Community Engagement Specialist (CES) (IL, IN, WI)

MSD • Chicago, IL

1d • $142,400 - $224,100 • Remote

About The Position

The Community Engagement Specialist (CES) is a field-based, community-embedded role focused on building trusted, long-term relationships with national, regional, and local organizations serving communities disproportionately impacted by disease. Organizations include, but are not limited to, patient advocacy organizations, community-based organizations, health departments, community health centers, social and civic groups, and faith-based organizations to support engagement across the care continuum. This field-based role is responsible for executing and advancing community engagement across priority advocacy ecosystems, including patient advocacy organizations (PAOs), community-based organizations (CBOs/NGOs), and allied healthcare networks. The CES serves as a trusted field partner and ecosystem connector, responsible for building durable relationships, enabling meaningful engagement, and ensuring community perspectives are reflected in alignment with organizational priorities. The role delivers non-promotional, above-brand engagement and education, while also supporting the structured capture, synthesis, and communication of insights related to access, barriers to care, and community needs. This role serves as a key connector between field engagement and headquarters teams, contributing to consistent, compliant, and scalable execution through established tools, processes, and engagement approaches.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required and a minimum of 3 years pharmaceutical/biotech experience -OR- community engagement, patient advocacy, or public health experience
• Strong project management and organizational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to execute effectively in a field-based role
• Experience engaging with community stakeholders, advocacy organizations, or related groups
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills
• Experience contributing to health-related, community-based, or engagement-focused initiatives
• Ability to work independently while contributing to a broader team environment
• Community Outreach
• Engagement Strategies
• Feedback Management
• Liaison Work
• Medical Affairs
• Project Management
• Relationship Building
• Scientific Communications
• Scientific Exchange
• Virology

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with patient advocacy organizations, community-based organizations, or healthcare-related community ecosystems
• Familiarity with health, access, and community engagement dynamics
• Experience supporting or facilitating educational or community-based engagements
• Experience contributing to training, onboarding, or team capability development
• Familiarity with agile or evolving field engagement models
• Current Employees apply HERE
• Current Contingent Workers apply HERE
• US and Puerto Rico Residents Only
• San Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance
• Los Angeles Residents Only: We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

Responsibilities

• Use data, field observations, and qualitative feedback to evaluate engagement effectiveness and identify opportunities for continuous improvement, including standardized insight capture and reporting approaches
• Execute community engagement and relationship-building activities aligned to organizational and ecosystem priorities
• Partner with PI&E leadership in preparation, planning, and integration related to disease awareness, community engagement, and execution
• Contribute to identification of training and capability needs based on field insights and engagement experience
• Support field-based segmentation and targeting activities, including execution of tactical engagement plans and tracking against defined objectives
• Leverage community insights and engagement data to identify trends, unmet needs, access barriers, and opportunities to enhance engagement approaches
• Utilize established execution resources, including playbooks, tools, and standardized operating procedures (SOPs), to ensure consistency and quality
• Maintain consistent, bi-directional communication between field engagements and headquarters teams to ensure alignment and visibility of community perspectives
• Participate in team engagements including meetings, planning sessions, and training calls
• Ensure all engagement activities comply with legal, regulatory, and non-promotional requirements
• Utilize approved reporting tools and dashboards to document engagements and support performance monitoring
• Identify and communicate opportunities to evolve and optimize community engagement approaches and field execution models

Benefits

• medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family)
• retirement benefits, including 401(k)
• paid holidays
• vacation
• compassionate and sick days

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level