Associate Director, Oncology KARE Operations & Strategic Execution

Job Description

At our company, we are inspired by a shared purpose: to save and improve lives around the world. Navigating healthcare access, education, and reimbursement is critical to ensuring patients receive the life-changing therapies they need.

The Key Accounts, Reimbursement and Education (KARE) organization is a critical commercial engine at Our Company, leading enterprise-level account strategies and partnering with our largest, most complex oncology customers. By aligning key account management, access and reimbursement navigation, and customer education, KARE drives seamless engagement across the healthcare ecosystem to support patient access.

We are seeking an energetic, tenacious, and highly organized Associate Director, KARE Business Operations & Strategic Execution to lead operational strategy, governance, and execution across this high-impact organization.

In this high-visibility role, you will serve as a strategic operations lead and force multiplier for the KARE AVP and leadership team. You will translate business priorities into integrated operating plans; lead governance across meetings, budgets, contracts, communications, resources, and field guidance; and influence cross-functional partners to deliver consistent, compliant, and timely execution across KARE.

Primary Responsibilities & Key Activities:

• Provide operational leadership for the day-to-day needs of KARE Account Executives and CSO field teams, serving as a central point of coordination for field needs, resources, processes, and issue resolution; partner across KARE and cross-functional teams to remove barriers and ensure timely, consistent, and compliant execution.
• Lead execution across key KARE priorities and initiatives, translating leadership priorities into clear plans, timelines, ownership, and deliverables; proactively identify dependencies, risks, and resource needs, drive cross-functional alignment, resolve barriers, and elevate issues requiring leadership decisions.
• Lead the end-to-end planning and execution of KARE meetings, including National Meetings, Fast Start Meetings, Director Meetings, and other leadership or field engagements; establish objectives, agendas, workstreams, timelines, decision points, success measures, and follow-through.
• Lead KARE new-hire onboarding, training, and ongoing talent development across employee and CSO teams, partnering with hiring managers, L&D, Field Leadership, and CSO partners to establish and routinely review standards, processes, milestones, and success measures; oversee implementation and delivery, resolve barriers, track completion, and assess effectiveness to drive continuous improvement and capability development.
• Lead governance and operational management of KARE CSO partnerships and contracts, partnering with contract teams that lead quarterly business reviews and the designated cross-functional owner to ensure reviews are scheduled each quarter; manage deliverables, statements of work, amendments, renewals, annual Fair Market Value rate validation, performance reviews, issue escalation, and coordination with Procurement, Finance, Legal, and business owners.
• Serve as the KARE communications lead, overseeing the development, approval, deployment, and maintenance of team communications, field guidance, and operational resources, including bulletins, SOP guidance, ways-of-working materials, and team resources; establish communication plans and standards, coordinate applicable PRT and board review submissions, partner with Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Regulatory, and business stakeholders, and maintain required documentation and renewal schedules. 
• Own financial management and governance across KARE budgets, including annual planning, allocation recommendations, purchase orders, invoice reconciliation, accruals, payment timeliness, variance analysis, risk identification, and leadership reporting; partner with Finance and budget owners to balance funding across business priorities.
• Manage and coordinate the weekly OKAM Director Meeting, partnering with KARE leadership to prioritize agenda topics, develop supporting materials, document decisions and action items, and drive follow-through on commitments. 
• Provide strategic communications and execution support to the KARE AVP and leadership team, developing leadership agendas, presentations, talking points, and time-sensitive communications; track critical decisions and commitments through completion.

Qualifications:
Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.
• Relevant experience in biopharmaceutical or commercial operations, field operations, healthcare, project or portfolio management, or a related field, including progressively responsible leadership of complex, cross-functional initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead multiple complex initiatives from strategy through implementation, make sound decisions amid ambiguity, and drive accountability across teams without direct authority.
• Demonstrated experience advising senior leaders and translating strategic priorities into executable operating plans, governance processes, and measurable deliverables.
• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear recommendations, executive-level communications, briefings, and decision materials.
• Experience identifying operational, financial, contractual, or compliance risks and leading resolution across multiple stakeholders.
• Strong project management, planning, prioritization, problem-solving, and organizational skills, with demonstrated ownership and attention to detail.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to collaborate, influence, and drive alignment across a matrixed organization.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and deadlines and to manage sensitive or confidential information with sound judgment and discretion.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Pharmaceutical, oncology, market access, reimbursement, field operations, or commercial operations experience.
• Experience supporting an AVP or executive leadership team in a business operations, or strategic capacity.

• Experience establishing and managing operational processes, governance, performance measures, and executive reporting across a complex organization.
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• Experience leading budget planning, forecasting, allocation, purchase orders, invoice and accrual processes, and financial reporting across multiple programs or teams.
• Experience managing external vendors or contract field organizations, including statements of work, contract amendments and renewals, vendor performance, and Fair Market Value processes.
• Experience leading large-scale national meetings, onboarding, training, or enterprise initiatives involving multiple functions and senior stakeholders.
• Experience working cross-functionally with L&D, Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Regulatory, Finance, and/or Procurement in a regulated environment.
• Experience leading the development and governance of field guidance, SOPs, bulletins, resources, or other operational standards.undefinedFamiliarity with pharmaceutical review processes and systems, such as Veeva and PromoMats/PRT, and with financial, project-management, and reporting tools.
• Project management certification or formal project management training.

Required Skills:

Accountability, Accountability, Adaptability, Agile Project Management, Biopharmaceuticals, Budget Management, Capacity Development, Commercial Operations Management, Competency Development, Continuous Improvement Techniques, Data-Driven Decision Making, Detail-Oriented, Developing Proposals, Employee Performance Evaluations, Environmental Scanning, Executive Leadership, Executive Reports, Feasibility Studies, Field Coordination, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Leadership, Leadership Project Management, Market Research, Oncology, Patient Navigation {+ 9 more}

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:

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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.

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The primary location for this posting is:

USA - Pennsylvania - North Wales (Upper Gwynedd)

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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.

Additional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

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:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Remote

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

11/6/2026

*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.