Associate Director, Change Management Lead

Merck•North Wales, PA

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

It is an exciting time to join the CCoE and help propel our vision to enable HH‑US to navigate change early, align efforts across the enterprise, and empower the organization to plan and deliver transformation that advances strategic and financial readiness, adoption, and measurable impact. As a Change Management Lead and a member of the Change Center of Excellence (CCoE) within the Commercial Excellence & Innovation (CEI) organization, you will lead change activation across the US Market to transform customer experience and drive measurable business impact both within specific program transformations as well those that contribute to our company-wide initiatives designed to enable our next chapter of growth, as we advance our pipeline and prepare to successfully launch new products. You will be instrumental in designing and operationalizing change strategies, tools, and best practices that enable rapid, resilient adoption of strategic initiatives and commercial model innovations. Working closely with US Market leadership, initiative/program owners, your CCoE colleagues, and cross-functional teams, you will ensure transformation efforts are aligned to organizational strategy, prioritized for the highest customer impact, and delivered with speed and sustainable adoption.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, organizational development, communications, psychology, or related field.
Minimum 5+ years’ experience in change management, transformation, strategic planning, or related roles, ideally with experience leading complex, cross‑functional initiatives.
Ability to work hybrid at the North Wales (Upper Gwynedd), Pennsylvania office at least 3 days per week.
Demonstrated track record of delivering end‑to‑end change programs with measurable adoption and business outcomes; strong understanding of change management principles, methodologies and tools (Prosci, ADKAR, or equivalent); certification (Prosci CCMP or equivalent) preferred.
Ability to influence without authority and collaborate across matrixed organizations.
Excellent stakeholder engagement, influencing, presentation and coaching skills; experience working with senior leadership.
Proven ability to operate in a fast‑paced environment, manage multiple workstreams, and work effectively with external vendors and partners.
Track record of driving measurable business outcomes and implementing process improvements.
Accountability, Adaptability, Agile Project Management, Data-Driven Decision Making, Developing Proposals, Employee Performance Evaluations, Environmental Scanning, Feasibility Studies, Leadership, Management Process, Market Research, Pharmaceutical Market, Portfolio Management, Project Management, Resource Allocation, Risk Management, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (MBA, MS).
3 years of professional work experience.
Prior experience in pharmaceutical, life sciences, or commercial operations preferred.
Demonstrated experience in commercial model innovation, sales/marketing enablement or direct customer-facing roles
Formal Agile experience and/or Agile certifications; experience scaling Agile across programs.
Knowledgeable in systems thinking, design thinking, and organizational behavior.
Experience developing and executing sustainment plans and measuring adoption and financial impact.
Ability to work in ambiguous spaces.
Demonstrated ability to work in a team environment to advance a common goal.
Strong understanding of compliance-related concepts and application in all job-related functions.

Responsibilities

Transform Customer Experiences & Business Impact - lead change transformation and activation across strategic initiatives that drive differentiated, personalized customer experience and measurable business results.
Translate strategic objectives into prioritized change interventions that maximize adoption, revenue impact, and customer centricity.
Develop and implement comprehensive change management strategies, plans, toolkits, and playbooks for the US Market that accelerate adoption and mitigate resistance.
Ensure Change Management initiatives are integrated into routine parts of our business to ensure activities are embedded early and implemented from strategy to realization in a manner that drives Change resiliency.
Contributes to simplified and synergistic communications to leaders and doers of Change related initiatives.
Apply Change agility - rapidly sense shifts and mobilize cross-functional resources, implementing change initiatives with speed, flexibility and resilience while maintaining alignment with organizational strategy and stakeholder needs.
Operate as a strategic thinker with execution focus, collaborative leader, and data/outcome driven.
Enable Stakeholder and leadership engagement -build trusted relationships with senior leaders, field, COEs, and enabling functions (e.g., advise and assist sponsors in driving active sponsorship), develop stakeholder mapping, and specific engagement strategies.
Define and deliver measurement, sustainment, and continuous improvement plans that further Change Management initiatives - define success metrics for Change readiness and adoption; monitor and evaluate change initiatives and iterate based on outcomes.
Integrate innovations and new ways of thinking / experimentation to further scale efforts that inspire a culture of innovation within the CCoE and across the US Market.