Associate Director, US Oncology Marketing, Operational Excellence & Capacity Planning

Job Description

The U.S. Oncology business within our company is a growing and dynamic organization committed to advancing innovative therapies for patients with cancer. We have an exciting opportunity to join our dynamic commercial team as we prepare for the potential U.S. launch of an mRNA-based individualized neoantigen therapy for early-stage melanoma, being developed through an alliance partnership. This novel product has the potential to redefine personalized cancer treatment and requires a highly coordinated operating model to support seamless therapy delivery across a complex treatment ecosystem. 

Reporting to the Director, Director, Individualized Therapy Operations, this individual serves as the commercial lead for operational demand planning, capacity planning, scenario modeling, performance management, and analytics across the Intismeran treatment ecosystem. 

This leader will establish and oversee the capabilities, processes, and governance required to support operational planning, performance management, and data-driven decision making across the treatment journey. Working across Commercial, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Precision Medicine, Patient Support Programs, alliance stakeholders, and external partners, the role will translate complex operational, manufacturing, customer, and market data into actionable insights that improve operational performance, optimize resource allocation, and support strategic business decisions. 

Through operational demand planning, scenario modeling, capacity management, and performance analytics, this individual will proactively identify risks and constraints, evaluate operational tradeoffs, inform alliance and business planning, and help ensure the treatment ecosystem can scale to support future growth and patient demand. 

Key Responsibilities  

• Lead the operational demand planning and capacity planning for Intismeran, developing patient volume projections, manufacturing demand assumptions, network capacity plans, and business scenarios required to support launch readiness, commercialization, and future growth. 

• Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Precision Medicine, alliance stakeholders, and external partners to align projected demand with manufacturing availability, and operational readiness, proactively identifying risks and recommending mitigation strategies. 

• Develop and maintain capacity planning and scenario modeling capabilities, assessing the impact of changing demand, treatment site expansion, manufacturing constraints, and operational capacity on treatment completion and business performance. 

• Establish and oversee the operational intelligence framework for the Intismeran treatment journey, including performance dashboards, operational KPIs, demand and capacity models executive reporting, and control tower analytics that provide real-time visibility across the ecosystem. 

• Translate complex operational, logistics, manufacturing, customer, and market data into actionable business insights and strategic recommendations, enabling data-driven decision making across leadership teams and governance forums. 

• Lead operational performance management and business review processes, evaluating demand-plan assumptions, capacity utilization, treatment completion performance, operational cycle times, partner effectiveness, and overall ecosystem performance to identify improvement opportunities. 

• Drive operational excellence and continuous improvement initiatives across the treatment ecosystem, leveraging analytics and predictive insights to strengthen demand and capacity planning, optimize capacity, enhance operational efficiency, mitigate risk, and support long-term scalability. 

Education: 

Bachelor's degree or equivalent (BA/BS) 

MBA or equivalent preferred 

Required Experience and Skills: 

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries, including experience supporting commercial organizations in operational planning, capacity planning, analytics, or treatment operations.  

• Demonstrated experience leading operational planning, capacity planning, demand planning, business analytics, or operational excellence initiatives that require coordination across multiple internal functions and external partners. 

• Experience developing and managing operational performance frameworks, including KPIs, dashboards, scorecards, business reviews, performance metrics, and executive reporting. 

• Proven ability to translate complex operational, manufacturing, customer, and market data into actionable business insights and strategic recommendations. 

• Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving capabilities, with demonstrated success identifying operational risks, evaluating tradeoffs, and developing data-driven recommendations in complex environments. 

• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority and effectively communicate insights and recommendations to leadership. 

• Demonstrated ability to manage ambiguity, balance competing priorities, and drive execution in dynamic launch, growth, or transformation environments. 

Preferred Skills: 

• Experience supporting the commercialization of complex therapies, including, cell therapy, gene therapy, radioligand therapy, or other highly coordinated treatment models. 

• Experience in manufacturing planning, demand planning, integrated business planning, sales and operations planning (S&OP), supply chain operations, or capacity management 

• Experience developing operational intelligence capabilities, including dashboards, executive reporting, KPI frameworks, business reviews, or operational performance measurement systems. 

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

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The salary range for this role is

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. 

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