Associate Director, US Launch Excellence

Global Commercial & Launch Excellence | Immunology and IBD Launches helps launch teams turn strategy into coordinated action, stronger decisions and sustained readiness.

The Opportunity

The 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. You 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.

What You Will Do

Lead integrated launch planning and readiness.

Partner 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.

Orchestrate 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.

Create transparent ways to assess readiness, surface gaps and support decisions through launch plans, readiness indicators, dashboards and key performance indicators.

Support pre‑launch measurement, launch monitoring and post‑launch hyper‑care so teams can learn quickly and adjust when needed.

Anticipate risk and strengthen decisions. Identify and challenge launch‑critical risks, assumptions and interdependencies early; facilitate mitigation, trade‑off and escalation discussions before issues affect readiness.

Lead scenario planning and prioritisation to help teams focus attention and resources on the work most important to launch success.

Bring an outside‑in and enterprise perspective, applying launch‑excellence practices while tailoring the approach to the asset, market and IBD customer ecosystem.

Operate as a strategic launch partner. Serve as a trusted thought partner and launch‑excellence subject‑matter expert who asks the right questions, challenges constructively and engages the right functional expertise.

Design and facilitate core and extended launch team meetings and other readiness forums that drive alignment, decisions, accountability and follow‑through.

Build 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.

Clarify Global‑to‑US inputs, ownership and handoffs so US teams can build on enterprise work, address market‑specific needs and avoid unnecessary duplication.

Advance launch‑excellence capabilities. Capture and apply launch learnings, reusable practices and knowledge to strengthen future Immunology and US Human Health launches.

Improve launch ways of working across people, process and technology, including responsible use of digital and AI‑enabled capabilities within company policies.

Help evolve the launch partner model beyond program coordination toward strategic partnership that improves integration, decision quality and execution.

What You Bring

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, General Management, Biotechnology or a related field.
• Minimum 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.
• Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into executable plans and lead complex, cross‑functional initiatives in a matrixed organization.
• Strong program and project management capabilities, including managing multiple priorities, milestones, risks and interdependencies.
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority, build commitment and create accountability across functions and organizational levels.
• Excellent written, verbal, facilitation and presentation skills, with the ability to simplify complexity and communicate clearly with senior stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel as needed and meet the on‑site expectations defined for the approved role and location.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading or materially supporting a new branded product, indication or commercial program launch in the pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical industry.
• Immunology, gastroenterology or IBD experience, including familiarity with complex patient, provider, access and account pathways.
• Experience across integrated go‑to‑market planning, patient support, market access, field readiness, customer experience or launch measurement.
• Demonstrated use of data and insights to inform priorities, readiness decisions, KPIs and performance optimisation.
• Experience with scenario planning, Agile ways of working, launch governance, knowledge management or post‑launch hyper‑care.
• Experience working across Global and market teams or in an alliance environment.

Critical Skills and Competencies

• Strategic acumen: Connects market, customer and enterprise context to the priorities that matter most, then translates strategy into action.
• Integrated launch orchestration: Creates structure across complex workstreams while keeping the team focused on outcomes, dependencies and the critical path.
• Constructive challenge: Uses sound judgment and thoughtful questions to test assumptions, expose gaps and improve decisions.
• Systems and risk thinking: Anticipates downstream implications, sees connections across workstreams and helps teams act early.
• Stakeholder leadership: Builds trust, aligns perspectives and mobilises teams through influence rather than authority.
• Executive communication: Turns complex information into clear, concise and decision‑oriented narratives.
• Learning agility: Adapts quickly, seeks outside‑in perspectives and applies lessons across launches.
• Ownership and follow‑through: Creates clarity, maintains momentum and ensures decisions translate into accountable action.

Why This Role Matters

This 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.

Required Skills

• 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

Preferred Skills

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

Our Commitment to Inclusion

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities.

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 EEOC GINA Supplement.

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.

Salary and Benefits

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

Location and Eligibility

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.

Application Deadline

The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

Merck & Co., Inc.

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.

About Merck

Our company is a global health care leader with a diversified portfolio of prescription medicines, vaccines and animal health products. The difference between potential and achievement lies in the spark that fuels innovation and inventiveness; this is the space where we have codified our legacy for over a century. Our success is backed by ethical integrity, forward momentum, and an inspiring mission to achieve new milestones in global healthcare.