Associate Director Sample Operations & Effectiveness

Bayer•Hanover Township, NJ

1d•$163,200 - $224,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Associate Director, Sample Operations & Effectiveness leads day-to-day operational activities associated with Bayer’s US Pharmaceuticals sampling programs. The role ensures compliant and effective program execution and uses analytics, performance measurement, and optimization to improve sample allocation, inventory utilization, and overall program effectiveness. The position is based in Whippany, New Jersey, and works with Customer Engagement, Field Business Systems & Operations, Product and Portfolio teams, Compliance, Data and Analytics, Supply Chain, Technology teams, and external vendor partners. Responsibilities span sample effectiveness and analytics, allocation optimization, vendor management, inventory and logistics, field service and support, compliance and audit readiness, sales training, sampling capabilities, and technology and data strategy. The role develops performance frameworks and reporting, analyzes sample activity, recommends operational improvements, manages vendor relationships and budgets, maintains inventory processes and documentation, supports field teams, and partners on compliant technology and data enhancements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
Experience in pharmaceutical or healthcare.
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, performance measures, dashboards, scorecards, and reports.
Analyze sample activity and related information to identify trends, utilization patterns, operational gaps, risks, and improvement opportunities.
Provide stakeholders and leadership with actionable insights, performance baselines, benchmarks, assessments, and recommended actions.
Develop and evaluate sample allocation approaches based on approved business rules, practitioner needs, product strategy, territory requirements, inventory, and compliance considerations.
Identify allocation and inventory imbalances, recommend adjustments, conduct scenario analyses, and evaluate the results of optimization initiatives.
Identify opportunities to reduce product expiration, excess inventory, avoidable destruction, emergency shipments, and unnecessary operating costs.
Manage third-party vendors and service providers supporting sample operations and accountability, including vendor documentation, spending, and issue resolution.
Oversee sample allocations, transfers, disbursements, and shipment procedures for applicable sampling programs and platforms.
Establish inventory levels and reorder processes, maintain significant-loss metrics and reporting, and monitor inventory availability and operational risks.
Partner with logistics and supply chain teams to support product shipment and distribution.
Serve as the primary support function for field questions, service requests, and sampling-related operational issues; coordinate resolution with internal teams and vendors.
Provide subject-matter expertise on sampling processes, policies, systems, and operating requirements.
Ensure sampling and applicable product replacement programs comply with the Prescription Drug Marketing Act, state requirements, Bayer policies, and other applicable regulations.
Maintain SOPs, work instructions, operational documentation, control evidence, and audit readiness; support audits, inspections, investigations, and information requests.
Collaborate with Compliance on sample accountability, program requirements, process changes, and issue resolution.
Develop and maintain field training curricula and materials, track required training completion as needed, and serve as a trainer and subject-matter expert.
Enable and support sampling programs across Veeva CRM, the HCP Sample Portal, and future platforms.
Partner with business, technology, data, compliance, and vendor teams on the design, testing, implementation, and adoption of sampling capabilities.
Establish metric definitions, data-quality expectations, and reconciliation requirements for sample reporting.
Identify automation opportunities and evaluate AI-enabled and advanced analytical capabilities for forecasting, allocation, monitoring, issue identification, and reporting.
Support user acceptance testing, implementation readiness, and business adoption while ensuring enhancements retain appropriate compliance controls, documentation, and business ownership.