Associate Director, Commercial Leadership Development Program

Merck; North Wales (Montgomery County); Hybrid; USD 142,000 - 224,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking an experienced commercial leader for its two-year Commercial Leadership Development Program (CLDP). The program features three eight-month rotations across marketing, sales, market access, and other critical functions to build broad commercial acumen and strategic agility.

Selected candidates will join a development journey that progresses toward enterprise leadership roles within Human Health. Interviews will occur by December 2026 with a July 2027 start date.

Qualifications

• Must have minimum 5 years of full-time professional experience in pharma marketing, sales, or related functions.
• Strong commercial acumen, understanding of operations, finance, and market dynamics.
• Ability to influence without authority in a matrixed environment.
• Leadership, communication, and executive presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic and operational initiatives across rotations, turning priorities into measurable outcomes.
• Partner across marketing, sales, market access, operations, analytics, medical, finance, and legal.
• Synthesize data and insights into strategic recommendations for resource trade-offs.
• Support launch planning, readiness, and cross-functional execution for successful launches.
• Present recommendations and progress to senior leaders with executive presence.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Leadership

Executive presentation

Influencing

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Job description

We are seeking an experienced commercial leader to join the two-year Commercial Leadership Development Program (CLDP), designed to accelerate enterprise leadership capability, expand cross‑functional breadth, and prepare future leaders to drive strategic impact during a pivotal period of commercial transformation. Over the course of the two-year journey, CLDP participants will complete three eight‑month rotations aligned to enterprise priorities and individual development goals, with opportunities across marketing, marketing operations, sales operations, market access, launch excellence, and other critical commercial functions. Rotations are selected based on business need and are intended to build broad commercial acumen, strategic agility, and readiness for larger‑scale leadership roles across Human Health.

Interviews will be completed and offers extended by December 2026. Selected candidates will start their new role in July 2027.

What You’ll Do

• Lead strategic and operational initiatives across rotation assignments, translating enterprise priorities into actionable plans and measurable business outcomes.
• Influence and partner across marketing, sales, market access, operations, analytics, medical, finance, legal, and compliance to drive aligned decision‑making in a highly matrixed environment.
• Synthesize data, market dynamics, customer insights, and financial considerations into strategic recommendations that shape business decisions and resource trade‑offs.
• Support critical launch planning, readiness, and execution activities, including risk identification, milestone management, and cross‑functional coordination to improve launch success.
• Present strategic recommendations, business cases, and progress updates to senior leaders, demonstrating executive presence and the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Challenge the status quo, identify opportunities to improve commercial effectiveness, and drive change with accountability, agility, and a strong patient‑and‑customer‑focused mindset.

What You’ll Experience

• Broad exposure across the commercial organization through a sequence of customized high‑impact rotations designed to build enterprise perspective and cross‑functional fluency.
• Meaningful involvement in brand strategy, launch excellence, market shaping, and commercial execution tied to live business priorities.
• Personalized development through CLDP Summits, a commercial learning journey, senior leader engagement, and exposure to enterprise‑level decision making across our Company.
• Opportunities to lead complex workstreams, navigate ambiguity, and translate strategy into execution with visible impact on business performance.
• Deepened understanding of how to operate effectively within a complex, regulated environment while balancing innovation, compliance, and customer needs.
• A foundation for progression into broader commercial leadership roles through expanded network, enterprise exposure, and demonstrated delivery of results.

Required

• Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS).
• Minimum of 5 years of full‑time professional work experience, including meaningful experience in pharmaceutical marketing, sales, commercial operations, market access, or related functions.
• Demonstrated commercial acumen, including understanding of company operations, financial performance, market dynamics, and industry trends.
• Strong understanding of the healthcare ecosystem, including customer, channel, payer, and reimbursement dynamics that influence commercial strategy and execution.
• Proven ability to influence without authority, navigate ambiguity, and lead through change in a matrixed and evolving business environment.
• Demonstrated enterprise mindset, with the ability to connect business decisions to broader strategy, long‑term value creation, and cross‑functional priorities.
• Strong leadership, communication, and executive presentation skills, with the ability to distill complexity and engage senior stakeholders effectively.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead workstreams, manage competing priorities, and proactively drive results with accountability and urgency.

Desirable

• Master’s degree in marketing, business administration, public health, or a related business discipline.
• Experience supporting product launch strategy, launch readiness, or launch excellence in a complex commercial environment.
• Strategic thinking and business acumen, including the ability to interpret financial drivers, assess trade‑offs, and make recommendations that optimize enterprise value.
• Strong analytical capability and data‑driven decision‑making skills, including the ability to move from observation to insight to action.
• Exposure to market access, payer strategy, channel dynamics, specialty distribution, or buy‑and‑bill economics.
• Digital, omnichannel, and AI fluency, with the ability to apply emerging capabilities to commercial strategy, decision‑making, and execution.

This is a hybrid role based in Upper Gwynedd, Pennsylvania.

Adaptability, Adaptability, Brand Management, Business Acumen, Business Decisions, Content Creation, Creativity, Cross‑Functional Leadership, Customer Centricity, Customer Insights, Decision Making, Digital Consumer Engagement, Digital Marketing, Enterprise Leadership, Executive Presence, Financial Acumen, Influencing Skills, Influencing Without Authority, Market Dynamics, Market Research, Market Segmentation, Omnichannel Marketing, Presentation Delivery, Product Launches, Product Management {+ 9 more}

US And Puerto Rico Residents Only

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Our company is proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.

Requirements

As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. The salary range for this role is $142,400.00 - $224,100.00. The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long‑term incentive, if applicable. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.

San Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Los Angeles Residents Only: We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance.

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre‑existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.