Job Description
Global Market Access (GMAx) has a single purpose: To save and improve lives by delivering optimal access for our medicines and vaccines across the globe at a price reflective of their value.
Within GMAx, the Global Pricing Operations (GPO) team operates as a strategic, consulting-style partner to the broader organization. This role leads the Pharma Practice Area and serves as GPO’s primary strategic partner for Pharma pricing operations, analytics, and capability needs across launch, inline, and lifecycle management priorities.
The Director, Pharma Pricing Operations & Analytics is a senior thought leader responsible for driving value realization from our best-in-class data and capabilities. This role serves as the primary account lead for the Pharma Practice Area, partnering directly with senior leaders across Global Market Access, Pharma franchise teams, regional pricing and access teams, and relevant finance and forecasting partners. The role leverages deep Pharma pricing, access, and portfolio expertise with a consulting mindset to translate complex business challenges into actionable analytical plans, delivering decision support and strategic insights that shape our company’s pricing and access strategies.
This individual will lead a team of Associate Directors, guiding their analytical and capability development efforts to ensure GPO provides seamless, high-impact support.
Primary Responsibilities
Strategic Partnership & Thought Leadership
- Act as the single point of accountability and primary strategic partner within GPO for Pharma pricing operations, analytics, and capability needs across launch, inline, and lifecycle priorities.
- Establish and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with Global Market Access strategy leads, senior Pharma franchise leaders, regional pricing and access teams, finance and forecasting partners, and digital capability teams.
- Proactively identify strategic business questions and challenges from stakeholders, translating them into well-defined analytical projects and capability enhancement roadmaps.
- Lead the generation of high-impact, data-driven insights and strategic recommendations; deliver compelling presentations to senior leadership to inform optimal execution and decision-making.
- Serve as GPO’s Pharma pricing and access operations expert, maintaining a deep understanding of Pharma portfolio dynamics, launch sequencing considerations, lifecycle pricing, market access pressures, and international pricing implications.
Team Leadership & People Management
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of Associate Directors focused on analysis and capability development.
- Manage team resources, oversee project pipelines, and ensure all analytical outputs are of the highest quality, rigor, and strategic value.
- Foster a "consulting excellence" culture of curiosity, client service, strategic thinking, and continuous improvement.
Operational & Capability Oversight
- Provide strategic direction for the design and execution of complex Pharma pricing analyses, including International Reference Pricing (IRP) modeling, launch sequencing, lifecycle price erosion, gross-to-net and access pathway considerations where relevant, pricing governance, scenario planning, and portfolio-level analytical support.
- Guide the team’s partnership with Digital Human Health and Digital Product Owners to ensure the development and enhancement of pricing platforms and decision-support capabilities are aligned with the strategic needs of the Pharma Practice Area.
- Champion data governance and data quality, ensuring a robust and reliable foundation for all analytics and decision support.
- Ensure alignment with all relevant laws, regulations, and internal policies, adhering to the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in finance, health economics, or a related analytical field is strongly preferred.
- Minimum 10+ years of progressive experience in pharmaceutical pricing, market access, revenue management, financial analytics, or related functions.
- Experience in the pharmaceutical/healthcare industry, with a strong preference for management consulting, global/regional market access, or corporate strategy.
- Demonstrated track record of building, working with, and leading teams in a cross-functional, matrix environment.
- Proven "consulting skills" with the ability to understand stakeholder priorities, manage complex relationships, and influence without authority.
- A strategic thinker with a passion for designing and implementing a long-term vision, comfortable with ambiguity and adaptable in a fluid environment.
- Deep business acumen and understanding of access, reimbursement, HTA, and pricing strategies.
- Self-starting, with an ability to self-organize and manage multiple priorities effectively.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree or international equivalent from an accredited university; MBA, MPH, MS in finance, health economics, or a related analytical field is strongly preferred
- Direct people management experience.
- Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to distill complex analytical topics into clear, concise, and actionable recommendations for senior leadership.
- Subject matter expertise in Pharma pricing, access strategy, international pricing, launch sequencing, lifecycle management, or portfolio-level decision support.
- Experience with pricing, tender, or revenue management systems and BI/OLAP tools (e.g., NGP, Cognos, TM1).
- Prior experience in a country/subsidiary role within a Pharma/Life Sciences company.
Required Skills:
Analytical Thinking, Collaborative Leadership, Competency Management, Customer Relationship Building, Leadership Management, Operations Management, Planning Budgeting And Forecasting (PBF), Strategic Alliances, Strategic Analysis, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Team Organization
Preferred Skills:
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US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:
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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
$173,200.00 - $272,600.00
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 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.
Employee Status:
Regular
Relocation:
No relocation
VISA Sponsorship:
No
Travel Requirements:
10%
Flexible Work Arrangements:
Not Applicable
Shift:
1st - Day
Valid Driving License:
No
Hazardous Material(s):
NA
Job Posting End Date:
09/2/2026
*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.
Requisition ID:R412569
