Meet Steven Zona, Market Access storyteller

Game-changing innovation at scale is the daily routine for Market Access professionals at Johnson & Johnson—but it might surprise you that storytelling plays a role in how we do it. Find out more from Steven Zona, including insights to help you join him.

The value of diverse backgrounds in Market Access

No two backgrounds are alike on the Market Access team at Johnson & Johnson—and that makes sense. After all, supporting access to medicines, treatments and vaccines for patients around the world isn't a small ask, and it requires professionals from an extraordinarily wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. Think: public health experts, physicians and specialists of all kinds, together with statisticians, economists and more.

Steven Zona, a PharmD with an MBA, is a case in point—and in his eyes, that rich tapestry is exactly what makes our team so strong.

"The diversity of our team is a differentiator for us, and an important part of what sets us up for success," Steven said. "No matter the challenge, if I don't have the expertise or knowledge to answer a question, there's going to be someone on the team who does."

Plus, Steven knows that the bigger the challenges, the greater the potential opportunity for impact.

"Working in Market Access at Johnson & Johnson is a way for you to not only interact with one health plan, for example, but to interact with multiple health plans," he explained. "So it's just a really unique opportunity to make an impact at scale."

Why Market Access is a form of storytelling

Steven's title today is "Field Director, Value and Evidence Scientific Engagement." What the title does not convey, however, is that, according to Steven, a big part of the job boils down to storytelling.

"We tell the story of the scientific value of our transformational products"—as in breakthrough cancer treatments or life-saving vaccines—"to population health decision-makers so that patients are better able to access them," he explained. 

Steven refers to those stories as "value narratives"—a fitting term, since this work is so clearly connected to Our Credo, or the values guiding everything we do.

And, needless to say, such narratives can’t be spun out of thin air. Rather, they’re constructed from enormous quantities of evidence and data.

"We're looking at clinical data, at economic data, at data from real-world outcomes," Steven said. "All of these things inform the value narrative."

He went on, “The conversations we're having help us shape and evolve our product pipeline—and when we're looking at how to design our studies or doing evidence-generation planning, we're always incorporating the insights we've gotten along the way from all of these internal and external stakeholders."

Steven's path to a career in Market Access

What brought Steven to the Market Access team at Johnson & Johnson?

Well, his training in pharmacy and business perspective was a good start.

But as for motivators, Steven cites three: "The level of innovation at Johnson & Johnson, the level of investment in our pipeline—which is really an investment in our patients—and the values of this company, which align with my own personal values."

But above all, a career in Market Access is all about making a positive impact in people’s lives.

As Steven put it, "While Market Access is an absolutely critical part of our work at Johnson & Johnson today, I think it's only going to become even more critical going forward. Just look at the level of impact we're able to have for our patients around the world—it's truly remarkable."

Ready to make your mark in Market Access?

Market Access is a dynamic and rapidly growing field, and you'll find that there are opportunities for you to join our team all around the globe. So if you're looking to take on exciting new challenges—and use your career to drive positive real-world impact in the lives of people everywhere—be sure to check out all of the openings we have in Market Access right now.

Plus, you should sign up for our global talent community, too. It's a great way to stay in touch, learn more about life at Johnson & Johnson and even get updates about jobs that might interest you in the future.