Associate Director, Data Science

Merck; North Wales (Montgomery County); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck's Digital Human Health US Market Engagement team seeks an Associate Director Data Science to guide data-driven insights for US Oncology, helping shape launch and go-to-market strategies.

The role collaborates with cross-functional teams, develops targeting and segmentation models using ML, and partners with central Data Science and Pune teams to deploy AI solutions, with hybrid work in Upper Gwynedd, PA.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5+ years delivering complex analytics in pharma/biotech/healthcare.
• Strong storytelling and executive presence with senior leaders.
• Experience collaborating in a matrixed organization and aligning stakeholders on data-driven decisions.
• Understanding of business processes to power analytics and commercial strategies.

Responsibilities

• Analyze data across disparate databases to derive insights for commercial strategy.
• Translate business needs into analytical plans and communicate results to stakeholders.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on market research, forecasting, and analytics.
• Stay current with GenAI and analytical methods to enhance capabilities.
• Support experiments and define measurable criteria for improvements.

Skills

Storytelling

Executive presence

Interpersonal skills

Stakeholder management

Business acumen

Project management

Independent working

Travel flexibility

Education

BS in Data Science/Math/Economics/CS/Stats/Decision Science/Engineering/Public Health

Tools

Python

R

SAS

SQL

Job description

Job Description

Job Title: Associate Director Data Science – US Market Engagement, US Oncology, Digital Human Health

Job Description: This role will reside within the Digital Human Health (DHH) US Market Engagement Team. This team operates as part of the US commercial team, providing strategic thought-partnership to US commercial stakeholders through understanding brand strategy, co-creating DHH demand and associated business requirements aligned to business priorities. The US Market Engagement team quarterbacks demand fulfillment and leads the activation of DHH products and services.

The Associate Director will be responsible for developing and communicating data-driven and actionable insights that drive greater customer and market understanding to inform launch & go-to market strategies and help meet in-line commercial objectives.

The individual in this role will be an independent contributor, supporting commercial insight and analytics needs for US marketing teams. The person will have demonstrated consistently strong leadership skills, an ability to work objectively and deal well with ambiguity and strong partnership skills. They will empower a growth mindset and inspire a culture of continual learning. This role will require interfacing and collaborating with many teams requiring strong communication skills.

The preferred candidate will have an entrepreneurial spirit, consultative and strategic mindset, experience in oncology & technology (ML algorithm, AI, agentic etc.), The candidate will be accountable for creating targeting and segmentation models for the Oncology Business Unit that will be used for theallocation of promotional resources and tactics across channels, brands, and customer segments. More specifically, the AD will work with HH market leaders and provide guidance to help define omnichannel tactics and strategies to implement customer targeting and segmentation schemes using predictive and machine learning models, with a focus on automation , standardization and Agentic AI enablement across our Company’s oncology portfolio. The selected candidate will also work closely with our central Data Science and Pune teams to implement innovative AI solutions.

=========================

Key Responsibilities

• Analyze data across disparate databases/sources (including claims/EMR Data and other sources) to develop insights that inform commercial business strategies.
• Translate business needs and priorities to build analytical plans that answer business questions by providing actionable insights. Effectively communicating advanced analytics to stakeholders to inform business decisions.
• Communicate & collaborate effectively with cross functional teams with competencies in market research, forecasting, commercial analytics, data science, customer engagement, data strategy, population health, competitive insights, marketing operations, medical & clinical backgrounds.
• Stay current with industry trends and advancements in analytical methodologies to bring new ideas forward (including application of GenAI) that will enhance analytic capabilities of the organization.
• Contribute to innovative experiments, specifically to idea generation, idea incubation and/or experimentation, identifying tangible and measurable criteria to make meaningful improvements to the business processes and strategies.

Education Requirements

• BS (or equivalent) in Data Science, Mathematics, Economics, Computer Science, Statistics, Decision Science, Marketing, Engineering, Public Health, or equivalent scientific/ commercial discipline.

Required Experience And Skills

• 5+ years of relevant experience delivering complex analytical projects in the pharmaceutical, biotech, consulting, or healthcare industry.
• Self-motivated, proactive mindset, and ability to work independently.
• Story-telling and executive presence with senior leaders.
• Effective interpersonal skills, communication skills, and stakeholder management, including experience collaborating in a matrixed organization and ability to align stakeholders on data-driven decisions.
• Strong business acumen and consultative skills, with proven ability to comprehend business processes and commercial strategies in detail and translate these into detailed business standards/questions that power analytics.
• Superior Organizational and project management skills to work effectively across the organization
• Innovative thinking with affinity toward experimentation and appropriate risk-taking, including curiosity about how agenticAIand automation can enhance commercial analytics and insight generation.
• Awareness of the opportunities, limitations, and responsible use ofAI(including agenticAI) in a regulated environment (e.g., data privacy, validation ofAI-generated outputs).
• Travel may be required
• Ability to develop efficient programming code and software assets that provide advanced analytical functionality.
• Proven data science experience leveraging advanced statistical methods, Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence
• Knowledge of both machine learning and descriptive algorithms/modeling using such languages as Python, R studio, SAS, SQL etc.

Preferred Experience And Skills

• Domain knowledge in oncology, specifically as it relates to data analytics.
• MBA, MS or PhD degree is a plus.

Work location

Upper Gwynedd, PA (role will be hybrid and chosen candidate is expected to be in the office at least 3 days/week).

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.

Required Skills

Advanced Analytics, Advanced Analytics, Analytical Tools, Analytics Insights, Base SAS, Business Decisions, Business Intelligence (BI), Business Metrics, Business Opportunity Identification, Customer Segmentation, Data Analysis, Database Design, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Data Science, Data Visualization, Design of Experiments (DOE), Growth Mindset, Ideation, Insight Generation, Machine Learning (ML), Machine Learning Algorithms, Python (Programming Language), Software Development, Stakeholder Relationship Management {+ 2 more}

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