Assoc. Dir., Strategic Planning

Job Description

Objective

The Associate Director, Commercial Strategy & Operations is a strategic and execution-focused leader within the Vaccines Pharma Business Unit. Working as a close thought partner to the VP Business Unit leadership, the role translates mid-term strategy and portfolio priorities into disciplined execution, strengthens business planning and performance management, and enables faster, higher-quality decisions across the organization.

The role leads selected business-critical workstreams and orchestrates complex cross-functional initiatives spanning current brands, vaccines, future launches, commercial excellence, digital and AI-enabled transformation, and organizational capability. The position is expected to operate with a high degree of autonomy, influence senior stakeholders without relying on formal authority, and deliver measurable business and organizational outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• 1. Drive VP Strategy Execution

• Translate VP strategy and portfolio priorities into clear execution plans and measurable outcomes.

• Lead selected strategic pillars and priority initiatives, defining scope, milestones, ownership, KPIs, governance, and review cadence.

• Coordinate cross-functional execution across Marketing, Sales, Medical, Market Access, Finance, Supply, Regulatory, Digital, and other partner functions.

• Identify interdependencies, business risks, resource constraints, and decision points; escalate with fact-based options and recommendations.

• Support periodic refresh of priorities as market conditions, customer needs, portfolio assumptions, and competitive dynamics evolve.

• Provide high-quality analysis, synthesis, and facilitation that strengthen leadership decisions and organizational alignment.

• Lead strategic analyses, scenario planning, and business assessments for high-impact commercial and portfolio decisions.

• Develop executive-ready materials for business reviews, leadership meetings, strategic communications, and selected special projects.

• Synthesize diverse inputs into clear insights, choices, recommendations, and actions.

• Facilitate discussions that surface trade-offs, resolve ambiguity, and build commitment among key stakeholders.

• Lead or co-lead robust, transparent, and action-oriented planning and performance processes for the VP portfolio.

• Coordinate end-to-end commercial forecasting for assigned brands, franchises, or the broader portfolio, in close partnership with Marketing, Finance, Market Access, and other functions.

• Ensure assumptions are evidence-based, documented, appropriately challenged, and aligned with senior stakeholders.

• Integrate performance, market insights, opportunities, and risks into concise management reporting and recommendations.

• Improve performance-review mechanisms so that insights translate into timely corrective actions and resource decisions.

• Orchestrate launch and readiness activities for vaccines, new indications, and future pharmaceutical assets.

• Establish integrated launch plans, governance, critical-path milestones, decision gates, and risk-mitigation actions.

• Connect local, regional, and global teams to ensure strategic alignment, timely inputs, and disciplined execution.

• Identify readiness gaps across customer strategy, field execution, supply, market access, medical, data, and organizational capabilities.

• Lead initiatives that simplify operations, enhance customer engagement, and improve business productivity and decision quality.

• Redesign processes, governance, and decision rights to improve speed, accountability, and cross-functional effectiveness.

• Lead selected commercial-excellence initiatives, including segmentation, targeting, resource allocation, field effectiveness, omnichannel execution, and customer insights.

• Pilot and scale digital, automation, advanced-analytics, and AI-enabled solutions where there is clear business value and appropriate governance.

• Define adoption measures and demonstrate measurable impact on customer value, business outcomes, and ways of working.

• Contribute to a high-performing VP culture grounded in patient and customer value, collaboration, inclusion, challenge, and learning.

• Create practical mechanisms that strengthen cross-functional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and disciplined ways of working.

• Coach project members and less-experienced colleagues through complex assignments, without requiring direct-line authority.

• Support capability-building and change-adoption plans in partnership with VP leadership, HR, and functional experts.

• Keep patient and customer perspectives visible in strategic choices, operating practices, and communications.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree in business, life sciences, healthcare, finance, strategy, data/analytics, or a related field preferred.

• Professional Experience

• Typically 7+ years of relevant experience in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, vaccines, healthcare, consulting, consumer health, or another complex commercial environment; strong candidates with equivalent experience will be considered.

• Demonstrated success in at least two of the following: commercial strategy, business operations, forecasting, business planning, finance, commercial excellence, launch excellence, transformation, consulting, or program leadership.

• Track record of independently leading complex cross-functional initiatives and influencing senior stakeholders in a matrix organization.

• Experience working with regional or global stakeholders and navigating ambiguity, competing priorities, and tight timelines.

• Pharmaceutical, vaccines, or Japan healthcare-market experience is strongly preferred but not mandatory when the candidate brings highly transferable strategic and operational capabilities.

• Critical Capabilities

• Strategic and enterprise thinking, with strong business and financial acumen.

• Ability to simplify complexity, generate insight, and translate strategy into practical execution.

• Strong analytical capability, including the ability to structure problems, test assumptions, interpret data, and build scenarios.

• Executive-ready communication, facilitation, storytelling, and stakeholder influence in both Japanese and English.

• Program leadership, governance, change management, and disciplined delivery.

• Digital, AI, and innovation mindset, combined with sound judgment on value, risk, governance, and adoption.

• High learning agility, resilience, courage and candor, collaboration, inclusion, and unwavering integrity.

• Language

• Business-level Japanese and English required, with the ability to lead discussions, create executive materials, and influence local, regional, and global stakeholders.

• Leadership Expectations

• Foster Collaboration

• Act with Courage and Candor

• Drive Results

• Demonstrate Learning Agility

• Act with Ethics and Integrity

• Role Scope and Level Calibration

• This role is calibrated as an Associate Director in position with Director-level exposure and complexity. The incumbent independently owns major workstreams and may lead cross-functional teams, while the VP Business Unit Head or designated senior leader retains final accountability for enterprise-level strategy, portfolio trade-offs, and the overall operating model.

• Direct people-management of responsibility is not essential at entry; however, strong matrix leadership, coaching, and capability-building are core expectations.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

Required Skills

• Accountability, Accountability, Adaptability, Agile Project Management, Coaching, Customer Engagement, Customer Insights, Data-Driven Decision Making, Developing Proposals, Employee Performance Evaluations, Environmental Scanning, Feasibility Studies, Financial Acumen, Forecasting Models, Knowledge Sharing, Learning Agility, Management Reporting, Market Research, Market Trends, Matrix Leadership, Multidisciplinary Teamwork, Operating Models, People Management, Pharmaceutical Market, Pharmaceutics {+ 10 more}

Preferred Skills:

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• Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

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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:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

• Not Applicable

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

Job Posting End Date:

• 06/1/2027*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.