Associate Director Marketing, Vaccines Retail Customer Marketing

Merck & Co. - North Wales, PA

Full-time - Mid Level

Onsite - North Wales, PA

Chemical Manufacturing

About the position

This is an exciting time to be joining the Retail Pharmacy team, as pharmacy continues to be a growing and important segment for our Company Vaccines and vaccination in pharmacy continues to increase each year for adult vaccines. The Pharmacy Marketing Team is focused on supporting retail pharmacy growth and adoption of adult vaccinations to improve patient health. The Retail Pharmacy Team in U.S. Vaccines is seeking an Associate Director Marketing, who will be responsible for developing key contributions in support of the Retail Pharmacy segment strategy and implementation. The individual will work closely with members of the Pharmacy and Brand team as well as other stakeholders across the U.S. Vaccines organization. The role requires an externally focused mindset, and this individual should be adept at understanding trends and advances in digital/technological capabilities, to innovate and develop tactics that leverage new and emerging technologies. Acting with agility and urgency, this individual will create and implement patient-focused, customer-inspired solutions that also align to the Company's business objectives. The Associate Director Marketing for Retail Pharmacy will serve as the subject matter expert on the retail strategy and customers, providing expertise to the brand team, and developing solutions based on brand and business priorities. This individual should possess the capabilities to assess the changing healthcare landscape and how it is affecting the retail care environment (pharmacy and clinics). They should be able to anticipate the responses by customers in the retail segment and understand how vaccines play a role in their healthcare delivery model. As a strategic marketing role, this individual will make recommendations that will help shape the direction of the US Vaccines organization as the retail segment evolves. The role will provide experience in marketing strategy development, innovative solution design and execution, cross-functional collaboration, and customer engagement.

Responsibilities

• Primary liaison to brand team to ensure strategic alignment and development of solutions for the retail segment that support continued growth of brand in pharmacy.
• Support the field Retail Pharmacy team through the creation of relevant content for sales meetings and development of resources for field use to expand appropriate utilization of our Company vaccines.
• Headquarter liaison for select customer accounts in support of Account Executive and when working directly with customer on agreed upon initiatives.
• Participate in key meetings with customers (in collaboration with the Account Team and HQ colleagues) to assess and identify customer needs and develop innovative actionable solutions that are aligned with organization strategies and policies.
• Lead the development of pharmacy segmentation that is aligned to brand strategy and target audience.
• Lead the development of annual promotion plan for the retail segment for point brand responsibility, working closely with brand team, customer operations, promotions, and sales team to ensure actionable customer insights are incorporated into specific segment strategies.
• Ensure timely delivery of innovative, high-quality solutions in-line with approved plans and budget by managing appropriate agencies, and creative resources to conceptualize, develop, and gain final approval of solutions.
• Enable appropriate measurement of promotional activities' effectiveness and leverage information for ongoing optimization of promotional efforts.
• Facilitate cross-functional team interactions (e.g., Brand Teams, Field, Market Research, Digital Engagement Team, Promotions and Medical-Legal review team) required for the delivery of high impact, optimized solutions.
• Lead projects and programs through end-to-end process including all medical-legal reviews, coordination of Service Agreements, development of Statements of Work and Fair Market Value assessments, to ensure timely execution of projects and production/implementation.
• Demonstrate operational efficiency by leveraging best practices and facilitating cross-divisional learning.
• Develop and demonstrate a deep understanding of the retail customer segment; Develop and maintain expert knowledge of customer solutions, internal resources and retail market environment and this understanding to anticipate market opportunities and/or support customer needs.
• Ensure all activities are in alignment with applicable laws, regulations, company policies and ethical business practices in conjunction with internal Business Practice & Compliance and Medical-Legal-Regulatory review process.

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years combined experience in the pharmaceutical or vaccine industry including: sales, marketing, market research, or sales/marketing support; or demonstrated leadership in other related industry or military service.
• Strong strategic thinking skills, innovative mindset, and results-orientation.
• Prior experience in Promotion or Brand/Marketing Management; Segment or Customer Facing Role (e.g. Solutions Consultant, Account Executive, or Customer Team Leader); Strategy Realization; Market Access; Contracting/Payer Marketing; or Global Marketing.
• Ability to work successfully with cross-functional teams and influence others effectively in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
• Knowledge of the healthcare environment including current trends in healthcare, managed care, and retail segment.
• Understanding of commercial and regulatory requirements within the pharmaceutical industry.
• Knowledge of Company's internal structure, policies, operations, and approval processes.
• Demonstrated project management, problem solving and analytical skills.
• Strong business acumen and critical thinking skills.
• Demonstrated external mindset - understanding of digital/technological trends, focused on consumer/patient, and customer oriented.
• Ability to prioritize and align work with organization priorities and collaborate across team lines internally within the Company and externally with customers.
• Strong collaboration/relationship building skills, teamwork, and written/verbal communication skills.
• Adaptability and resourcefulness.

Nice-to-haves

• MBA/MS preferred.