Account Specialist

Merck; Bakersfield (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking a dynamic Rare Disease Account Specialist to cover Central California and parts of Nevada. You will manage key accounts, build relationships with providers, and drive PAH program adoption.

The role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration, compliant stakeholder engagement, and strategic account planning. Responsibilities include delivering disease/product education to care teams, supporting patient access initiatives, and coordinating with HQ for events and thought-leader

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8 years sales experience or 10+ years in healthcare/science-equipment roles is required.
• Advanced degree (MBA, PharmD, APP) is preferred for this role.
• Experience in PAH or rare-disease markets is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Serve as key contact for target accounts and build relationships with providers and staff.
• Develop account objectives and strategies; plan quarterly strategic sessions.
• Coordinate execution of account strategies and track progress against objectives.
• Provide approved disease and product information to care teams and education to providers.

Skills

Account Management

Business

Collaboration

Customer-Focused

Customer Relationship Building

Interpersonal Relationships

Lead Generation

Pharmaceutical Market

Prioritization

Product Knowledge

Sales

Sales Pipeline Management

Sales Presentations

Sales Proficiency

Sales Strategy Development

Education

Bachelor’s degree

High School diploma

Advanced degree (MBA, PharmD, APP)

Tools

MS Office Suite

iPad

Job description

We are looking for dynamic individuals who thrive in a team environment and are driven to succeed. The Rare Disease Account Specialist serves as a key point of contact to customer accounts for our Company’s Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) business. This role will be critical in establishing our presence in PAH and our commitment to supporting the efforts of PAH healthcare providers in improving patient health outcomes. This role will generate demand for our Company products, build and maintain a strong rapport with providers and office staff, engage and support account executives who help secure formulary access, and design account strategies to meet local customer needs.

This is a field-based position covering the Central California/Nevada area that includes the following cities: Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Burbank and Las Vegas, NV.

Primary Activities & Responsibilities will include but are not limited to the following:

Account Management:

• Responsible for the overall customer experience of all stakeholders within target accounts; builds relationships with providers and staff, as appropriate, and acts as cross-functional point of contact
• Develops deep understanding of account objectives, strategies, unique challenges, and stakeholder influence networks to generate strategic insights
• Plans & conducts quarterly strategic planning sessions for key accounts with our Company's relevant stakeholders to create shared understanding of market context, account, & stakeholder needs and refine account strategy, including objectives, strategic imperatives, and tactics. Our Company's relevant stakeholders includes both customer-facing and HQ roles
• Coordinates the execution of account strategies, tracks progress against objectives, and refines plans as needed to deliver on goals
• Proactively solicits feedback from account stakeholders to better understand needs and become a trusted resource

Care Team Engagement:

• Provides approved disease and product information and resources to approved members of the patient care team, including MDs, NPs, PAs, and other provider roles
• Shares information on target profiles to support the identification of appropriate patients for therapy
• Supports the education of and responds to questions from approved providers on the care team on the appropriate administration of our Company products
• Provides information and education to appropriate providers using approved resources on our Company’s patient support program to help address patient access and coverage issues
• Acts as the primary point of contact for all care team stakeholders and coordinates with our Company's other customer-facing roles to ensure customer needs are met in a compliant, orchestrated fashion
• Demonstrates commitment to compliance through understanding of regulations, industry codes, and policies that govern customer interactions and consistent focus on ensuring compliance with them

Ecosystem Management:

• Partners with internal colleagues to plan and host medical education events within designated territory
• Attends and supports our Company's presence at national & local congress/society events
• Proactively creates connections across care teams within designated territory to build appropriate provider-provider relationships
• Partners with HQ role(s) to plan and execute events with key thought leaders practicing within a designated territory

Scientific/Clinical Proficiency:

• Deep understanding of clinical and scientific aspects of PAH, competitor products, and our Company products: Disease state knowledge.
• Standards of care and emerging clinical trends.
• Relevant diagnostics and testing.
• Deep understanding of regional and local health care networks: stakeholders and their relative level of influence, referral dynamics, payer controls, patient demographics, specialty pharmacy activity, etc.
• Understanding of access & insurance coverage processes in PAH, specifically those of payers most active in designated territory.

Business Acumen:

• Ability to understand and define customer business models and infer strategic objectives.
• Ability to create account strategies that deliver on both our Company and customer objectives.
• Understanding of customer business operations and PAH practice management standards.
• Ability to effectively and efficiently partner with our Company's appropriate cross-functional stakeholders to develop and execute customer strategies & tactics.
• Ability to lead without authority across individuals in different reporting structures to ensure execution against objectives.
• Ability to partner with other Rare Disease Account Specialists to share best practices, peer-coach new team members, and create an environment of continual learning.
• Bachelor’s degree with 8 years sales experience OR a minimum of High School diploma with at least 10 years of equivalent experience.
• Equivalent experience can be: Professional sales experience, work experience in the healthcare/scientific field (including pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical devices) that is not sales related, professional marketing experience, or military experience.

Required Experience & Proficiencies:

• Minimum of 8 years’ experience in healthcare industry.
• Keen interpersonal skills, including abilities to interact with individuals from a variety of backgrounds and to influence senior levels of management, key thought leaders, and customers.
• Strong presentation and communication skills, including the ability to understand, distill, and convey complex scientific and public health-related concepts to different audiences.
• Strong prioritization skills and ability contextualize decisions into broader corporate strategies.
• Technologically proficient (e.g., MS Office Suite, iPad).

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Advanced degree (e.g., MBA, PharmD, APP).
• Minimum of 2 years current/recent experience in the PAH market.
• Minimum of 2 years current/recent experience with rare disease products.
• 2+ years of account management experience in the healthcare industry.

Our Human Health Division maintains a “patient first, profits later” ideology. The organization is comprised of sales, marketing, market access, digital analytics and commercial professionals who are passionate about their role in bringing our medicines to our customers worldwide.

NOTICE FOR INTERNAL APPLICANTS

In accordance with Managers' Policy - Job Posting and Employee Placement, all employees subject to this policy are required to have a minimum of twelve (12) months of service in current position prior to applying for open positions.

If you have been offered a separation benefits package, but have not yet reached your separation date and are offered a position within the salary and geographical parameters as set forth in the Summary Plan Description (SPD) of your separation package, then you are no longer eligible for your separation benefits package. To discuss in more detail, please contact your HRBP or Talent Acquisition Advisor.

Required Skills:

Account Management, Business, Collaboration, Customer-Focused, Customer Relationship Building, Interpersonal Relationships, Lead Generation, Pharmaceutical Market, Prioritization, Product Knowledge, Sales, Sales Pipeline Management, Sales Presentations, Sales Proficiency, Sales Strategy Development