Associate Director, Global Oncology Insights and Engagement

Merck•North Wales, PA

10d•$156,900 - $247,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Oncology Insights and Engagement is part of the Digital Human Health (DHH) Global Oncology Marketing Engagement team. The team provides strategic thought partnership by understanding pipeline priorities, developing and delivering strategic insights and analytics, and activating digital products and services to inform executive decision-making and strengthen commercial rigor throughout pipeline asset development and launch readiness. The role is the primary point of contact for the Global Oncology Marketing team, developing and communicating data-driven, actionable insights that improve patient and market understanding and inform new asset strategy. It also leads end-to-end coordination and delivery of DHH and IT capabilities, including the activation of insights, analytics, digital products, and generative and agentic AI in support of asset priorities. The Associate Director works across DHH, IT, Enterprise functions, and an alliance partner to plan and deliver integrated insights assessments. The role connects capabilities such as market research, forecasting, AI, data strategy, clinical and discovery, medical affairs, and competitive intelligence to support executive decisions and commercial rigor. The individual may work as an independent contributor or lead a small global team.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Data Analysis, Marketing, Economics, Social Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Decision Science, Engineering, Public Health, or an equivalent scientific or commercial discipline.
At least 5 years of experience in marketing, data insights and analytics, strategic planning, or related roles in pharmaceutical, biotech, consulting, or healthcare.
Knowledge of mining patient medical claims or EMR data, with a strategic mindset and a record of producing actionable business insights that drive positive commercial results.
Strategic thinking and the ability to consolidate and synthesize primary and secondary data insights.
Self-motivated and proactive, with learning agility.
Ability to work independently and navigate ambiguity.
Storytelling skills and executive presence with senior leaders.
Effective interpersonal, communication, and stakeholder-management skills, including experience collaborating in a matrixed organization and aligning stakeholders around data-driven decisions.
Strong business acumen and consultative skills, including the ability to understand business processes and commercial strategies and translate them into detailed business standards and questions that inform analytics.
Organizational and project-management skills to work across the organization and manage a team of business analysts and data scientists effectively.
Innovative thinking, an affinity for experimentation and appropriate risk-taking, and curiosity about using agentic AI and automation in commercial analytics and insight generation.
Awareness of AI’s opportunities and limitations and responsible AI use in regulated environments, including data privacy and validation of AI-generated outputs.
Hands-on experience with healthcare data, especially EMR/EHR and claims data such as IQVIA APLD, and familiarity with various data offerings.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the life sciences or consulting industry.
Prior oncology experience.
Global experience, particularly in data and analytics.
An advanced degree such as an MBA, PharmD, or PhD.

Responsibilities

Serve as a key point of contact and strategic thought partner to Global Marketing teams, establishing credible relationships.
Translate business needs and priorities into structured analytical plans and hypotheses that answer business questions with actionable insights.
Communicate advanced analytics effectively to stakeholders to inform business decisions.
Develop and own the commercial insight-generation strategy and roadmap, applying technological advances such as AI to improve efficiency and productivity.
Analyze data from disparate sources, including claims and EMR data, to answer commercial questions about patient journeys, referral patterns, patient and HCP segmentation, and market sizing.
Ensure analytical rigor and consistency, and provide transparency about assumptions and methodologies.
Integrate insights from primary market research and secondary sources, including epidemiological data, syndicated reports, ATUs, demand research, biomarker data, and testing data.
Develop compelling data stories that translate analytics into business recommendations.
Coordinate end-to-end delivery across DHH and IT insights, analytics, and technology capabilities, producing cohesive, decision-ready outputs.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams and engage appropriate capabilities at the right time, including market research, forecasting, data science, data strategy, competitive insights, marketing operations, and medical and clinical functions.
Align cross-functional teams on scope, methodology, timelines, and outputs for high-quality, integrated insights delivery.
Monitor industry trends and analytical advances, bringing forward ideas, including AI applications, to enhance organizational analytics capabilities.
Contribute to innovation experiments through idea generation, incubation, and experimentation, defining tangible and measurable improvement criteria.
Identify opportunities to embed next-generation analytics and digital capabilities in pipeline and launch strategy development.
Lead and mentor onshore and offshore Specialists and Senior Specialists, guiding project-level best practices in data analytics, modeling, and visualization.
Foster a team culture focused on high-impact work, urgency, innovation, continuous learning, and feedback.
Lead cross-functional insights teams involving stakeholders across DHH and other parts of the organization.