Associate Director, Portfolio AI Activation
Rahway, NJ - USA
Job Summary
Job Description
The Associate Director AI Activation & Commercial Analytics is a member of the AI Activation team within Digital Human Health (DHH) supporting the Specialty Pharma & Infectious Diseases business units. This role is designed for a pharmaceutical commercial analytics and data science leader who brings a deep understanding of brand marketing and field questions and who can apply both traditional data science (machine learning targeting and segmentation) and emerging AI to drive better business decisions. The Associate Director partners closely with brand marketing and Market Engagement (ME) teams as well as data and technology partners to turn data into actionable insights shape AI use cases grounded in real business needs and drive adoption of analytics and AI solutions that deliver measurable value.
Primary Job Function and Key Responsibilities.
- Lead advanced analytics and data science projects that address priority brand and marketing questions including healthcare professional (HCP) targeting customer segmentation tiering and promotional response.
- Drive launch readiness for new products and indications through analytics such as market and patient opportunity sizing HCP universe definition and targeting and early launch performance tracking.
- Develop and apply machine learning and statistical models (e.g. predictive and propensity models clustering response modeling forecasting causal inference) using pharmaceutical commercial data.
- Translate analytic outputs into clear decision-ready insights and recommendations for brand leadership marketing and field teams.
- Partner with brand marketing ME and sales planning teams to frame business questions define success metrics and measure the impact of commercial initiatives.
- Serve as a subject-matter expert on pharmaceutical commercial data sources (e.g. claims prescription and sales CRM/call activity HCP- and patient-level data) including their strengths limitations and appropriate use.
- Identify AI opportunities grounded in real business needs and support targeted AI pilots (e.g. targeting support forecast validation barrier analysis).
- Bring business context and data expertise to DHH-wide AI initiatives bridging brand and technical teams so solutions are usable and adopted.
- Ensure analytics and AI work meets data privacy compliance and governance standards and build data and AI literacy across commercial teams.
Required Experience & Skills.
- 5 years of experience in pharmaceutical or healthcare commercial analytics marketing analytics or data science with a proven record of supporting brand and marketing teams.
- Strong expertise in machine learning and statistics applied to commercial questions such as HCP targeting segmentation predictive modeling and promotional impact measurement.
- Deep knowledge of pharmaceutical commercial data (e.g. claims prescription and sales CRM HCP- and patient-level data) and the commercial model including brand launch market access and field force.
- Proficiency in Python SQL and/or R and in data and analytics platforms such as Databricks or Dataiku.
- Hands-on experience applying AI (e.g. generative AI or LLM-based tools) to analytics workflows with a strong interest in deepening AI expertise.
- Translates complex analyses into clear decision-ready recommendations that influence senior leaders.
- Aligns brand ME and cross-functional stakeholders on priorities drives adoption of analytics and AI solutions and manages scope with sound judgment.
- People and/or matrix leadership experience including leading cross-functional teams global collaborators and external partners.
- Strong project management skills; resilient and adaptable balancing strategic vision with operational execution.
Qualifications
Masters degree or PhD in Data Science Mathematics Economics Computer Science Statistics Decision Science Engineering Public Health or a related quantitative discipline is required.
Required Skills:
Business Intelligence (BI) Database Design Data Engineering Data Modeling Data Science Data Visualization Machine Learning (ML) Software Development Stakeholder Relationship Management Waterfall ModelPreferred Skills:
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The primary location for this posting is:
USA - New Jersey - RahwayWhere required by law the compensation range for this role is provided below.
The salary range for the primary location of this role is:
$156900.00 - $247000.00This range reflects the Companys reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of posting. An employees 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(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
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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:
RegularRelocation:
VISA Sponsorship:
Travel Requirements:
Flexible Work Arrangements:
HybridShift:
Valid Driving License:
Hazardous Material(s):
Job Posting End Date:
11/4/2026*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFOREthe listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.
Required Experience:
Director
About Company
Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA is known as “Merck” in the United States, Canada & Puerto Rico. We are known as “MSD” in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America & Asia Pacific. We are a global biopharmaceutical leader with a diverse portfolio of prescription medicine ... View more