Director, Consumer Marketing – Market Activation & Expansion, HIV Prevention

Merck • North Wales, PA

3d • $190,800 - $300,300 • Hybrid

About The Position

Join the U.S. launch team for an investigational Phase III HIV prevention asset (PrEP) to lead market activation and expansion for people who may benefit from PrEP (PwBP). Reporting to the Executive Director, U.S. Commercial Lead, this role leads the end-to-end consumer activation and expansion strategy—from insights and strategy to content development (with agency and agile teams) and omnichannel execution across personal and non-personal channels to support a successful launch.
The role requires expertise in consumer behavior, digital engagement, and agile marketing, as well as the ability to translate insights into campaigns that motivate key segments (women, African American and Hispanic men, youth, etc.) to consider PrEP. 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 10 years of pharmaceutical/healthcare experience
• Minimum of 7 years of brand marketing experience (including pharma, consumer packaged goods, health & wellness brands)
• Demonstrated expertise and experience in consumer activation/engagement, digital channels, agency management and campaign development/delivery
• Experience in leading culturally relevant and inclusive marketing tactics across audiences, including multi-cultural and resource development in Spanish
• Strong analytical skills and comfort with data-driven decision-making
• Excellent communication, presentation, and project management skills
• 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 build 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 people management and ability to build and motivate team within an inclusive and safe to speak up culture
• Proven self-starter with a hands-on, results-driven approach: proactively identifies opportunities, removes barriers, and delivers outcomes
• Familiarity with omnichannel marketing and digital channel integration, as well as agile marketing process

Responsibilities

• Define and lead an inclusive growth strategy to expand reach across populations and underserved segments
• Develop segmentation frameworks grounded in behavioral, cultural, and attitudinal insights to inform activation
• Identify barriers, drivers, and unmet needs across priority populations and translate insights into actionable strategies
• Ensure all strategies align with broader brand, portfolio, and health goals
• Lead primary and secondary research to understand gender, race, ethnicity, cultural nuances, community needs, and access barriers
• Challenge assumptions and ensure messaging reflects real motivations and lived experiences of people who may benefit from PrEP
• Establish a continuous learning agenda to evolve understanding of audiences over time
• Oversee creation of culturally relevant, inclusive, and non-stigmatizing content across channels
• Ensure use of inclusive language and representation that resonates
• Partner with agencies and internal development teams to develop tailored messaging by segment, ensuring representation and authenticity across all creative and media
• Embed inclusion into end-to-end customer journeys, not just campaigns
• Lead end-to-end activation strategy across personal (field) and non-personal channels for key consumer segments
• Prioritize digital channels, touchpoints, and partnerships that best reach target populations
• Drive community-informed approaches (e.g., local partnerships, community engagement/meetings, advocacy groups, etc.)
• Collaborate with market research, data & analytics, sales, digital content teams, and community engagement teams to align execution
• Partner with external agencies and community stakeholders to co-create authentic solutions
• Ensure close partnership with other consumer leads to ensure content alignment to strategy and support for all planned events/consumer segments
• Influence without authority across a matrixed organization
• Define KPIs tied to reach, engagement and conversion across segments
• Track performance and continuously optimize strategies and content based on insights
• Identify gaps in performance across populations and adjust accordingly
• Ensure all activities meet regulatory, legal, compliance and company standards
• Establish inclusive marketing guardrails and review processes to mitigate bias and risk
• Champion ethical, responsible marketing practices
• Build and lead a team with strong inclusive marketing and cultural competency capabilities
• Embed inclusive practices across the broader marketing organization (playbooks, training, frameworks)
• Foster a culture of curiosity, inclusion, and accountability
• Manage assigned marketing budget, ensuring efficient allocation of resources to maximize ROI. Ensure ongoing budget tracking, forecasting, and scenario planning to support financial stewardship.

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
• annual bonus
• long-term incentive

What This Job Offers

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