Associate Director, Community Impact & Grants

Merck; Honolulu (HI); On-site; USD 129,000 - 203,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck seeks an Associate Director, Community Impact, to drive the community engagement strategy across priority U.S. communities, coordinating with the Head of Global Community Impact and Engagement and seven Community Impact Liaisons.

The role focuses on strategic execution, governance of the grant review process, and cross-functional collaboration with Legal, Compliance, Communications, Finance, and Patient Insights.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, Health Policy, Business, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, Public Administration, or related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in program operations, program management, public health, community health, social impact, philanthropy, health systems strengthening, community engagement, or a related field.
• Strong experience in operations management, implementation planning, and coordination of complex initiatives involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience leading work through influence in a matrixed environment without direct reporting authority.
• Experience managing projects with multiple workstreams, timelines, dependencies, and stakeholders.
• Experience supporting grantmaking or community-based program processes, including coordination of application review, approvals, contracting, and reporting.
• Experience working across internal cross-functional stakeholders to align priorities, support compliance, and reduce duplication of effort.
• Strong program and project management skills, with demonstrated ability to drive execution and maintain accountability for follow-through.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust, drive alignment, and support execution through collaboration and influence.

Responsibilities

• Lead execution and implementation of key initiatives, projects, and directives 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 identification, escalation, and follow-up on key deliverables.
• Support ongoing learning related to emerging trends, evolving community needs, and local insights across priority U.S. communities.
• Partner with the Community Impact Liaisons and other internal stakeholders to ensure work remains relevant, coordinated, compliant, non-duplicative, and aligned with broader company access to health goals.
• Support compliant coordination across internal stakeholders, including Patient Insights & Engagement, Policy, Legal, Compliance, Communications, Finance, and other relevant departments.
• Lead the establishment and operational management of a grant review committee to support structured and consistent review of grant applications.
• Recommend and implement an appropriate, efficient cadence and process for grant application review in alignment with governance requirements.
• Serve as a member of the grant review committee and coordinate review materials, meeting logistics, decision tracking, and follow-up actions.
• Support grantmaking processes, including application intake, proposal review coordination, internal approvals, contracting, and reporting.
• Track program milestones, outputs, implementation risks, budget-related status, and key decisions to support effective execution and leadership visibility.
• Develop clear updates, materials, and recommendations based on program activity, community insights, and portfolio progress.
• Support monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities to strengthen program effectiveness and continuous improvement.
• Partner with our Communications department and other relevant stakeholders to identify and support compliant opportunities to elevate and share highlights of the CIL model and program impact.

Skills

Operations management

Program coordination

Grantmaking coordination

Cross-functional alignment

Influence without authority

Project management

Communication skills

Analytical thinking

Stakeholder management

Community engagement

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree

Job description

Merck seeks an Associate Director, Community Impact, to drive the community engagement strategy across priority U.S. communities, coordinating with the Head of Global Community Impact and Engagement and seven Community Impact Liaisons.

The role focuses on strategic execution, governance of the grant review process, and cross-functional collaboration with Legal, Compliance, Communications, Finance, and Patient Insights.