Associate Director, Patient Access

US Hubs are patient support programs owned and managed by the Patient Access team within the broader Commercial Excellence & Innovation organization (CEI). Hubs provide reimbursement and access support to consumers and are managed by vendors that perform patient benefit investigations and other related support; their purpose is to help ensure that patients and physicians understand coverage and assist with navigating any access-related challenges. This position will support a Director within the Patient Access team in providing reimbursement expertise and performing project management related to patient access and affordability solutions.  

Most notably, this position is responsible for the development, deployment, and management of reimbursement support hubs – which includes working with brand teams and assigned agencies to ensure that our hub programs meet consumer needs and are aligned to the Patient Access COE objectives.

Reimbursement expertise may include providing in-house US reimbursement expert consultancy to assist key stakeholders in understanding the reimbursement environment for hospital, buy and bill, and Medicare Part B reimbursed pharmaceuticals and biologics.

• →Manage the daily operations of existing hubs, including vendor relationships, program staffing, budgets, SLAs, and maintaining current business rules
• →Contribute to the strategic framework and guidance in the development and deployment of patient access and support hubs for specialty products, including for upcoming US launches of our company's products
• →Develop comprehensive project plans for hub initiatives, including project schedules, resource plans, risk management plans, and communication plans
• →Partner with Marketing Operations in development of Coupon/Copay programs – and integrate them into US Hub programs (when appropriate)
• →Build and manage relationships with vendors who will perform benefits investigations and other related support to help ensure that patients and health care providers understand coverage and to assist patients with affordability options for our company's medications
• →Work with our Company's Patient Assistance Foundation to ensure consistent PAP referral business rules
• →Work closely with legal and regulatory departments to ensure compliance with internal and external rules for all programs
• →Exhibit ownership and accountability for all projects and internal assignments
• →Brand Team collaboration: Development of annual strategies and tactics plans; seeking continual input and guidance; providing ongoing strategic support
• →Engage with US Commercial teams to educate them on the potential shape of such programs, determine what features are important and feasible; select, contract and set up programs with vendors, work with legal, and other parts of the organization as needed

• Bachelor's Degree required
• Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience
• Minimum of 3 years in Pharmaceutical Patient Access, Pricing,  Reimbursement, Legal, Finance or related fields supporting Pharmaceutical Marketing and Sales
• Vendor management experience, including budgeting, contracting, audits, financial reporting, general operations, IT, SOP/business rule auditing and strategic thinking
• Mastery of our company's internal processes and policies, particularly around compliance and Medical/Legal review of materials, reimbursement and related policies
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills, proven leadership and interpersonal skills, and proficient in leading cross-functional teams
• Experience with the US pharmaceutical market, including understanding of various types of customers, and products/therapeutic classes (i.e. both pharmacy and medical benefit)
• Strong consulting and collaboration skills
• Strong project management skills
• Ability to travel up to 20% for vendor site visits and/or conferences

• Experience with US Patient Support Programs for specialty medications
• Experience supporting both HCP-administered and oral therapies

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

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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.