Payer Engagement Lead (National Accounts)

Location:  This position may be performed remotely, but requires the flexibility and willingness to travel as needed.

The Opportunity

At Praxis, we're building transformative medicines for people living with central nervous system disorders where the need for better treatments remains profound. Bringing these therapies to patients requires more than scientific innovation. It requires building trusted partnerships that enable timely, sustainable access. 

The Payer Engagement Lead, National Accounts, as the company's most senior individual-contributor payer role, will own the way Praxis engages with the organizations that have the greatest influence on patient access across the U.S. healthcare system. This individual will lead strategic relationships with national health plans, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), group purchasing organizations (GPOs), and other enterprise payer organizations to advance coverage, reimbursement, and long-term access strategies. 

This is a builder's role. As Praxis prepares for commercialization, you'll own and set the national payer engagement strategy, hold decision authority over pricing, contracting, and access strategy, and establish Praxis as a trusted partner with the organizations that determine how quickly patients gain access to our therapies. 

Success requires commercial judgment, recognized external thought leadership in market access, executive presence, and the ability to influence across functions while keeping patients at the center of every decision. 

Primary Responsibilities

• Own and set the enterprise payer engagement strategy for national health plans, PBMs, GPOs, and other enterprise payer organizations. 
• Build trusted relationships with senior payer executives responsible for formulary strategy, reimbursement,  utilization management, and coverage policy. 
• Communicate the clinical, economic, and value proposition of Praxis therapies to support favorable coverage and reimbursement decisions. 
• Lead Medicare Part D engagement strategies, leveraging established relationships with plan sponsors and PBM leaders to support payer readiness, formulary review, and successful product launches. 
• Serve as the principal decision-maker on the payer strategy inputs to commercial strategy, pricing, evidence generation, contracting, forecasting, and lifecycle planning. 
• Partner closely with Medical Affairs, Commercial, Market Access, Finance, Legal, and Executive Leadership to ensure payer strategies are aligned with broader business objectives. 
• Anticipate shifts in the payer environment, identifying emerging risks and opportunities that could impact patient access and commercial success. 
• Represent Praxis externally as a recognized thought leader and spokesperson within the national payer community. 

Qualifications and Key Success Factors

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree in business, healthcare, life sciences, or a related discipline preferred, or equivalent experience. 
• Extensive experience (typically 15 or more years) leading national payer engagement, market access, national accounts, or related commercial functions within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, with a track record of setting strategy at the enterprise level rather than executing it. 
• Demonstrated success influencing access and reimbursement decisions with national health plans, PBMs, GPOs, and other enterprise payer organizations. 
• Recognized authority on U.S. market access, including commercial plans, Medicare Part D, specialty pharmacy, reimbursement, and evolving payer dynamics. 
• Experience developing and executing Medicare Part D account strategies and engaging senior decision-makers responsible for formulary placement, utilization management, and reimbursement policy. 
• Experience owning payer strategy through product launches, including payer strategy, account planning, value communication, and cross-functional commercialization. 
• Experience in CNS, specialty pharmaceuticals, rare disease, or other complex therapeutic areas strongly preferred. 
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect market dynamics to commercial performance and patient access. 
• A high degree of ownership, intellectual curiosity, sound judgment, accountability, and the latitude to set objectives independently. 
• Ability to travel approximately 50–70% based on business needs. 
• The physical and mental requirements of our roles include but are not limited to regular use of a computer, devices or other office equipment, clear communication, and occasional movement. You'll need comfort with screen work, basic hand coordination, and focus. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.