Director, US Public Policy

Merck; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 191,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck in Washington, DC is seeking a Director, U.S. Public Policy with a law degree to lead policy development for vaccines and our investigational long-acting influenza antiviral.

You will provide legal and policy analysis across access, reimbursement, pricing, intellectual property, and oversight, partnering with cross‑functional colleagues. You will build relationships with government officials and policy organizations, translate complex policy developments into actionable recommendations for

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) or equivalent law degree is required.
• Seven years of relevant experience in public policy, government, public affairs, a trade association, or biopharmaceutical sector.
• Demonstrated knowledge of U.S. public policy and legislative, regulatory, and administrative processes at federal/state level.
• Experience addressing public health matters and leading policy work on vaccines and on antiviral products; pricing, reimbursement, and patient access.
• Strong legal research, analysis, and drafting skills; ability to develop practical recommendations with cross-functional colleagues.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to engage with senior leaders and high-level external stakeholders.
• Experience working across culturally diverse and matrixed teams with collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead policy development and execution for vaccines and for the investigational long-acting influenza antiviral; monitor federal, regulatory, and administrative developments across public health, prevention, access, coverage, reimbursement, and health-system infrastructure.
• Coordinate with legal counsel as needed, including issues on pricing, reimbursement, access, intellectual property, and oversight.
• Develop evidence-based policy positions, comment letters, and submissions, integrating public health evidence, legal analysis, and business considerations with cross-functional colleagues.
• Translate complex policy developments into clear insights, implications, options, and recommendations for senior policy and business leaders.
• Identify emerging risks and opportunities; develop proactive strategies to advance or protect priority policy outcomes.
• Build and maintain relationships with government officials, public health organizations, patient and provider groups, policy organizations, and partners; represent Merck in coalition meetings.
• Lead cross-functional policy workstreams from strategy through execution, including workplans, budgets, and measures of progress.
• Manage policy research, consultants, and other resources to strengthen policy development and advocacy strategies.

Skills

Healthcare Policies

Patient Advocacy

Policy Analysis

Policy Development

Public Health

Regulatory Development

Strategic Planning

Education

Juris Doctor (J.D.) or equivalent law degree

Job description

Job Description

Our company is committed to being the premier, research-intensive biopharmaceutical company and is dedicated to providing leading innovations and solutions for today and the future. Our company’s Global Policy and Public Affairs (GPP) organization works with policymakers, public health leaders, patient and provider organizations, trade associations, coalitions, and other stakeholders to advance public policies that support innovation and improve patient access to medicines and vaccines. The U.S. Federal Policy and Government Relations team within GPP is seeking a public policy leader with a law degree and experience in public health matters to serve as Director, U.S. Public Policy. The Director will lead policy development and execution for vaccines and for our company’s investigational long-acting influenza antiviral (a non-vaccine approach to influenza) and provide legal and policy analysis across the broader public policy portfolio, including access, oversight, intellectual property, research and development, etc. The successful candidate will combine broad public policy knowledge, public health experience, and strong legal analysis and drafting skills to develop practical recommendations and build alignment across a highly matrixed organization, including colleagues in medical, commercial, legal and other subject‑matter experts.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead policy development and execution for vaccines and for our company's investigational long-acting influenza antiviral; monitor and assess related federal, regulatory, and administrative developments across public health, prevention, access, coverage, reimbursement, and health-system infrastructure.
• Work with the team to support legal analysis of issues across the public policy portfolio, in coordination with the issue lead and legal counsel, as needed, including pricing, reimbursement, access, intellectual property, and oversight.
• Develop evidence-based company policy positions, comment letters, and other policy submissions, integrating public health evidence, legal analysis, and business considerations in partnership with cross-functional colleagues.
• Translate complex policy developments into clear insights, implications, options, and recommendations for senior policy and business leaders.
• Identify emerging risks and opportunities and develop proactive strategies to advance or protect priority policy outcomes.
• Build and maintain relationships with government officials, public health organizations, patient and provider groups, policy organizations, and other partners, and represent our company in trade association and coalition meetings.
• Lead cross-functional policy workstreams from strategy through execution, including workplans, decision points, stakeholder roles, budgets, and measures of progress or impact.
• Manage policy research, consultants, and other resources that strengthen policy development, thought leadership, and advocacy strategies.

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) or equivalent law degree required.
• At least seven years of relevant experience in public policy, government, public affairs, a trade association, a patient or provider organization, consulting, or the biopharmaceutical sector.
• Demonstrated knowledge of U.S. public policy and the legislative, regulatory, and administrative policymaking processes at the federal and/or state level.
• Experience addressing public health matters and the ability to lead policy work on vaccines and on a long-acting antiviral influenza product while contributing to broader public policy issues, including pricing, reimbursement, and patient access.
• Sound judgment and strong legal research, analysis, and drafting skills, with the ability to work through unfamiliar issues, develop practical recommendations, and collaborate effectively with legal counsel and subject‑matter experts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with senior leaders and high-level external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience working across culturally teams and matrixed teams with a high degree of collaboration.

Required Skills

Healthcare Policies, Patient Advocacy, Policy Analysis, Policy Development, Political Forums, Public Health, Public Policies, Regulatory Development, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking

Requirements

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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Primary location for this posting is

USA - District of Columbia - Washington DC (Pennsylvania Ave)

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is: $190,800.00 - $300,300.00

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.

Additional location(s)

Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

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

Regular

No relocation

No

10%

Hybrid

1st - Day

No

N/A