Executive Director, Account Management

Our company is building the commercial foundation in anticipation of an exciting launch in ophthalmology and this role is at the forefront of it. As the National Leader of the Ophthalmology Account Management Team, you will lead and manage a field team of Account Directors purposefully built around our two late-stage pipeline assets.

This is an opportunity to establish how our company shows up in the evolving ophthalmology market, develop deep strategic partnerships and orchestrate cross functional engagement across teams. You will be a central leader in our customer engagement model, overseeing account managers responsible for key consolidated Retina practices, large managed-service organizations or PE backed networks.

You will play a crucial role in establishing our company as an industry gold standard, supporting healthcare partners and providers, improving patient health outcomes and becoming a trusted resource. This role will report into the US Franchise Leader of Ophthalmology and participate in the Franchise Leadership Team.

• →Team Leadership: Establish, recruit and oversee our company's Ophthalmology Account Management Team, including National Account Directors responsible for key corporate accounts and Key Account Managers assigned to districts to engage key retina practices within their responsible geographies
• →Strategic Vision: Participate as a member of the US Ophthalmology Leadership Team to shape the strategic direction, capabilities and performance of the Ophthalmology franchise
• →Account Management: Serve as the internal expert on key ophthalmology engagements, providing insights and counsel to senior leadership and representing account segments in business planning forums
• →Executive Engagement: Provide strategic oversight and executive sponsorship for key organized customer accounts, maintaining selective, high-level engagement with C-suite and clinical leadership, while empowering the account management team to serve as the primary owners of ongoing operational relationships
• →Talent Development: Coach and mentor a high-performing field team, establishing a culture of accountability and continuous professional development
• →Cross-functional collaboration: Coordinate cross functional execution across SAMs, BEMs, Field Sales, Field Reimbursement and Medical to ensure seamless pull-through across the customer network to meet customer needs while upholding high standards of compliance to company policy
• →Launch Excellence and Market Shaping: Provide strategic oversight of customer engagement plans, optimize resource allocation and champion collaborations with other field-facing teams

Business Literacy Acumen

• Demonstrates expertise in market and landscape understanding: anticipates healthcare market trends, synthesizes complex data from multiple sources and applies insights to shape strategic plans
• Applies strong commercial acumen: interprets customer business priorities, healthcare business models and financial metrics to identify opportunities that improve patient outcomes and drive product access
• Represent our company's ophthalmology franchise to the highest ethical and professional standards, in full compliance with applicable laws, regulations and company policies

Customer Focus

• Excels at people and process mapping: expertly navigates clinical and business decision-making networks across different sites of care to ensure product and patient access
• Builds trusted professional relationships: serves as a trusted advisor to customers by demonstrating deep understanding of their business and professional goals, establishing long-term relationships based on mutual success
• Shapes approaches: develops tailored strategies that address specific customer challenges, proactively identifying the most effective frameworks to meet unique customer objectives
• People management: demonstrate leadership across the customer engagement ecosystem with responsibility for assigned Strategic Account Managers (SAMs)
• Mentors peers, and shares expertise on best practices for maintaining business relationships to build customer networks

Communication & Collaboration

• Demonstrates effective communication: proactively discerns nuanced audience needs and seamlessly adjusts content and delivery to resonate with varied stakeholders, including in complex and difficult conversations
• Provides cross-functional leadership: leads complex cross-functional initiatives, ensuring alignment across account teams to achieve organizational goals and win as one team
• Drives mutual commitment: expertly leads high-level, complex customer engagements, consistently arriving at commitments that maximize benefit for all stakeholders while maintaining positive business relationships
• Creates and leads an inclusive environment that values broad perspectives and expertise

Strategic Planning & Execution

• Develops growth strategy: crafts account plans that set a long-term growth vision, identifying high-impact strategies and seamlessly bringing together cross-functional teams to deliver coordinated approaches
• Leads orchestration and execution: strategically mobilizes resources and applies insights to execute efficiently, establishing a reputation for exceptional leadership in meeting mutual goals
• Delivers impact: uses data fluently to identify opportunities, develops compelling narratives that integrate customer needs and insights and delivers presentations that resonate in multi-stakeholder environments

• Bachelor's degree required
• MBA or advanced degree preferred

• 12+ years of progressive pharmaceutical, biotech, or related industry experience
• 7+ years of experience in managing direct reports
• 5+ years of demonstrated experience in strategic/key account management with enterprise level customer engagement
• Proven ability to develop and implement strategy across complex healthcare environments, including the ability to influence without authority and mobilize cross functional colleagues
• Strong understanding of buy-and-bill economics, specialty drug distribution, GPO contracting structures and reimbursement dynamics
• Demonstrated financial acumen with ability to communicate value proposition and negotiate, if applicable 
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, internally and externally, with ability to interact with individuals from a variety of cultures
• Ability to travel 50%

• Proven knowledge and relationships with key executive level decision makers from retina and other market GPOs and institutional trade partners
• Previous experience in launching new specialty pharmaceutical/biologics products
• Cross functional experience spanning account management, marketing, market access and/or operations
• Strong understanding of healthcare ecosystem
• Experience with channel accounts (Distributors, GPOs/PE Backed Entities, Specialty Pharmacies)

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

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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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.

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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.