Associate Director, Market Engagement - Vaccines & ID (flu)

Merck; North Wales (Montgomery County); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking an Associate Director - Market Engagement for Vaccines & ID (Flu) to partner with US and global marketing teams, turning data into actionable insights, supporting launch and go-to-market strategies, and driving brand growth with advanced analytics.

The role demands experience across claims, EMR/EHR, CDC, IQVIA data, and a strong grasp of AI, NLP, and Agentic AI to solve commercial questions and shape strategic decisions.

Qualifications

• 5+ years analytics or data science experience in pharma/biotech/healthcare; vaccines experience preferred.
• Proven track record applying AI, ML, NLP, and Agentic AI to solve commercial business problems.
• Experience with patient-level and healthcare data (claims, EMR/EHR, CDC, IQVIA) and other secondary sources.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business needs into structured analytical questions and data-driven recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a key analytics partner to US and global marketing, aligning analyses and insights to brand and portfolio priorities/OKRs.
• Work with stakeholders to translate questions into well-defined analytical use cases.
• Ensure delivery of analyses with high quality, timeliness, compliance, and good user experience.
• Enable prioritization and scoping conversations by understanding business demand and use cases.
• Analyze diverse data sources (claims, EMR/EHR, CDC, IQVIA, digital/CRM) to generate actionable insights for commercial decisions.
• Propose analytical approaches and AI/ML/NLP techniques with understanding of trade-offs.
• Collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and other teams to deliver solutions addressing business questions.
• Support design and refinement of AI/ML and NLP solutions with business context.
• Synthesize findings into concise stories and visualizations for decision making.
• Stay current on vaccines market dynamics and analytics advances, bringing new ideas.

Skills

Analytics

Data Science

Python

R

SQL

NLP/AI

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

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

MBA/MS/PhD preferred

Tools

SAS

SQL

Job description

Job Title: Associate Director - Market Engagement - Vaccines & ID (Flu)

This role resides within the DHH Integrated Vaccines & Infectious Disease Team, operating as part of the US/global commercial organization. The team provides strategic thought-partnership to US and global commercial stakeholders by understanding brand strategy, managing analytics requests, and defining associated business requirements aligned to business priorities. The Market Engagement team quarterbacks demand fulfillment and leads the activation of DHH products and services to enable data-driven decision making across the vaccine's portfolio.

The Assoc. Director -Market Engagement - Vaccines & ID (Flu) will be responsible for developing and communicating US and ex-US data-driven, actionable insights that drive deeper customer and market understanding, inform launch and go-to-market strategies, and support brand growth and commercial objectives of our to-be-launched influenza prophylactic product. The individual will function as a key business-facing analytics partner to US and global influenza marketing teams, supporting commercial insights, analytics, and data science needs, while helping to scope, design, and deliver well-defined use cases aligned to business OKRs.

The preferred candidate will have an entrepreneurial and consultative mindset, strong understanding of the healthcare/pharma space (particularly vaccines) in both US and ex-US markets, and proficiency in advanced analytics, AI, machine learning, NLP, and Agentic AI. They will be comfortable translating complex business questions into analytical problems that require scalable, innovative solutions and will bring forward new ideas and methodologies that enhance the organization's analytic capabilities. The candidate will need to comprehend the nuances of different product lines, the competitive landscape, and be versed in the Life Science commercial space.

The individual who will thrive in this role will demonstrate strong leadership, intellectual curiosity, and a growth mindset. Although they will operate as an individual contributor, they will be adept at working in a matrixed environment, dealing with ambiguity, and collaborating across cross-functional teams. Strong communication and storytelling skills are essential to effectively influence stakeholders and drive adoption of data-driven recommendations.

Primary Job Function and Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a key analytics partner to US and global marketing, aligning analyses and insights to brand and portfolio priorities/OKRs.
• Work directly with business stakeholders to understand key questions, clarify objectives, and translate them into well-defined analytical use cases.
• Be accountable for ensuring delivery of analyses with high quality standards, timeliness, compliance, and excellent user experience (routinely keep client base updated on progress)
• Enable prioritization and scoping conversations by understanding business demand, requests, and potential use cases.
• Analyze diverse data sources (claims, EMR/EHR, CDC, IQVIA, digital/CRM) to generate clear, actionable insights and recommendations for commercial decisions.
• Propose appropriate analytical approaches and AI/ML/NLP/modeling techniques, demonstrating strong conceptual understanding of methods and trade-offs.
• Collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and other DHH teams (on-shore and off-shore) to deliver best-in-class solutions and ensure business questions are addressed with the right data, methods, and insights.
• Support the design, development, and refinement of AI/ML and NLP solutions (including Agentic AI) by providing business context, requirements, and feedback.
• Synthesize findings into concise stories and visualizations, and present insights to support data-driven decisions.
• Stay current on vaccines market dynamics and advances in analytics, AI, and machine learning, bringing forward new ideas that will enhance analytic capabilities of the organization.

Education Requirements

• BS (or equivalent) in Data Science, Mathematics, Economics, Computer Science, Statistics, Decision Science, Marketing, Engineering, or Public Health is required.
• MBA, MS, or PhD degree preferred.

Required Experience & Skills

• 5+ years of analytics or data science experience in pharma/biotech/healthcare; vaccines experience preferred.
• Proven track record applying advanced statistics, AI, machine learning, NLP, and Agentic AI to solve commercial business problems.
• Proficiency in Python, R studio, SAS, SQL etc. or similar tools for data extraction, feature engineering, and model development.
• Strong experience with patient-level and healthcare data (claims, EMR/EHR, registry, CDC, IQVIA and other secondary sources).
• Demonstrated ability to translate business needs into structured analytical questions and data-driven recommendations.
• Experience supporting products across their lifecycle (development, launch, growth, maturity, and end of life).