Assoc Director, Global Procurement - Primary Market Research

This role is responsible for leading global Primary Market Research services category within Marketing Procurement, driving transformational sourcing initiatives across the enterprise, encompassing a total spend of $150M.  The candidate will lead development of procurement strategy, guiding and implementing global category management while supporting business stakeholders in achieving operational delivery and performance through the supplier base. The candidate will develop and maintain strong relationships with key business leaders across Digital Human Health, HH Specialty, Pharma & Infectious Diseases (SP&ID), and HH Oncology and our Company's International teams.

This role reports to the Director of Marketing Procurement within the Indirect Sourcing & Procurement organization.  The candidate will take an active role in collaborating with an integrated global team, consisting of Category Managers, Central Functions Team, and Business Relationship Managers, to enable strategic category management and enhanced value delivery for sourcing projects.

Primary activities and responsibilities include but not limited to:

• Global Strategy Development – Develop a global category strategy, inclusive of regional/local elements, leveraging Global Category Management and Ways of Working. Obtain comprehensive understanding of category elements that aid strategy development. Develop roadmap to increase category maturity. Drive complex and strategic projects holistically across the enterprise adopting a global approach.

• Stakeholder Management & Communication – Drive strategic alignment with key stakeholders globally, inclusive of regional/local markets. Develop, sustain, and evolve stakeholder relationships through a service mindset.  This includes proactive engagement with business partners and stakeholders to better understand their short and longer-term priorities. The incumbent should work collaboratively to enable these priorities but also challenge status quo where appropriate, with new approaches and solutions. Effective communication will play a key role in successfully securing stakeholder buy-in of initiatives, solutions and new ideas.

• Category Management: Ensure compliance with Company policies and priorities.  Deliver on KPIs to support GSMG and Company objectives, including but not limited to savings, supplier, environmental sustainability and working capital. Drive strategic supplier management as well as supplier performance management in collaboration with Supplier Development & Performance Management. Oversee sourcing and contracting at the global, regional, and local level, aligned with the global category strategy.

• Organization Development – build a core team of procurement professionals who have direct responsibility of sourcing projects. This includes effective talent management, proactive building a recruitment bench and succession planning.

Position Qualifications:

Education Minimum Requirement:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required.

Required Experience and Skills:

• Minimum of 10+ years of experience related to strategic sourcing (global category management), business management and/or project management.  This includes previous exposure to multiple cross functional business teams and demonstrated progressive experience with increased responsibility.

• Ability to influence, work in environments with potentially conflicting priorities.  

• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and align cross-functional partners in a matrix environment.

• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with strong prioritization, structure, and attention to detail.

• Strong analytical and communication skills; able to synthesize data into clear recommendations and executive-ready materials.

• Ability to demonstrate proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability and the ability to achieve high-performance goals and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

• Self-starter and able to work in dynamic environment, adaptive, flexible and able to multitask.

• Knowledge of Procurement related business processes.

• Agile mindset, ability to learn quickly and connect the dots.

• Cultural awareness and sensitivity required.

• Change management experience.

• Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, co-pilot and AI tools.

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Adaptability, Commercial Contract Negotiations, Complex Procurement, Data Analytics, Driving Continuous Improvement, Global Sourcing Strategies, Inventory Control Management, Packaging Procurement, Procurement, Procurement Contracts, Procurement Logistics, Procurement Strategies, Procurement Transformation, Production Planning, Project Procurement Management, Purchasing Management, Raw Material Sourcing, Requisition Management, Results-Oriented, Risk Management, SAP Procurement, Strategic Procurement, Strategic Procurement Planning, Strategic Sourcing {+ 2 more}

Preferred Skills:

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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:

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.

The salary range for this role is

$129,000.00 - $203,100.00

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 .

You can apply for this role through (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.