Associate Director, Thought Leader Marketing Liaison

Job Description
Our US Immunology team is committed to transforming the lives of patients living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). We aspire to achieve this through relentless commitment to patients, innovation, ensuring access to life-changing therapies, and collaborating with healthcare systems, governments, and payers to make treatments available to those who need them most. Our focus is on the patients, scientific rigor and flawless execution—bringing breakthrough therapies to patients who need them.
Thought Leader Marketing Liaison (TLML) (Associate Director) is a key member of the Immunology brand marketing organization reporting directly to the Director, Thought Leader Liaison Team Leader. This position is responsible for ensuring that advocacy development, platform and product positioning, speaker program preparation and management, and congress engagement are strategically aligned with brand objectives and executed in a compliant manner. This will help our Company create a strong and sustained presence across local, regional, and national IBD communities. Additionally, this role is critical to ensure that key scientific leader insights directly inform brand and go-to-market strategies.
Primary Responsibilities
Advocacy Development:
Assist in identification and mapping of national and regional scientific leaders (SLs), clinical leaders, and emerging experts across the US IBD landscape.
Develop and assess advocacy of key opinion leaders around the scientific messages, product positioning, and medical education content.
SL/KOL Engagement Execution:
Execute engagements with SLs, including congress participation, site visits, and HQ-approved activities (e.g., advisory boards, customer strategy sessions).
Gather actionable insights from SLs to inform marketing strategies and brand planning.
Provide real-time insights from KOL’s on approved key business questions / topics.
Execute engagement plans with key thought leaders throughout the US and support development of approved educational content based on KOL and faculty input.
Congress Participation and Engagement:
Collaborate with marketing team to determine participation and level of support in key IBD conferences.
Secure key engagement meetings and congress execution between HQ employees and KOLs
Speaker Bureau Development & Readiness:
Help identify and manage a US IBD Speaker Bureau, including faculty identification, onboarding, and training as appropriate to approved content.
Ensure speaker advocacy aligns to our scientific platform key messages and supports speaker readiness for educational speaker engagements including congress product theatres.
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
Collaborate with field facing roles according to our Company Policy to ensure alignment on SL needs and account dynamics.
Compliance & Governance:
Ensure strict adherence to compliance regulations, internal policies, and industry standards in all engagement activities.
Qualifications
Required:
Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MS, PharmD, or equivalent) preferred.
Minimum 5-8 years in pharmaceutical sales, marketing, or field medical engagement or KOL management roles.
Minimum 5 years as a Thought Leader Liaison or Regional Marketing strongly preferred
At least 3 years of IBD experience strongly preferred with existing Key KOL networks in IBD
Demonstrated success in building and maintaining scientific relationships with KOLs, speakers, or professional societies in a highly regulated environment.
Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills
Proven ability to synthesize insights into strategic recommendations.
Ability to influence and collaborate across a matrixed environment without direct authority.
Travel up to 60% (including weekends and evenings for congresses and advisory meetings).
Required Skills:
Adaptability, Adaptability, Advisory Board Development, Brand Planning, Clinical Engagement, Clinical Trial Support, Domestic Policy, Engagement Strategies, Event Speaking, Healthcare Education, Influencing Skills, Interpersonal Relationships, Investigator-Initiated Studies (IIS), Legal Compliance, Liaison Work, Medical Affairs, Medical Knowledge, Medical Marketing Strategy, Multiple Therapeutic Areas, People Management, Pharmaceutical Industry, Pharmaceutical Medical Affairs, Pharmaceutical Sales, Policy Compliance, Position Statements {+ 9 more}
Preferred Skills:
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Current Contingent Workers apply HERE
US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:
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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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