Senior Specialist, Data & AI Strategy (m/f/d)

Job description

Job Description We are seeking a highly analytical and detail-oriented Business Insights Analyst to join our Data & AI team, Switzerland-Austria. The ideal candidate will bring a passion for data and a drive to foster data literacy within cross-functional teams. This role will be pivotal in turning data into actionable insights, exploring new data sources, supporting marketing effectiveness, brand performance, sales force effectiveness, omnichannel effectiveness, forecasting accuracy and providing insights into health pathways and customer and patient journeys. This is a new position and we are planning to recruit 3 BIAs to support the assigned Business Unit (Oncology, Vaccines, Pharma Specialty). Location: Vienna, Austria / Lucerne, Switzerland. Responsibilities: Business Insights & Decision Support: Generate actionable insights from existing and new external data sources to inform strategic planning and operational decision‑making. Act as a thought partner to cross‑functional teams. Commercial Performance Insights: Deliver integrated insights across marketing effectiveness, brand performance, sales force effectiveness and omnichannel engagement to support optimisation and growth. Insight Enablement & Communication: Translate complex data into clear, relevant insights and recommendations for non‑technical stakeholders, leveraging dashboards and analyses as enablers. Forecasting & Planning Support: Contribute to forecasting accuracy and business planning through trend analysis, predictive models and forward‑looking insights in close collaboration with business, finance and operations. Customer, Patient & Health Pathway Insights: Provide insights into customer, patient and health pathways to identify opportunities to improve engagement, experience and outcomes. Market Research & Customer Insights: Lead qualitative and quantitative market research and tracking to deliver deeper customer insights, leveraging new methodologies such as behavioural science. Oversee external research vendors in collaboration with procurement and ensure market research activities comply with applicable data privacy and governance requirements (e.g. GDPR). Experimentation & Learning: Support experiment‑learn‑adapt approaches by evaluating initiatives and translating results into actionable recommendations. Cross‑functional Collaboration: Work closely with commercial, digital, medical, market access and finance teams to ensure insights address real business needs and drive impact. Your Profile: Required Qualifications: Experience in business analysis, data analysis, or a related role. Proficiency in data analysis tools and software (e.g., SQL, Power BI, Excel, QlikSense, Tableau). Knowledge of statistical analysis and experience with statistical tools (e.g., Python, R) is a strong plus. Strong analytical skills with the ability to collect, organise, analyse and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy. Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to convey complex data insights to non-technical audiences. Experience working in cross-functional teams and managing multiple stakeholders. Key Competencies: Analytical Thinking: Ability to tackle complex problems by breaking them down into manageable components. Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams. Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present data-driven insights clearly and persuasively. Attention to Detail: High level of accuracy and attention to detail in all aspects of work. Adaptability: Ability to adapt to new tools, processes and technologies quickly. We offer an attractive salary, outstanding social benefits and an exciting work environment with varied tasks in an international environment. The minimum annual salary for this position in Austria is EUR 74.600,-- and varies according to the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate. We are looking forward to receiving your application. THE COMPANY Our Company is a leading biopharmaceutical company employing over 1,000 people in Switzerland at three sites. The company’s headquarters are in Lucerne. At the site in Zurich, the company operates a global innovation and development hub. In addition, we manufacture medicines for global clinical trials and operate a forensic laboratory in Schachen (Canton Lucerne). We conduct around 40 clinical trials annually in Switzerland. The main therapeutic areas include oncology, infectious diseases, cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases. We also have a broad portfolio of vaccines for the prevention of diseases in children, adolescents, and adults and we are one of the leading companies in veterinary medicine. Furthermore, we take our responsibility to the local community seriously and have been involved for many years in initiatives such as the «Trendtage Gesundheit Luzern» and the «Alliance Health Competence». We are proud to be certified as a “Top Employer Switzerland” and “Top Employer Europe” showing the company’s commitment to our employees and the community around us. One Roof is our new Swiss headquarters in Lucerne designed to bring teams together and make collaboration easier. Across 15,000 m² of modern office space, we unite colleagues from national, regional and global functions within different functions under one roof to strengthen cross‑functional cooperation and a ONE Team culture. The site is centrally located, a short walk from Lucerne train station, supporting sustainable commuting. Required Skills: Biopharmaceutics, Business Analysis, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Insights, Data Science, Demand Management, Economics, Forecast Accuracy, Forecasting, Immunotherapy, Innovation, Market Research, Oncology, Requirements Management, Sales Force Effectiveness, Sourcing and Procurement, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Statistical Analysis, Strategic Planning, Systematic Problem Solving Preferred Skills: Current Employees apply HERE Current Contingent Workers apply HERE Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully 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. Employee Status: Regular Relocation: No relocation VISA Sponsorship: No Travel Requirements: 25% Flexible Work Arrangements: Not Applicable Shift: Not Indicated Valid Driving License: No Hazardous Material(s): N/A Job Posting End Date: 07/10/2026*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.