Associate Director, Community Impact & Grants

Merck; Helena (MT); On-site; USD 129,000 - 203,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking an Associate Director, Community Impact, to advance the global community engagement strategy across priority U.S. communities, coordinating with the Head of Global Community Impact and Engagement.

In this non-commercial role, you will lead program operations, track milestones, support grant review, and ensure compliant, non-duplicative activities through influence and cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• 7+ years in program operations, management, public health, community health, or philanthropy.
• Experience coordinating complex initiatives with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience leading work through influence in matrixed environments without direct reports.
• Experience working with grantmaking, contracting, and reporting processes.
• Strong communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead execution and implementation of key initiatives identified by the Head of Global Community Impact and Engagement.
• Serve as the primary program coordination lead to drive follow-through, track progress, and support timely execution across the CIL model.
• Coordinate day-to-day program operations, including planning, milestone tracking, issue escalation, and follow-up on deliverables.
• Support learning on trends and local insights across priority U.S. communities.
• Partner with Community Impact Liaisons and internal stakeholders to ensure work is relevant, compliant, and non-duplicative.
• Support compliant coordination across internal stakeholders (Patient Insights, Policy, Legal, Compliance, Communications, Finance).
• Lead establishment and management of a grant review committee for structured review of grant applications.
• Recommend and implement cadence for grant application review aligned with governance requirements.
• Coordinate review materials, meeting logistics, decision tracking, and follow-up actions.

Skills

Program operations

Program management

Public health

Community engagement

Cross-functional coordination

Influence without formal authority

Grantmaking support

Monitoring & evaluation

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Health Policy, Business, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, Public Administration, or related field

Advanced degree in Public Health, Health Policy, Business Administration, Public Administration, Social Work, or related field

Job description

Merck is seeking an Associate Director, Community Impact, to advance the global community engagement strategy across priority U.S. communities, coordinating with the Head of Global Community Impact and Engagement.

In this non-commercial role, you will lead program operations, track milestones, support grant review, and ensure compliant, non-duplicative activities through influence and cross-functional collaboration.