Alliance Management Associate Director

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Join Vertex At Vertex, we invest in science, innovation, and partnerships that have the potential to transform patients’ lives. As we continue to expand our presence across the GCC region, we are seeking a highly capable Alliance Management Associate Director to help shape, lead, and strengthen strategic partnerships that support our business and patient-focused goals. This is a high-impact role for a collaborative and commercially minded leader who thrives in complex, cross-functional environments and brings a strong ability to build trust, drive alignment, and create value through partnerships.

The Alliance Management Associate Director will lead alliance governance and partner management activities across the GCC region, ensuring that partnerships are structured, managed, and optimized to deliver strategic and operational value. This role will serve as a key connector across internal teams and external partners, helping to establish effective governance, support market expansion, manage risk, and foster productive, long-term relationships. The successful candidate will play an important role in shaping operating models for new markets while strengthening the effectiveness of existing collaborations.

Lead alliance governance and partner management across the full partnership lifecycle, from partner identification and contracting through implementation, onboarding, ongoing management, and off-boarding Act as the primary alliance contact for internal stakeholders and external partners, ensuring clear communication, strong coordination, and effective issue resolution Build trusted, collaborative relationships with partners to support long-term success and mutual value creation Work closely with Commercial, Legal, Market Access, Medical, Finance, and other cross-functional stakeholders to align partnership strategy and execution Help design and optimize operating models for new and existing markets across the GCC region Identify, assess, escalate, and mitigate operational, contractual, and relationship risks Lead governance forums, launch meetings, business reviews, and other alliance touchpoints to ensure strong oversight and follow-through Ensure internal stakeholders understand and meet their contractual commitments and responsibilities Monitor alliance performance and health, identify improvement opportunities, and implement action plans as needed Support alliance transitions or terminations in line with contractual obligations and best practices, while protecting Vertex’s reputation and partner relationships Generate and consolidate market and partner insights to support planning, decision-making, and partnership effectiveness Lead the brand planning process, including development, implementation, and evaluation of brand plans aligned to business priorities Define meaningful KPIs, monitor performance against plan, and recommend adjustments based on results and evolving market insights Translate critical success factors and insights into effective initiatives and tactics that support business goals Contribute to financial planning activities, including budgeting and forecasting related to alliance operations and brand plans Ensure all activities are conducted in compliance with Vertex SOPs, the Vertex Code of Conduct, and all applicable local laws and regulations What You Bring Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Business, or a related field MBA or other postgraduate business qualification preferred 7+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry Experience in alliance management, strategic partnerships, or governance within pharmaceutical and/or biotech organizations Experience in brand planning, commercialization, or strategic marketing within the pharmaceutical/biotech industry Experience in a competitive therapeutic area; Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) experience is a plus Demonstrated success