will lead Skyhawk’s payer strategy and market access execution for SKY-0515 and future pipeline assets, with direct accountability for payer engagement, formulary access, contracting strategy — including value-based and other innovative agreements — and government program strategy across Medicare and Medicaid. This is a hands-on, builder role: the successful candidate will have led access strategy for at least one orphan/rare disease launch and be comfortable operating with the resourcing and pace of a small biopharma company, not just directing work built by larger teams. This role sits at the center of Skyhawk’s commercial organization and requires close, day-to-day collaboration with Distribution/Trade, Patient Services, Marketing, HEOR, Commercial Operations and Sales teams to ensure payer strategy, patient access, and commercial execution move in lockstep — particularly given the complexity of a rare disease launch where every patient's access journey matters. Responsibilities: US Payer Strategy & Engagement • Develop and execute Skyhawk’s national US payer strategy across Commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid channels, including payer segmentation, tiering, and call-prioritization frameworks that reflect coverage policy, formulary timing, and covered-lives concentration. • Build and personally lead relationships with national and regional MCOs, PBMs, IDN’s and specialty pharmacy/hub partners — this role is expected to be in the room for the organization’s highest-value payer conversations, not solely directing others. • Design and lead the account-planning and workload model for the payer-facing field team as it's built out, including geographic/territory design and prioritization logic. • Own the strategy and execution for pre-approval payer engagement (e.g., health care economic information exchange), in close coordination with Legal/Compliance, ensuring all activity stays within applicable regulatory guardrails. Value-Based & Innovative Contracting • Lead the evaluation, design, and negotiation of value-based agreements and other innovative contracting models with payers, where appropriate for SKY-0515 and future assets. • Partner with HEOR, Pricing, Medical Affairs, Finance, Marketing and Legal to structure outcomes-based terms, rebate architecture, and risk-sharing mechanisms that are operationally feasible to track and administer. • Evaluate managed access and alternative reimbursement pathways (e.g., ex-US precedents such as outcomes-based pilots) for applicability to the US market where relevant. Government Programs — Medicare & Medicaid • Own Skyhawk’s Medicare (PDP and MA) and Medicaid (state and managed) access strategy, including formulary review timing, prior authorization/step-therapy criteria, and rebate/pricing program compliance (e.g., 340B, Medicaid Drug Rebate Program). • Monitor and plan for the practical impact of evolving CMS policy — including Inflation Reduction Act provisions, Medicare drug price negotiation, and related rulemaking — on launch and lifecycle strategy. Launch Readiness & Commercial Execution • Serve as the market access lead on the cross-functional launch team, ensuring payer, distribution, and patient-access workstreams are sequenced and resourced correctly ahead of approval. • Partner with Distribution/Trade and 3PL partners on channel strategy, contracting, and operational readiness (order-to-cash, chargebacks, data flows) as they affect payer access. • Work with Patient Services to design hub and patient-support program eligibility criteria, ensuring alignment between payer coverage realities and the support patients receive. Cross-Functional Leadership • Partner closely with Marketing to ensure payer and p