Associate Director, Patient and Channel Data Management

The Associate Director, Patient and Channel Data Management will report into Director, Commercial Data Solutions within the Data Strategy products and Innovation organization (DSPI) department.

In this role, a typical day might include:

The Associate Director, Patient and Channel Data management is responsible for the curation, governance, quality and operationalization of patient/specialty data assets that power commercial decision making across therapeutic areas. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in specialty pharmaceutical data ecosystems, strong problem-solving capabilities, and the ability to influence and drive alignment across a broad set of cross-functional partners.

This role might be for you if you can/have:

• Serve as the subject matter expert and strategic owner for channel and patient support services data assets; develop and maintain data management frameworks, SOPs, data dictionaries, and data maps across all relevant data domains
• Establish and monitor data quality metrics to ensure accuracy, completeness, and integrity; drive root cause analysis and resolution of data quality issues, including SP/SD/patient-level data reconciliation
• Support integration of specialty data into commercial reporting, forecasting, and analytics platforms; maintain alignment with enterprise data governance principles in partnership with governance teams
• Contribute to launch readiness by building data infrastructure and reporting frameworks ahead of new product or indication launches; represent the data management function in commercial operations working groups and leadership reviews
• Provide accurate channel-level data inputs to support gross-to-net and revenue deductions modeling in partnership with Trade and Market Access teams
• Manage relationships with data aggregators, specialty distributors, SP data providers, and PSS vendors, including contract scope, data delivery SLAs, issue escalation, and regular business reviews
• Serve as a key data management partner across internal stakeholders (PSS, Trade, IAM, Market Access, Advanced Analytics), translating complex data concepts into clear business context for non-technical audiences
• Manage end-to-end data flows from specialty distributors and specialty pharmacies, including SD 867/852 transaction data, SP inventory and dispense, chargeback, and ex-factory shipment data
• Build, manage and govern PSS data assets across the full patient journey (patient intake, BI/BV, eBV, PA/ePA, copay enrollment/claims, free goods/PAP/IAP, Adherence) in strict compliance with HIPAA, PHI requirements, and our company data governance and tokenization standards
• Maintain working knowledge of and leverage industry-standard commercial datasets (IQVIA LAAD, APLD, Symphony Health, Precision, MMIT); apply data tokenization methodologies to link patient-level data across sources while maintaining PHI compliance

• BA/BS with 10+ years (or MBA/MS with 7+ years) of experience in commercial data management, analytics, or operations within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry
• Deep expertise in patient/specialty pharmaceutical data ecosystems, including: Deep expertise in specialty pharmaceutical data ecosystems, including channel/trade data (SD 867/852, SP inventory/dispense, chargeback, ex-factory), SP/SD reconciliation and audit controls, and PSS data (patient intake, BI/BV, eBV, PA/ePA, copay enrollment/claims, free goods, IAP/PAP)
• Strong working knowledge of industry-standard datasets including IQVIA LAAD, APLD, Symphony Health, Precision, and MMIT
• Experience with data tokenization, PHI handling, and HIPAA compliance requirements
• Proficiency with data management and analytics tools (e.g., SQL,Redshift, Databricks, or equivalent)
• Proven experience managing external data vendors and holding partners accountable to SLAs
• Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and drive alignment across cross-functional teams
• Demonstrated flexibility, leadership presence, and emotional intelligence when navigating complex stakeholder environments and competing priorities
• Strong problem-solving skills with a structured, analytical approach to identifying and resolving data issues
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to translate complex data concepts for multiple audiences
• Experience supporting an ophthalmology, Immunology, or other specialty/rare disease commercial franchise (Preferred), Biopharmaceutical Industry, Business Intelligence (BI), Corporate Productions, Database Administration, Data Engineering, Data Flows, Data Management, Data Modeling, Data Quality, Data Quality Assessments, Data Visualization, Design Applications, Immunoassays, Immunochemistry, Immunology, Immunotherapy, Information Management, Software Development, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, System Designs

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.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts (https://www.msdprivacy.com/us/en/CCPA-notice/)

The salary range for this role is

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

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.