Associate Director, US Oncology Marketing — Lung Scientific Strategy Lead

Job Description

The Associate Director, US Oncology Marketing — Lung Scientific Strategy Lead is a high-visibility, high-impact commercial leader responsible for shaping and executing growth-driving initiatives across the Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) portfolio. This role will lead scientific strategy workstreams supporting inline medication across both early-stage and metastatic indications and will also lead scientific strategy workstreams to support an anticipated new asset launch.

You will combine strategic rigor with flawless execution: building clear plans, operationalizing them, and driving measurable outcomes. Success requires exceptional stakeholder management, the ability to influence at all levels, and the judgement to balance bold thinking with compliance and scientific integrity.

The ideal candidate brings strong leadership presence, relentless drive, and a collaborative mindset grounded in humility. You are equally comfortable leading teams and working independently, you hold yourself to high standards, and you continuously seek to elevate your impact and skills.

This role is a pivotal commercial development opportunity: you will lead priority initiatives at scale, gain broad exposure across global and cross-functional stakeholders, and be prepared to step into expanded commercial leadership roles in the future.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Lead and manage the development of scientific strategy in alignment with brand strategy.
• Develop and execute robust scientific leader engagement strategy, congress planning and booth execution in alignment with brand goals.
• Monitor the evolving treatment landscape, with a strong understanding of ongoing clinical trials and competitive scientific activities to inform strategy and execution choices.
• Partner with metastatic HCP strategy lead to develop a comprehensive counter-competitive strategy and execution plan.
• Lead the medical education efforts in collaboration with cross-functional teams and pull through the scientific narrative into medical education programs.
• Partner with Medical Affairs on advisory boards to gain scientific leader (SL) perspectives on key data and planning engagements with SLs during/after key scientific congresses.
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to prioritize and facilitate internal resource trade-offs (e.g. budget planning, promotional reviews, etc.).
• Embed scientific strategy perspective into HCP strategy, execution, resource, and training opportunities.

Required Experience and Skills:

• Bachelor's degree.
• Minimum of 5 years of pharmaceutical/ biotech experience in a marketing or related commercial role.
• High emotional intelligence and collaborative leadership: adept at leading cross-functional teams, mentoring colleagues, and adapting style—knowing when to lead, coach, or support to maximize team performance.
• Proven self-starter with a hands-on, results-driven approach: proactively identifies opportunities, removes barriers, and delivers outcomes with minimal supervision.
• Strong program and project management capability: track record of managing multiple concurrent initiatives, setting priorities, meeting deadlines, and consistently delivering high-quality results on time and within scope.
• Strategic thinker with operational discipline: translates long-term strategy into executable plans while maintaining rigorous attention to detail and measurable KPIs.
• Comfortable operating in high-visibility environments: performs effectively under pressure, embraces stretch assignments, and navigates changing priorities with resilience.
• Exceptional communicator and active listener: persuasive presenter with polished written and verbal communication skills tailored to audiences.
• Rapid learner with the ability to simplify complexity: quickly assimilates technical or scientific information and distills it into clear, actionable messages.
• Strong analytical orientation: uses data and market insights to drive decisions; demonstrated success competing in high-intensity pharmaceutical/biotech markets.
• Influential collaborator and negotiator: builds strong internal and external relationships, navigates stakeholder dynamics, and secures alignment and commitment across functions.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Advanced degree (Masters Business Administration/MBA/PharmD).
• Oncology experience.
• US Market experience in Marketing/Commercial roles.

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

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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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The salary range for this role is

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. 

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