Associate Director, US Market Engagement Data Science & Advanced Analytics

Merck & Co.; Elmora (NJ); Hybrid; USD 157,000 - 247,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k) Retirement Benefits

Paid Holidays

Vacation

Sick Days

Job summary

Merck & Co. is seeking an Associate Director, US Market Engagement, Data Science & Advanced Analytics, to develop data-driven insights informing brand strategy for the pharma portfolio.

The role emphasizes applying advanced analytics to support non-product DHH services such as HCP targeting, call planning and campaign measurement in the US market. The candidate will lead a team of data scientists and business analysts, collaborate across regulatory and commercial teams, and drive innovative

Qualifications

• 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 is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Translate business needs and priorities to build analytical plans that answer business questions by providing actionable insights.
• Communicate with cross-functional teams including market research, forecasting, commercial analytics, data science, and data strategy.
• Analyze data across disparate databases/sources (claims/EMR, DDD, and other sources) to develop insights informing commercial strategies.
• Stay current with industry trends and analytical methodologies, including GenAI, to enhance analytics capabilities.
• Contribute to innovative experiments, including idea generation and incubation with measurable criteria.
• Derive actionable business insights from various data sources and communicate to stakeholders.
• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists and business analysts (on-shore and off-shore).

Skills

Brand Strategy

Business Analysis

Business Processes

Commercial Analytics

Data Science

Python

R / SAS

Stakeholder Management

Leadership

Communication

NLP

GenAI

Education

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

MBA/MS/PhD preferred

Tools

IQVIA APLD

Job description

Job Description

This role will reside within theDHH US Market Engagement Team for Pharma. This team provided 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, US Market Engagement, Data Science & Advanced Analytics, will be responsible for developing data-driven insights to inform brand strategy and tactics in support of the pharma portfolio. This role will focus on applying advanced data science to deliver strategic non-product DHH services to US Pharma Business unit such as HCP targeting/segmentation, call planning, campaign measurement & effectiveness etc.

Key Responsibilities:

• 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.
• Analyze data across disparate databases/sources (including claims/EMR, DDD, and other sources) to develop insights that inform commercial business strategies.
• 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.
• Derive actionable business insights from various data sources, develop clear data story, and communicate effectively to business stakeholders.
• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists and business analysts (on-shore and off-shore), providing guidance on best practices in data analytics, modeling and data visualization, through the scope of a project.

The individual in this role will be an independent contributor or lead a small team, 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 across therapeutic lines. They should have a demonstrated record of producing actionable insights from analytics leveraging digital/technology (AI, agentic etc.). The person should be able to identify the data, analytics and research needs to define, enable, and inform commercial strategies of our brand and business leaders. The selected candidate should have a strong understanding of US data landscape of pharma commercial analytics capabilities, and technology, including application of GenAI to drive forward thinking effectiveness. The individual who will thrive in this role will be motivated by developing a deep appreciation of pharma secondary data sources and possess an ability to define and translate objectives and business questions into analytical problems that require advanced and scalable solutions that produce actionable insights.

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 is preferred

Required Experience & Skills:

• 5+ years of relevant experience delivering complex analytical projects in the pharmaceutical, biotech, consulting, or healthcare industry.
• Knowledge in mining patient medical claims/EMR data as well as other healthcare datasets with a strategic mindset and proven record of being able to produce actionable business insights that drive positive commercial results.
• 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 pharmaceutical business processes and commercial strategies in detail and translate these into detailed business standards/questions that power analytics.
• Effective organizational and project management skills to work effectively across the organization and manage a team of business analysts and data scientists efficiently and effectively.
• Innovative thinking with affinity toward experimentation and appropriate risk-taking, including curiosity about how agentic-AI-and automation can enhance commercial analytics and insight generation.
• Awareness of the opportunities, limitations, and responsible use of-AI-(including agentic-AI) in a regulated environment (e.g., data privacy, validation of-AI-generated outputs).
• Prior hands-on experience working with healthcare data especially EMR/EHR, Claims Data (i.e. IQVIA APLD) and various data offerings.
• 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, Natural Language Processing (NLP) modeling and model evaluation is a plus.
• Knowledge of both machine learning and descriptive algorithms/modeling using such languages as Python, R studio, SAS, SQL etc.
• Understands the business context, challenge, limitation, constraints and goals to effectively match the capability of the statistical and mathematical and M/L approaches to the business, scientific and operational challenge
• Travel may be required <20%.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Preferred: Prior hands-on experience working with healthcare data and leveraging advanced analytics and modeling techniques
• MBA, MS or PhD degree is a plus.

Required Skills:

Brand Strategy, Business Analysis, Business Processes, Business Strategies, Clinical Immunology, Collaborative Communications, Commercial Analytics, Commercial Strategies, Communication, Customer Engagement, Data Science, Demand Management, Innovation, Leadership, Marketing Data Analytics, Market Research, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Python (Programming Language), Requirements Management, Sourcing and Procurement, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking

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. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

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. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:

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We are 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.

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The salary range for this role is $156,900.00 - $247,000.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

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. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits .

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

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

09/1/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE -the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.

Requisition ID:

R386296