Director - Contacting and Customer Experience

Merck & Co.; North Wales (Montgomery County); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck & Co. in the United States is seeking a Director, Contracting and Customer Experience to lead the customer-facing HQ teams and the MVCC/VAS/VCAS operations.

The role focuses on delivering exceptional contracting and ordering experiences, aligning with strategic priorities and compliant promotion management. The director will guide staffing, resource allocation, and transformation initiatives while partnering with sales leadership to address critical customer issues and opportunities for

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years experience in Sales, Marketing or Managed Care - Pharmaceutical industry
• Minimum of 3 years People Management experience
• Minimum of 3 years experience developing and managing customer relationships

Responsibilities

• Oversee the contracting and customer experience teams across the organization.
• Set strategic priorities and allocate resources; work with HQ cross-functional teams.
• Direct promotions management and ensure compliant application of promotion standards across resources.
• Monitor operational metrics, service levels, and customer sentiment to drive continuous improvement.

Skills

People management

Customer experience

Strategic planning

Communication

Leadership

Business analytics

P&L management

Contracting

Sales strategy

Market analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA

Job description

Director, Contracting and Customer Experience

The US Vaccines Contracting and Customer Experience team supports our customers' vaccine contracting and ordering experience by providing outstanding customer service through contractual and ordering touchpoints. We assist our Field Sales Team, healthcare providers, and healthcare systems to help them meet their contractual and vaccine ordering goals.

The Director for our Contracting and Customer Experience team has overall responsibility for the management and results of the customer-facing headquartered teams, along with the D&DS development team. This includes the Vaccine Contracting Account Specialist (VCAS) Team, the Vaccine Account Specialist (VAS) Team which staffs the Our Company's Vaccine Customer Center (MVCC), the C&DS Development Team responsible for promotional and resource creation, approvals, and management.

This oversight includes staffing and multi-team leadership, development of a strategic priorities, resource allocation decisions, ownership/management of the customer experience, compliance with laws and policies, and HQ cross functional team collaboration. The Director is also responsible for the successful pull-through and implementation of contract strategies.

Key Responsibilities

People Management

• Recruits, hires, and supervises the hiring of top talent to build a high-performing, diverse & customer-centric integrated national team.
• Sets appropriate expectations and assesses performance of direct reports, including team leaders.
• Rewards and retains team members based on results and by creating an environment supportive of growth and development.
• Supports and fosters a diverse and inclusive environment.
• Ensures understanding and continually reinforces principles of the commercial model and provides formal and informal feedback to Headquarter based team regarding the status of implementation.
• Responsible for leading ongoing organizational and cultural transformation within the contracting and customer experience divisions.
• Leads annual people management processes for employees (performance management, employee development, compensation & rewards); ensures ongoing feedback & coaching throughout the year to all employees to support achievement of assigned performance objectives.
• Prioritizes and allocates human resources across customers/accounts.

Customer Experience

• Has ultimate responsibility and ownership of the "customer experience" as it relates to contracting, managing customer account information, and purchasing processes through direct and/or indirect channels.
• Accountable for the teams' delivery of customer experiences that demonstrate value and create trust.
• Implements an effective customer-centric approach, demonstrating the importance of the customer to our Company.
• Partners closely with sale team leadership to understand critical customer issues and opportunities to improve the customer experience, ensuring this understanding is incorporated into team plans.
• Works closely with Headquarter teams, including the OMC, BSC, CCM, and IAM, to ensure a quality and value-driven customer experience.
• Collaborates closely with other stakeholders to ensure consistency and seamless support across the customer base

Strategic Portfolio Support

• Oversees the C&DS Development Team, guiding strategic content design, implementation of agile principles, resource stewardship, and operational guidelines to align customer support with business priorities.
• Directs promotions management and ensures the prioritization and correct, compliant application of promotion process and standards across all resources.
• Reviews operational metrics, queue times, service levels, and customer sentiment (via surveys and customer research) to drive continuous improvement in MVCC performance and VAS/VCAS engagement.

Education

• Required: Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science
• Preferred: Masters in Business Administration

Required

• Minimum of (10) years experience in Sales, Marketing or Managed Care - Pharmaceutical industry
• Minimum of (3) years People Management experience
• Minimum of (3) years experience developing and managing customer relationships

Technical/Functional Capability Requirements

• Create a strategic plan by integrating short, mid, and long-term objectives
• Formulate a strategic business plan based on customer business needs and available resources
• Clearly communicate and articulate a vision and strategy that motivates and energizes the region
• Understands the market environment - identification of customer segments and business drivers
• Listen, understand and proactively address customer needs
• Assess business results against objectives and realign resources based on the assessment
• Enhance the selling skills and capabilities of the Representatives and Managers to optimize the customer experience

Critical Experience Requirements

• Translated division vision and strategy to directives and procedures
• Experience leading a large team-organization
• Experience in buy/bill therapeutic areas
• Marketing/brand experience or experience working closely with Headquarter brand teams.
• Made resource decisions and trade-offs to maximize business potential
• Identified and pursued opportunities for new products, services, and/or markets
• Delivered customer value
• Achieves results
• Experience managing a Profit & Loss
• Business analytics to review and evaluate performance trends across customer segments and geographies
• Analyze the human resource needs of the region to maximize the customer experience
• Experience managing contract sales force and customer call center

Leadership Capability Requirements

• Deliver Customer Value - ability and appreciation to clearly understand the customer and their unique needs; ability to translate understanding into effective development and delivery of relevant solutions
• Collaborate and relationship development
• Builds Talent