{"id":1716990,"url":"https://alion.io/job/merck-co-associate-director-us-launch-excellence","title":"Associate Director, US Launch Excellence","company":{"id":3768,"name":"Merck & Co.","domain":"msd.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/msd","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":100,"open_postings":272,"ghost_share":0.015,"stale_share":0.07,"repost_share":0.085,"time_to_fill_p50_days":12,"computed_at":"2026-10-22T06:10:10Z"}},"role":"Marketing","role_family":"Marketing","seniority":"head","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["North Wales, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":142400,"max":224100,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":224100},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Agile","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-02T19:01:29Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-21","last_verified_at":"2026-10-22T09:44:28Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":19,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":19},"description":"Job Description\nGlobal Commercial & Launch Excellence | Immunology and IBD Launches\nHelp launch teams turn strategy into coordinated action, stronger decisions and sustained readiness.\nThe Opportunity\nThe Associate Director, US Launch Excellence will serve as the strategic launch partner for the US Immunology pipeline, with primary focus on approaching inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) launches. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, planning and execution, helping teams connect decisions, dependencies and workstreams into one integrated view of launch readiness.\nYou will work closely with marketing leadership, cross-functional launch teams, Global partners and Centers of Excellence to translate strategy into action, anticipate what could affect readiness and help the team make timely, well-informed decisions. The right candidate brings strategic judgment, practical launch discipline and the ability to build trust and momentum without direct authority.\nWhat You Will Do\nLead integrated launch planning and readiness\nPartner with marketing and launch leaders to translate brand, customer and go-to-market strategy into integrated, adaptable launch plans with clear outcomes, milestones, dependencies and ownership.\nOrchestrate readiness across core and extended launch workstreams, connecting functional plans and maintaining a clear view of the critical path rather than managing activities in isolation.\nCreate transparent ways to assess readiness, surface gaps and support decisions through launch plans, readiness indicators, dashboards and key performance indicators.\nSupport pre-launch measurement, launch monitoring and post-launch hypercare so teams can learn quickly and adjust when needed.\nAnticipate risk and strengthen decisions\nIdentify and challenge launch-critical risks, assumptions and interdependencies early; facilitate mitigation, trade-off and escalation discussions before issues affect readiness.\nLead scenario planning and prioritization to help teams focus attention and resources on the work most important to launch success.\nBring an outside-in and enterprise perspective, applying launch excellence practices while tailoring the approach to the asset, market and IBD customer ecosystem.\nOperate as a strategic launch partner\nServe as a trusted thought partner and launch excellence subject matter expert who asks the right questions, challenges constructively and engages the right functional expertise.\nDesign and facilitate core and extended launch team meetings and other readiness forums that drive alignment, decisions, accountability and follow-through.\nBuild strong partnerships across Marketing, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Patient Support, Data & Analytics, Digital, Field and Learning & Development, as well as Global teams and Centers of Excellence.\nClarify Global-to-US inputs, ownership and handoffs so US teams can build on enterprise work, address market-specific needs and avoid unnecessary duplication.\nAdvance launch excellence capabilities\nCapture and apply launch learnings, reusable practices and knowledge to strengthen future Immunology and US Human Health launches.\nImprove launch ways of working across people, process and technology, including responsible use of digital and AI-enabled capabilities within company policies.\nHelp evolve the launch partner model beyond program coordination toward strategic partnership that improves integration, decision quality and execution.\nWhat You Bring\nRequired Qualifications:\nBachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, General Management, Biotechnology or a related field.\nMinimum of 5 years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology or life sciences consulting industry, including experience in marketing, sales, strategy and planning, commercial operations or related launch work.\nDemonstrated ability to translate strategy into executable plans and lead complex, cross-functional initiatives in a matrixed organization.\nStrong program and project management capabilities, including managing multiple priorities, milestones, risks and interdependencies.\nProven ability to influence without direct authority, build commitment and create accountability across functions and organizational levels.\nExcellent written, verbal, facilitation and presentation skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and communicate clearly with senior stakeholders.\nWillingness to travel as needed and meet the on-site expectations defined for the approved role and location.\nPreferred Qualifications:\nExperience leading or materially supporting a new branded product, indication or commercial program launch in the pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical industry.\nImmunology, gastroenterology or IBD experience, including familiarity with complex patient, provider, access and account pathways.\nExperience across integrated go-to-market planning, patient support, market access, field readiness, customer experience or launch measurement.\nDemonstrated use of data and insights to inform priorities, readiness decisions, KPIs and performance optimization.\nExperience with scenario planning, Agile ways of working, launch governance, knowledge management or post-launch hypercare.\nExperience working across Global and market teams or in an alliance environment.\nCritical Skills and Competencies:\nStrategic acumen: Connects market, customer and enterprise context to the priorities that matter most, then translates strategy into action.\nIntegrated launch orchestration: Creates structure across complex workstreams while keeping the team focused on outcomes, dependencies and the critical path.\nConstructive challenge: Uses sound judgment and thoughtful questions to test assumptions, expose gaps and improve decisions.\nSystems and risk thinking: Anticipates downstream implications, sees connections across workstreams and helps teams act early.\nStakeholder leadership: Builds trust, aligns perspectives and mobilizes teams through influence rather than authority.\nExecutive communication: Turns complex information into clear, concise and decision-oriented narratives.\nLearning agility: Adapts quickly, seeks outside-in perspectives and applies lessons across launches.\nOwnership and follow-through: Creates clarity, maintains momentum and ensures decisions translate into accountable action.\nWhy This Role Matters\nThis role offers the opportunity to shape readiness for a growing Immunology pipeline, partner with leaders across the enterprise and influence how US Launch Excellence evolves. The impact extends beyond a single asset: you will help build stronger launch teams, better ways of working and capabilities that can scale across future launches.\nRequired Skills:\nAdaptability, Adaptability, Agile Project Management, Building Trust, Business Agility, Business Management, Commercial Operations Management, Data-Driven Decision Making, Developing Proposals, Employee Performance Evaluations, Environmental Scanning, Executive Leadership, Executive Reports, Feasibility Studies, Financial Acumen, Influencing Without Authority, Market Research, Pharmaceutical Market, Portfolio Management, Product Ownership, Project Management, Resource Allocation, Risk Management, Sound Judgment, Stakeholder Management {+ 7 more}Preferred Skills:\nCurrent Employees apply HERE\nCurrent Contingent Workers apply HERE\nUS and Puerto Rico Residents Only:\nOur company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.\nAs 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:\nEEOC Know Your Rights\nEEOC GINA Supplement\nWe are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.\nLearn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts\nThe primary location for this posting is:\nUSA - Pennsylvania - North Wales (Upper Gwynedd)Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.\nThe salary range for the primary location of this role is:\n$142,400.00 - $224,100.00This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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.\nWe 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.\nAdditional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.\nAdditional location(s) Compensation Information:\nSan Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance\nLos 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\nSearch Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully\nMerck & 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.\nEmployee Status:\nRegularRelocation:\nDomesticVISA Sponsorship:\nNoTravel Requirements:\n10%Flexible Work Arrangements:\nHybridShift:\nNot IndicatedValid Driving License:\nNoHazardous Material(s):\nn/aJob Posting End Date:\n11/1/2026*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. 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