Director - Brand Strategy Analytics
Merck Careers · IND - Telangana - Hyderabad (Gachibowli Village)
Job description
Job Description Director -Brand Strategy Analytics, Digital Human Health (DHH) Job TitleDirector — Brand Strategy Analytics, Digital Human Health Job DescriptionThis role sits within the Brand Strategy vertical of Digital Human Health (DHH), India Hub. As the patient-centric analytics engine, Brand Strategy owns the end-to-end insight arc—from patient journey to brand performance—across pipeline and in-line assets in Oncology and Specialty Pharma & Infectious Disease (SPID). The team operates as an embedded partner to the commercial organization, providing strategic thought partnership to marketing and cross-functional stakeholders. It shapes demand by translating business priorities into actionable analytics needs, quarterbacks delivery across DHH capabilities, and drives activation of products and insights to enable decision-making and business impact. The Director will deliver decision-ready insights that inform pipeline strategy, launch execution, and commercial performance. Partnering across functions, the role drives executive decision-making and commercial rigor throughout asset lifecycle stages. Leading a 40+ member team and cross-functional insights pods, the Director integrates capabilities across Data Strategy & Solutions, Market Research, Forecasting, Competitive Intelligence, and Commercial AI - connecting the dots to deliver faster, high-impact, actionable insights. The role is partners closely with BU engagement leads to proactively shape and inform portfolio level brand strategy while advancing capabilities through systematization, automation and AI. The Director is accountable for positioning the India Hub to a strategic analytics partner, embedding productivity, scalability and value-driven outcomes across engagements. This role will be part of DHH SP&ID and Onco leadership teams. Role OverviewThe Director will be a strategic partner to commercial stakeholders across DHH, Marketing, Medical and Finance. The individual will engage, influence and where needed - challenge commercial partners. The role demands consistently strong leadership, the ability to work objectively, and strong partnership skills. The Director will empower a growth mindset and a culture of continual learning, develop the next generation of leaders within DHH, and embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in every team practice. The preferred candidate will have an entrepreneurial spirit, a consultative and strategic mindset, demonstrated experience in oncology and / or specialty pharma, curious about technology (AI, agentic systems, GenAI applied to commercial analytics), and a track record of producing actionable insights from analytics. The Director should have a deep appreciation of the pharma secondary data ecosystem (US and exUS) and the ability to translate ambiguous business questions into advanced, scalable analytical solutions. Key Responsibilities· Strategic Alliances & Executive Partnership: Act as a trusted thought partner to senior stakeholders across Marketing, Medical, Market Access, Sales Ops, Finance, and DHH leadership—bringing strong commercial framing and constructive solutions. Establish durable alliances across geographies and functions to align on priorities, decision points, and business outcomes in a matrixed environment. Translate complex analytics into executive-ready narratives that accelerate decisions, unlock alignment, and drive action. · Portfolio thinking and launch orchestration: Engage with disease-aligned teams and leaders across Onc and SPID BU’s to understand strategic priorities across the commercial value chain - pipeline prioritization, growth opportunities, launch readiness, in-line performance. Translate these priorities into a unified Brand Strategy book of work and enable interconnected problem-solving at the portfolio level. Bring a portfolio lens to ~20 major launches and 80+ Phase III readouts in the planning horizon. · Partnership at the executive level: Be a strategic partner for marketing leaders, Onc and SPID stakeholders, DHH LT. Establish and manage close relationships across DHH, Marketing, Sales, Medical and Finance. Communicate complex analytics with presence and commercial framing. · Insight generation strategy and roadmap: Develop and own the commercial insight generation strategy and roadmap for Brand Strategy, adopting the latest technological advances - AI, agentic systems, GenAI to strengthen efficiency, productivity and quality of insight. Define what "good" looks like for patient journey, brand performance synthesis, launch analytics, and drive standardisation across TAs. · Team leadership and talent development: Lead direct teams and cross-functional insights pods comprised of stakeholders from across DHH and the wider Human Health organisation. Develop talent, mentor, coach, and create a team culture that focuses on "things that matter", empowers urgent action, encourages innovation, and runs on continuous learning and feedback. · Productivity & Operational Excellence: Drive productivity at scale by simplifying processes, standardizing analytics solutions and frameworks, and embedding automated workflows across the insight generation lifecycle. Act as a catalyst to activate reusable assets, streamline business rules and methodologies, minimize duplication, and enhance consistency, quality, and efficiency across engagements. · Demand prioritisation and value tracking: Understand the full book of work underway and planned for each disease area or business unit. Work with marketing leadership to prioritise against DHH capacity. For prioritised work, engage cross-functional teams to articulate the value and impact of each piece. Encourage the mindset to articulate the "so what" and "now what" and to track realised business value. · Stakeholder Collaboration & Communication: Drive proactive, transparent engagement with cross-functional partners to co-create solutions, align on organizational priorities, and set clear expectations. Provide internal and business stakeholders with forward-looking visibility into key programs to inform milestones, prioritization, risk mitigation, and aligned decision-making. · AI strategy and responsible use: Articulate how Brand Strategy will adopt agentic AI and GenAI for analytics, insight generation and book-of-work execution. Maintain awareness of opportunities, limitations, and responsible use of AI in a regulated environment. · Data & Analytics Fluency: Strong fluency in healthcare/commercial data ecosystems (e.g., claims, Rx, EHR/EMR, specialty pharmacy, biomarker/epidemiology data) and the broader secondary data landscape (US/ex-US). Working knowledge of analytics delivery stacks. Familiarity with modern data platforms (e.g., Databricks/Snowflake/cloud) and AI-enabled analytics workflows. Education RequirementsMasters (or equivalent) in Data Science, Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics, Decision Science, Marketing, Engineering, Management or an equivalent commercial discipline. Advanced degree (MBA, MS, PharmD, PhD) is preferred. Required Experience and Skills· 10+ years of total experience, with relevant experience in commercial insights, advanced analytics, or related roles within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry. · 5+ years of people leadership experience, with a proven track record of managing dynamic, high-performing teams; including leading other leaders. · Executive storytelling and stakeholder influence: story-telling and executive presence with senior leaders; effective interpersonal, communication and stakeholder management skills, including experience collaborating in a matrixed organisation and aligning stakeholders on data-driven decisions. · Strong business acumen and consultative skills, with proven ability to comprehend business processes and commercial strategies in detail and translate them into business standards and analytical questions. ·
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