[Hiring] Senior Director, Team Lead @Merck

Role Description

The Senior Director, Team Lead (TL) U.S. Medical Affairs (USMA) for Payer & Health Systems (PHS) position resides in the Value & Implementation (V&I) organization, which includes Global Medical and Scientific Affairs as well as Outcomes Research. The primary role of this position is the leadership, management and accountability of a team of PHS Medical Affairs Directors (PHS MADs). The PHS TL drives strategic clarity, operational excellence, and cross-functional collaboration to enable impactful scientific engagement and insight generation. They are a key leader responsible for guiding, coaching and developing PHS MADs to execute high-quality scientific and medical activities in alignment with USMA and enterprise priorities. This position holds responsibility for the field execution of the PHS medical affairs strategy, and prioritization of the company’s portfolio across various payer and health-system accounts (e.g., health plan, pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), integrated delivery network (IDN)). A critical part of the role is the ongoing interface with other medical affairs and commercial account management leadership around medical account management and execution. The PHS TL ensures all work reflects our company’s commitment to scientific integrity, ethical leadership, and patient-centered value.

Responsibilities and Primary Activities

• Leadership and Management
  • Recruits, onboards, trains, leads and manages a team of field-based health systems Medical Affairs (MA) professionals.
  • Manages all aspects of the performance management process, including assessment of PHS MAD performance to objectives and competencies.
  • Accomplishes assessment via field observation/coaching visits, call discussions, feedback, and field metric analysis.
  • Develops and monitors personal development plans for each PHS MAD.
  • Oversees portfolio product launches and in-line product medical affairs plans, ensuring appropriate support of the PHS portfolio prioritization and account segmentation via the PHS MA plan (MAP).
  • Provides insights back to headquarters (HQ) from internal and external stakeholders across the entire health-systems continuum.
  • Effectively communicates and coordinates with Commercial, Country MA, V&I Global Medical and Value Capabilities (V&I GMVC), and V&I Outcomes Research (V&I OR) leadership.
  • Collaborates with Commercial colleagues to ensure national and regional medical account coverage.
  • Maintains a macro view of the healthcare landscape to develop and allocate company MA resources.
  • Facilitates communication with senior HQ leadership to ensure successful execution with key national and regional accounts.
  • Represents PHS team on internal cross-functional work streams.
  • Ensures compliance with regulations and company policies in the field environment.
• Strategic Planning and Project Management
  • Supports the PHS Executive Director Medical Affairs (PHS EDMA) and PHS Payor & Access Strategy Lead (PHS PASL) in developing and executing the PHS MAP.
  • Leads the medical account planning and management process across all prioritized HS regional accounts.
  • Provides significant input to the annual resource development plan by HS PASL.
  • Provides input to the annual PHS medical meeting coverage plan.
  • Provides project support to the Country MA organization as needed.
• Budget Management
  • Provides input to the annual budget planning process for PHS MAD team.
  • Effectively supports the management of PHS MAD team budget.
  • Reviews and approves routine expense reports as applicable and appropriate.

Qualifications

• Advanced health-care/science doctoral degree (e.g., MD, PharmD, PhD).
• Three (3) years in customer-facing, field medical-affairs role or relevant experience.
• Deep knowledge of health-systems environment (e.g., payers, IDNs).
• Thorough knowledge of U.S. health-care delivery-system structure and function and population health.
• Embrace an AI-first mindset by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and presentation skills.
• Strong teamwork capabilities.
• Strong track record of effective development and management of multiple cross-functional leadership relationships.
• Strong personal integrity, collaborative mindset, business acumen, and customer focus.
• Thorough understanding of U.S. regulatory entity and ethical guidelines relevant to the pharmaceutical industry.
• Ability to organize, prioritize and work effectively in a constantly changing environment.
• Strong working knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite.

Requirements

• Five years of experience in a field-facing role.
• Experience in a front-line management role leading field-medical colleagues working with payers or health systems.
• Thorough knowledge of pharmaco-economics, quality management, value-based payment, and health-care delivery policy and trends.

Benefits

• Comprehensive package of benefits including medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family).
• Retirement benefits, including 401(k).
• Paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.