Associate Director, Patient Support & Access Solutions Strategy - US Marketing Immunology

Job Description

Our company is dedicated to delivering innovations that extend and improve the lives of patients worldwide. Our team of dauntless, forward-thinking individuals achieves this through an unwavering commitment to supporting accessibility to medicine, providing new therapeutic options, and collaborating with governments and payers to ensure that people who need medicines have access to them.

We have a proud legacy of developing novel therapeutics for people with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and autoimmune-related disorders. With an advanced understanding of human biology, there's been an emergence of innovative medicines and new modalities that aim to change the way we approach treatment for immune disorders. Our scientists are investigating ways to modulate tumor necrosis factor-like ligand 1A (TL1A) to potentially address inflammation and fibrosis associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our scientists are investigating TL1A, which has been shown to be increased in inflamed intestinal tissue and in the systemic circulation of patients with IBD.

IBD is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting the digestive tract and impacting nearly three million people in the U.S. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are two of the most common forms of IBD. The unpredictable symptoms associated with IBD, which may include diarrhea, abdominal pain, unintended weight loss and fatigue, often create emotional and social challenges for those impacted.

The Associate Director, US Marketing Immunology, Patient Access & Enrollment Strategy Lead is responsible for shaping the patient access, enrollment, and time-to-therapy strategy for the Immunology Patient Support Program portfolio. This role translates patient support and brand strategy into clear, compliant program requirements for enrollment, consent, intake, reimbursement support, and access pathways so patients and providers can enter and navigate the program with minimal friction. The role also provides strategic leadership for Quick Start and Bridge programs, including program design input, eligibility and experience principles, and go-to-market readiness in close partnership with the Patient Access Center of Excellence (CoE) and other implementation teams.

This individual works collaboratively with the Patient Support Strategy Lead and cross-functional partners across Patient Access, Market Access, Brand Marketing, Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Data Strategy, Digital, field teams, and agency/vendor partners. The role will use patient and provider insights, market dynamics, operational learnings, and program performance to refine access and enrollment strategy over time, ensuring the Immunology portfolio offers a high-quality and consistent experience while maintaining alignment with enterprise patient support standards.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the Immunology patient access and enrollment strategy across the support journey, from initial intake through enrollment, consent, reimbursement support, therapy initiation, and continuity of access
• Define the strategic requirements and decision criteria for patient and provider enrollment across channels, including fax, web forms, portals, digital workflows, and other approved pathways
• Shape enrollment form, authorization, and consent requirements in partnership with Patient Access, Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Data Strategy, and other stakeholders
• Design the intended hand-offs and experience principles across the hub, specialty pharmacy, nursing, field support, digital solutions, and patient communications to minimize friction and avoid lost transitions
• Provide strategic input into reimbursement-support services, including benefits investigation/verification, prior authorization support, appeals, case management, and other access-enablement capabilities
• Own the brand strategy and go-to-market readiness for Quick Start and Bridge programs, including patient/provider experience, strategic requirements, eligibility and transition principles, cross-functional dependencies, and launch-readiness priorities in partnership with the Patient Access CoE
• Translate brand and patient-journey needs into clear business requirements, guardrails, readiness priorities, and decision points for implementation teams and external partners
• Partner with Data Strategy and analytics teams to define success measures and use program insights to identify access barriers, enrollment friction, time-to-therapy challenges, and opportunities for continuous improvement
• Support launch and lifecycle readiness by aligning cross-functional stakeholders on access, enrollment, and continuity-of-access decisions, dependencies, risks, and strategic trade-offs
• Bring outside-in perspective on patient access, enrollment, consent, reimbursement support, and patient-services innovation to inform the evolution of Immunology patient support programs
• Our U.S. marketing team has adopted an Agile Way of Working to be more adaptive and responsive to rapidly evolving customer needs and keep pace with the digital evolution in the marketplace. This Agile model enables marketers to enhance their experience, building skills and capabilities that flex across various commercial functions based on business needs and priorities. The successful candidate embraces a growth mindset, a willingness to tackle challenges, and a passion for learning, development, and greater team achievement.
• This is a hybrid role based on Upper Gwynedd, PA, with an expectation of working on-site three days per week.

Education

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent (BA/BS). MBA, MPH, PharmD, or other relevant advanced degree preferred

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry, patient support, market access, patient experience, brand marketing, or related functions
• Experience shaping strategy for complex patient support programs, specialty products, or services across the patient and provider journey
• Demonstrated ability to translate patient, provider, market, and operational insights into clear strategic requirements and recommendations
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing without direct authority in a matrixed organization
• Strong communication, problem-solving, strategic planning, and stakeholder-management skills
• Demonstrated strategic thinking with the ability to balance patient experience, business objectives, compliance requirements, and operational feasibility
• Demonstrates high degree of integrity and ethics
• Resilient, adaptable, and comfortable operating in ambiguity; growth mindset

Preferred Experience & Skills

• Awareness and understanding of U.S. commercial, legal, regulatory, privacy, and compliance considerations applicable to patient support programs
• Understanding of and/or experience directly working within the Immunology market
• Familiarity with biologic therapies and/or complex specialty patient support programs
• Experience supporting product launch readiness and lifecycle evolution of patient support programs
• Deep understanding of patient access services, reimbursement support, hub models, and enrollment/consent journeys
• Experience designing or evolving enrollment, authorization, consent, benefits verification, prior authorization, appeals, case-management, Quick Start, Bridge, or other continuity-of-access services
• Experience with specialty pharmacy and provider-office workflows and the interdependencies between patient access channels
• Ability to interpret access trends and patient/provider feedback and translate them into program design recommendations

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Advertising Campaign Development, Agile Methodology, Clinical Care, Corporate Ethics, Creative Campaign Development, Critical Success Factors, Decision Making, Ethical Standards, Legal Document Review, Liaison Work, Managing Ambiguity, Marketing Strategies, Marketing Strategy Implementation, Patient Care, Patient Engagement, Patient Support, Patient Support Programs, People Leadership, Pharmaceutical Industry, Pharmaceuticals Marketing, Pharmaceutics, Pricing Strategies, Strategic Thinking, Values-Based Leadership

Preferred Skills:

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US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

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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.  As a 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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We 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.

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The salary range for this role is

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

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. 

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

10/23/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.