Associate Director - HCP Strategy Lead, HIV Prevention

Merck•North Wales, PA

1d•$142,400 - $224,100•Hybrid

About The Position

Join the US launch team for an investigational Phase III HIV prevention asset to lead HCP strategy development and execution. Reporting to the future Director HCP Marketing Product Owner, the HCP lead drives the end-to-end HCP approach from insight generation to strategy development, content creation in partnership with agency and internal customer agile teams & omnichannel delivery (sales force and non-personal promotion) to ensure successful launch planning and execution. The role requires expertise in HCP behavior, sales force execution, digital engagement, and agile marketing, as well as the ability to translate insights into campaigns and plans that motivate HCPs to initiate PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) for people who may benefit. As a critical member of the launch team, this role also leads scenario planning, cross-functional alignment, and innovation across channels, messaging, and measurement frameworks. Given the dynamic nature of our marketing capabilities, a successful candidate will need a high level of learning agility, resilience, comfort with ambiguity, experience navigating a heavily matrixed organization and willingness to pioneer new approaches.

Requirements

Minimum of 5 years of pharmaceutical/ biotech experience
Minimum of 5 years of brand marketing experience.
Knowledge of physician marketing channels, sales force engagement, content strategy, and performance measurement frameworks
Strong analytical skills and comfort with data-driven decision-making
Excellent communication, presentation, and project management skills
Familiarity with compliance, regulatory processes, and marketing requirements
Strong program and project management capability: track record of managing multiple concurrent initiatives, setting priorities, meeting deadlines, and consistently delivering high quality results on time and within scope
Strategic thinker with operational discipline translates long-term strategy into executable plans while maintaining rigorous attention to detail and measurable KPIs.
Comfortable operating in high-visibility environments: performs effectively under pressure, embraces stretch assignments, and navigates changing priorities with resilience
Influential collaborator and negotiator: builds strong internal and external relationships, navigates stakeholder dynamics, and secures alignment and commitment across functions.

Nice To Haves

HIV Treatment or Prevention, or related public health experience
Product launches and pre-launch commercialization activities
Demonstrated expertise and experience in HCP activation/engagement, agency
Proven self-starter with a hands-on, results-driven approach: proactively identifies opportunities, removes barriers, and delivers outcomes with minimal supervision.
Ability to influence without authority and drive team towards common goal
Familiarity with omnichannel marketing and digital channel integration, as well as agile marketing process

Responsibilities

Develop and execute marketing strategies: Own clear and compelling HCP strategies for the US PrEP team, including insight generation, strategic priorities, target-setting and short- and long-term launch plans.
Marketing Foundations: Lead and manage relevant components of L3 (our core strategic marketing framework) including identification of strategic choices, segmentation, messaging, and resource needs/development.
Customer research and insights: Define and set market research objectives and data needs while working with cross-functional teams to identify customer and market trends and insights. Utilize these insights to inform marketing strategies and drive customer engagement.
Collaborate with internal stakeholders: Work closely with cross-functional teams to align marketing efforts with business objectives. Coordinate with field strategy, scientific strategy and consumer marketing counterparts to ensure message consistency and strategic alignment across consumer and physician channels. Partner with the promotion review team to seek guidance and secure approval for marketing content. Partner with sales and channel team to ensure a comprehensive suite of resources is available at launch accompanied by clear objectives, execution goals and measurements plans. Ensure the sales team is informed, engaged, and motivated to support execution at launch.
Leading in matrix environment: Lead day-to-day engagement with creative teams, media, comms, research, and digital agencies for key HCP segments. Lead work through insight, brief, development, validation, approval, primary production and delivery. Partner with HCP Marketing Product Owner and Hub teams to support pull-through of key and amplify content to deliver on full marketing plans.
Digital marketing: Develop and implement with cross-functional team the digital marketing strategies to engage and educate HCPs, utilizing various digital channels such as social media, email marketing, and content marketing to reach and engage the target audience.
Performance tracking and analytics: Monitor and analyze marketing campaign performance using relevant metrics and tools. Identify areas of improvement and implement optimization strategies to maximize ROI.
Budget Management: Manage assigned marketing budget, ensuring efficient allocation of resources to maximize ROI. Ensure ongoing budget tracking, forecasting, and scenario planning to support financial stewardship.
Compliance and regulatory guidelines: Ensure all individual efforts and marketing activities are compliant with industry and regulatory guidelines, as well as our company's policies, standards, and norms. Anticipate regulatory risks and proactively adjust strategies to maintain compliance.