Associate Director, Data Science

Job Description

Job Title: Associate Director Data Science - US Market Engagement, US Oncology, Digital Human Health

Job Description: This role will reside within the Digital Human Health (DHH) US Market Engagement Team. This team operates as part of the US commercial team, providing strategic thought-partnership to US commercial stakeholders through understanding brand strategy, co-creating DHH demand and associated business requirements aligned to business priorities. The US Market Engagement team quarterbacks demand fulfillment and leads the activation of DHH products and services.

The Associate Director will be responsible for developing and communicating data-driven and actionable insights that drive greater customer and market understanding to inform launch & go-to market strategies and help meet in-line commercial objectives.

The individual in this role will be an independent contributor, supporting commercial insight and analytics needs for US marketing teams. The person will have demonstrated consistently strong leadership skills, an ability to work objectively and deal well with ambiguity and strong partnership skills. They will empower a growth mindset and inspire a culture of continual learning. This role will require interfacing and collaborating with many teams requiring strong communication skills.

The preferred candidate will have an entrepreneurial spirit, consultative and strategic mindset, experience in oncology & technology (ML algorithm, AI, agentic etc.), The candidate will be accountable for creating targeting and segmentation models for the Oncology Business Unit that will be used for the allocation of promotional resources and tactics across channels, brands, and customer segments. More specifically, the AD will work with HH market leaders and provide guidance to help define omnichannel tactics and strategies to implement customer targeting and segmentation schemes using predictive and machine learning models, with a focus on automation , standardization and Agentic AI enablement across our Company’s oncology portfolio. The selected candidate will also work closely with our central Data Science and Pune teams to implement innovative AI solutions.

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Key Responsibilities:

• Analyze data across disparate databases/sources (including claims/EMR Data and other sources) to develop insights that inform commercial business strategies.

• Translate business needs and priorities to build analytical plans that answer business questions by providing actionable insights. Effectively communicating advanced analytics to stakeholders to inform business decisions.

• Communicate & collaborate effectively with cross functional teams with competencies in market research, forecasting, commercial analytics, data science, customer engagement, data strategy, population health, competitive insights, marketing operations, medical & clinical backgrounds.

• Stay current with industry trends and advancements in analytical methodologies to bring new ideas forward (including application of GenAI) that will enhance analytic capabilities of the organization.

• Contribute to innovative experiments, specifically to idea generation, idea incubation and/or experimentation, identifying tangible and measurable criteria to make meaningful improvements to the business processes and strategies.

Education Requirements:

• BS (or equivalent) in Data Science, Mathematics, Economics, Computer Science, Statistics, Decision Science, Marketing, Engineering, Public Health, or equivalent scientific/ commercial discipline.

Required Experience and Skills:

• 5+ years of relevant experience delivering complex analytical projects in the pharmaceutical, biotech, consulting, or healthcare industry.

• Self-motivated, proactive mindset, and ability to work independently.

• Story-telling and executive presence with senior leaders.

• Effective interpersonal skills, communication skills, and stakeholder management, including experience collaborating in a matrixed organization and ability to align stakeholders on data-driven decisions.

• Strong business acumen and consultative skills, with proven ability to comprehend business processes and commercial strategies in detail and translate these into detailed business standards/questions that power analytics.

• Superior Organizational and project management skills to work effectively across the organization

• Innovative thinking with affinity toward experimentation and appropriate risk-taking, including curiosity about how agentic AI and automation can enhance commercial analytics and insight generation.

• Awareness of the opportunities, limitations, and responsible use of AI (including agentic AI) in a regulated environment (e.g., data privacy, validation of AI-generated outputs).

• Travel may be required <10>

• Ability to develop efficient programming code and software assets that provide advanced analytical functionality.

• Proven data science experience leveraging advanced statistical methods, Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence

• Knowledge of both machine learning and descriptive algorithms/modeling using such languages as Python, R studio, SAS, SQL etc.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Domain knowledge in oncology, specifically as it relates to data analytics.

• MBA, MS or PhD degree is a plus.

Work location: Upper Gwynedd, PA (role will be hybrid and chosen candidate is expected to be in the office at least 3 days/week).

Our Human Health Division maintains a “patient first, profits later” ideology. The organization is comprised of sales, marketing, market access, digital analytics and commercial professionals who are passionate about their role in bringing our medicines to our customers worldwide.

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

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As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Asa federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:

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The salary range for this role is

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include 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. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

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

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Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.

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