Director, Patient Strategy & Innovation (Hybrid)

Merck; Rahway (NJ); Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck, Rahway, NJ, seeks a Director to lead patient strategy and innovation across patient engagement initiatives, working with the Patient CoE and CEI teams to advance a patient-first digital health agenda.

The role oversees end-to-end program management, builds partnerships, and champions data-driven patient-centric strategies to enhance supportive care and access across the US healthcare ecosystem.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in patient support, patient engagement, digital health strategy, program management, or commercial operations within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or healthcare industry.
• 5+ years of experience managing complex, cross-functional programs or teams in a highly matrixed environment.
• Proven track record of developing and executing strategic patient engagement or marketing initiatives.
• Strong understanding of the US healthcare ecosystem, including patient support programs, access, and reimbursement dynamics.
• Excellent relationship-building and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority across brand and enterprise teams.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Execution: Lead the strategic development and execution of patient engagement programs, ensuring alignment with broader DHH and Human Health objectives.
• Partnership & Ecosystem Development: Identify, cultivate, and manage innovative external partnerships that enhance our patient support offerings and accelerate our digital patient capabilities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the primary liaison between the DHH Patient Capabilities team, the US CEI Patient CoE, and US marketing brand teams to ensure seamless integration and deployment of patient initiatives.
• Program Management: Oversee the end-to-end program management of key patient experience projects, ensuring they are delivered on time, within budget, and achieve defined success metrics.
• Future Patient Strategy: Act as a champion for patient-centric innovation, gathering internal and external best practices to continuously evolve how our company's supports patients throughout their treatment journey.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Patient engagement

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA

Job description

Merck, Rahway, NJ, seeks a Director to lead patient strategy and innovation across patient engagement initiatives, working with the Patient CoE and CEI teams to advance a patient-first digital health agenda.

The role oversees end-to-end program management, builds partnerships, and champions data-driven patient-centric strategies to enhance supportive care and access across the US healthcare ecosystem.