IAM Director, Employer Engagement

Job Description

About the Employer Segment

There are over 6 million employers and unions in the private sector that provide health insurance for more than 167 million people, more 55% of all insured lives, in the United States. This customer segment spends more than $190 billion dollars annually on prescription drugs, and over $1.7 trillion dollars in total healthcare expenditures. Employers make decisions about the types of services and treatments they will pay for through their benefits offered to their employees and employee dependents. This customer segment is active through Business Coalitions and Health Alliances that play important educational and advocacy roles on topics related to health care policy issues and benefit design and management.  our company's ability to collaborate with key stakeholders and decision makers in this segment has foundational impact on supporting broad access for our medicines and vaccines. 

Position Summary

The Director of Employer Engagement is our company's strategic leader responsible for influencing the employer healthcare landscape to help ensure broad and affordable patient access to its vaccines and medicines. The role will focus on three areas: 1) Supporting Employer Health Policy Strategy; 2) Employer and Coalition Engagement; and 3) Brand Support for Employer Segment Strategy.

The strategic framework concentrates on the importance of biopharmaceuticals and building well-thought-out collaborations with key stakeholders in the segment that support prevention and disease awareness, early detection and treatment, and broad access to and appropriate utilization of medicines for millions of covered lives across key therapeutic areas of interest. The Director will engage in cross-functional collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders to advance employer-focused strategies that reinforce our company's presence within the segment. Additionally, the Director will support access-oriented messaging and foster alignment among employers, coalitions, and benefits consultants regarding health benefit and healthcare policy decisions that facilitate equitable and evidence-based access to medicines. The Director will be responsible for a defined geographic area of the US (West/Central, South) and with specific customers (coalitions, health alliances, jumbo employers, benefit consultants).

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute an employer health policy strategy, within their region, that is aligned with our company's healthcare policy priorities working collaboratively with State Government Affairs. 

• Identify emerging employer health policy issues (e.g., benefit design reform, value-based coverage, utilization management, data transparency, prevention mandates, low value care) and shape strategies to engage collaboratively where it aligns to our company's business objectives around access and affordability.

• Serve as a subject matter expert on employer policy trends and their implications for our company's pipeline, launch brands, and long-term therapeutic strategy.

• Build, deepen, and activate relationships with employer thought leaders, national and regional business coalitions, benefit consultants and other ecosystem partners to enhance our company's presence.

• Translate employer policy, benefit design and utilization trends into actionable business insights for commercial, medical and policy leadership.

• Deploy approved access and affordability messaging to shape external policy and employer perceptions around value, pricing and appropriate utilization.

• Represent our company in employer forums, panels, and roundtables to advance evidence-based perspectives supporting broad access.

• Inform employers on benefit designs — through education on primary prevention, disease state awareness, and early detection strategies — that expand evidence-based benefit structures and optimize provider and patient choice.

• Partner with brand and payer marketing stakeholders by providing employer insights into customer segment planning for our company's products to guide our company's GTM strategy, including customer needs, friction points, policy pressures, and opportunities for differentiation. Incorporate profiling data, benefit design assessments, and coalition insights into segment strategy planning.

• Identify emerging risks and opportunities across prevention, early detection, care pathways, access, and affordability that are relevant for specific therapeutic areas.

• Translate employer policy, benefit design, and utilization trends into actionable business insights for commercial, medical, and policy leadership.  

• Support the development of employer focused tools, messaging, and segment education modules.

• Collaborate with Segment Strategy lead, as well as other key stakeholders in IAM, Payer Marketing and Account Management teams.

 

Qualifications & Experience:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree

• 8+ years of relevant experience in Account Management, Marketing, Sales, Health policy, Employer Segment, Market Access, and/or Managed Care

• Demonstrated experience engaging senior level decision‑makers and thought leaders.

• Strong collaboration skills in complex, matrixed environments.

• Demonstrated business acumen and understanding implications of access decisions, benefit designs and contracting strategies.

• Strategic and tactical planning skills and ability to manage several projects simultaneously

• Cross functional headquarters coordination and understanding of operational processes

• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal

• Up to 50% travel

 

Preferred:

• Previous experience in biopharmaceutical/healthcare policy roles focused on access, pricing, prevention, oncology, vaccines or affordability.

• Strong networking and partnering skills

• Knowledge of pipeline planning and the intersection of regulatory changes, policy shifts, and employer benefit design.

• Experience deploying access focused messaging or shaping policy within employer/coalition ecosystems‑.

• MBA

Required Skills:

340b Drug Pricing Program, Account Management, Contracting Strategies, Contract Management, Customer-Focused, Customer Marketing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Data Analysis, Financial Acumen, Financial Analysis, Interpersonal Relationships, Oncology Marketing, Professional Integrity, Professional Networking

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

Our 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.

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:

EEOC Know Your Rights

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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.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

The salary range for this role is

$210,400.00 - $331,100.00

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

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully 
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:

50%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Remote

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

07/7/2026

*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.