Associate Director Sample Operations & Effectiveness

Bayer•Whippany, NJ

20h•Onsite

About The Position

Bayer Pharmaceuticals is seeking an Associate Director, Sample Operations & Effectiveness, to lead day-to-day operational activities for US Pharmaceuticals sampling programs. The role ensures compliant and effective execution and uses analytics, performance measurement, and optimization to improve sample allocation, inventory utilization, and overall program effectiveness. It works closely with Customer Engagement, Field Business Systems & Operations, Product and Portfolio teams, Compliance, Data and Analytics, Supply Chain, Technology teams, and external vendor partners. The position is located in Whippany, New Jersey. The role develops a sample effectiveness framework, performance measures, dashboards, and reports; analyzes program data and provides actionable insights; and recommends changes to allocations, inventory, and distribution approaches. It oversees vendor relationships and sample operations, manages inventory and logistics, supports field questions and operational issues, and maintains standard operating procedures, compliance controls, and audit readiness. It also develops field training, supports sampling capabilities and technology implementations, and partners with Technology, Data and Analytics, Compliance, and vendors to improve data, reporting, and operational workflows.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
Experience in the pharmaceutical or healthcare industry.
Proven collaboration skills and ability to work independently.
Strong project-management skills.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to prioritize effectively and work under tight timelines.

Nice To Haves

At least two years of experience managing sample operations vendors or suppliers.
At least five years of pharmaceutical or healthcare experience.
At least two years of experience managing Prescription Drug Marketing Act-compliant sample accountability programs.
Experience analyzing operational, inventory, customer, or field activity data and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
Experience developing performance measures, dashboards, scorecards, or management reporting.
Experience with sample allocation, inventory optimization, demand forecasting, or field effectiveness analytics.
Experience with Veeva CRM, pharmaceutical sampling platforms, or comparable commercial technologies.
Experience developing business requirements for technology, workflow, data integration, or reporting enhancements.
Proficiency with Excel and experience using business intelligence or data-visualization capabilities.
Experience supporting pharmaceutical product launches or significant sampling program changes.
FDA audit experience.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain a sample effectiveness framework and key performance indicators covering utilization, practitioner reach, ordering, fulfillment, inventory, and program performance.
Produce recurring dashboards, scorecards, and reports; analyze sample activity and related data to identify trends, gaps, risks, and improvement opportunities.
Provide actionable performance insights to Product teams, Customer Engagement, Field leadership, and other stakeholders; establish baselines and benchmarks and assess program changes.
Develop and recommend sample allocation and distribution approaches based on approved business rules, practitioner needs, historical utilization, product strategy, territory requirements, inventory, and compliance.
Identify allocation imbalances, underutilization, ordering anomalies, and sample availability gaps; recommend adjustments to quantities, reorder thresholds, and distribution.
Support sampling strategies for launches, indication expansions, field-force changes, and other business events; conduct scenario analyses and evaluate implemented optimization initiatives.
Identify opportunities to reduce expiration, excess inventory, avoidable destruction, emergency shipments, and unnecessary operational costs.
Manage third-party vendors and service providers supporting sample operations and accountability, including sample allocations, transfers, disbursements, shipments, and applicable sampling and replacement programs.
Manage vendor master service agreements, statements of work, documentation, and spending against approved budgets; coordinate resolution of vendor-related operational issues.
Establish inventory levels and reorder processes, maintain significant-loss metrics and reporting, and coordinate with logistics and supply chain teams on shipments and distribution.
Serve as the primary support function for field sampling questions, service requests, and operational issues; coordinate issue resolution and provide subject-matter expertise.
Ensure sampling programs comply with the Prescription Drug Marketing Act, applicable state requirements, Bayer policies, and other regulations governing US pharmaceutical sampling.
Maintain SOPs, work instructions, operational documentation, control evidence, and audit readiness; support audits, regulatory inspections, investigations, and information requests.
Collaborate with Compliance on sample accountability, program requirements, process changes, and issue resolution.
Develop and maintain sampling training curricula and materials for field teams, track required training completion as needed, and update content when requirements or processes change.
Enable and support sampling programs on approved platforms, including Veeva CRM and the HCP Sample Portal, and provide business input on system functionality and operational requirements.
Partner with Technology, Data and Analytics, Compliance, and vendors to design, test, implement, and drive adoption of sampling capabilities.
Establish metric definitions, data-quality expectations, and reconciliation requirements; identify automation and advanced analytics opportunities, including AI-enabled capabilities.
Ensure technology and data enhancements retain appropriate compliance controls, documentation, and business ownership; support user acceptance testing and implementation readiness.