Vice President, Information Technology

IT

Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million.

At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them.
Our tenacious, passionate employees' challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.

This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?

The Vice President, Information Technology is a valued member of the management team and is responsible for setting the enterprise IT and digital workplace strategy while driving cross-functional IT needs by being well versed with industry trends and emerging technologies. They will be responsible for overseeing a group of technology professionals that will lead the evolution of Akebia's infrastructure from research to clinical development to commercialization. They must also bring strong leadership to the team and create an environment that promotes professional development and growth. The ideal candidate will balance the technical aspects of this position and the ability to integrate the company's corporate strategy with IT priorities. They must also possess excellent communication skills to provide clear and business focused (non-technical) communications to senior management.

General

• Serve as the overall IT Leader for Akebia, responsible for IT strategy, vision, reference architectures, governance, technology due diligence and selection, project delivery and management.
• Responsible for day-to-day operations of global cloud, network, storage, security, and telecommunications infrastructure (including office automation, phone and video conferencing).
• Continuously build, evolve and manage a flexible digital workplace workplace that can adapt with changing business needs and priorities.

Strategic Planning

• Own the development of the Akebia's target state digital architectures and IT roadmap, working closely with the business and solution delivery teams (internal and external) to align and integrate their respective strategies.
• Plan, set, and document strategic architecture vision and tactical directions for existing and forthcoming products.
• Evaluate and determine the balance between in sourced vs. outsourced models for IT services.

Enterprise Architecture

• Own technology standards assessment and adoption for IT technologies.
• Manage the systemic integration of GxP compliant IT systems within the company's research, manufacturing and clinical activities
• Develop, implement and maintain IT policies, procedures and associated plans for security, data center, desktops and infrastructure based on industry-standard best practices and SOX and FDA requirements and validated systems
• Establish enterprise data architecture strategy and manages enterprise-wide storage, backup, integration, and accessibility of data, including disaster recovery and business continuity plans

Business Partnering

• Owning the IT Steering Committee to guide and oversee IT initiatives, ensuring that technology investments and projects align with the overall business goals and strategic direction by prioritizing projects with business leaders.
• Establish the strong working relationships with senior business, operations and technology management, in the capacity of a trusted advisor on IT matters.
• Engage the business and process owners and leads the collaborative planning effort to leverage emerging technologies for addressing strategic enterprise goals.
• Communicate the practical implications of system selection and implementation, architectural decisions, issues and plans to senior business, systems delivery, and infrastructure management.
• Identify and promote opportunities for cross-business sharing / re-use of application components, rationalization of application portfolios and integrated architectures across Akebia.
• Establish data management strategy and policies in conjunction with various functional teams

Project Management

• Establish Project Management capabilities to apply rigor to portfolio analysis (including sequencing of projects), budgeting & planning, tracking and resolving issues, risks and dependencies across projects and programs, coordinating executive communications/status reporting and coordinating resource management and staffing needs.

People management

• Oversee, manage and develop team of seasoned IT professionals.
• Set team's annual deliverables/objectives, performance goals, and empower them to deliver on Akebia's strategic priorities and objectives.
• Select, develop and motivate a high talent team; mentor key technical resources across Akebia.
• Promote teamwork and leadership behaviors within own group, other peer groups, and across Akebia.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with a concentration in Computer Science, Information Technology or related discipline.
• 15+ years progressively responsible with life sciences experience
• 8+ years in a management role.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or MBA with a degree, or concentration in, Computer Science, Information Technology or related discipline.
• Experience in a pharmaceutical or biotechnology or related environment, and specifically with GxP systems
• Knowledge of both PC and Mac-based hardware and software and their coexistence and integration
• Experience working with Commercial organization supporting an external sales force
• Demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate and communicate with a variety of audiences and stakeholders including, but not limited to, Executive and Senior Management, Business Leaders/Managers and colleagues worldwide.
• An active listener with the demonstrated ability to proactively and confidently engage with global key stakeholders to gain an understanding of the business' evolving IT needs, develop and recommend innovative and cost-effective solutions and explain technology-related issues to non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated experience developing, leading and supporting an IT vision and direction including demonstrated experience developing long- and short-term strategic IT plans, developing the associated financial analyses and translating budgeted plans into tactical, actionable operational initiatives.
• Demonstrated, hands-on experience as a project manager with strong planning skills, the ability to set and manage expectations and deliver on projects within the committed timeframe and budget.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze problems and resolve conflicts.
• Demonstrated ability to embrace, adapt to and actively manage change, including experience facilitating the transition from traditional client/server systems to cloud-based solutions.
• Proven negotiation and supplier management skills
• Exceptional customer service orientation.
• Demonstrated leadership ability and experience managing, coaching and mentoring direct reports.
• Ability to influence without direct authority.
• Travel, if necessary

Compensation:

Targeted Base: 274,482 - 339,066*

*Base Compensation for this role will depend on a number of factors including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience, and may fall outside of the range shown. Base pay is only one component of the company's total rewards package, all regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or the incentive compensation program (if applicable), as well as equity. Additional benefits include health care, vision, dental, retirement, PTO, etc.

Are you an Akebian?

An Akebian is curious, empathetic, and values making connections to people and ideas. Akebian's aren't afraid of diving in and owning a process or a problem, because we all want to deliver a great solution. Akebian's believe that we are better together because we are all working toward a common purpose - to better the life of each person impacted by kidney disease. Want to learn more about what it means to be an Akebian? Visit our website: www.akebia.com

Akebia is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all job applicants. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other factors prohibited by law.