Job Description

Associate Director, Consumer Campaign Development Lead (CDL) - New Asset

Our Consumer team translates breakthrough science into medicines that extend and improve patients' lives. We prioritize meaningful patient engagement, access, and launch excellence through integrated, compliant, and data-driven consumer marketing.

The Associate Director,Consumer Campaign Development Lead (CDL)will leadDTC patient marketingand consumer engagement efforts in partnership with the marketing strategy team. This role will design, execute, and optimize integrated consumer campaigns across digital and traditional channels to support product launches and ongoing commercial objectives. The role works cross-functionally with Brand, Commercial, Medical, Legal/Regulatory, Analytics, Agencies, and Operations to deliver compliant, measurable patient-facing programs that drive awareness, education, intent, and engagement.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the embeddedconsumer / DTC patient marketing leadon the marketing strategy team and translate strategy into actionable consumer tactics.

• Develop, activate, and optimize integratedDTC patient campaignsacross consumer channels, including:

  • Paid digital media

  • Social media and other consumer-facing media as appropriate

  • Search

  • Patient websites and landing pages

  • Consumer video and OLV (streaming)

  • CRM / email

  • Patient support and educational content

  • Broadcast and other consumer-facing media as appropriate

• Define campaign objectives, target consumer segments, channel mix, timelines, measurement plans, and success criteria in partnership with Analytics.

• Use patient insights, segmentation, journey mapping, and performance data to refine targeting, messaging, content, and campaign iteration.

• Ensure all consumer communications are accurate, patient-friendly, health literate, medically appropriate, and aligned with legal and regulatory requirements.

• Partner with media, digital, and agency teams to develop channel strategies, optimize performance, and run test-and-learn programs.

• Support media and channel budget planning and monitor spend versus performance.

• Manage asset development using agile workflows, including ideation, sprint planning, med-legal review, deployment, measurement, and revalidation.

• Oversee timelines, resource allocation, vendor deliverables, and production to ensure on-time, high-quality launch execution.

• Coordinate Promotional Review Team approvals and implement Safety Label Updates when required.

• Lead day-to-day agency relationships and manage digital scopes of work, timelines, and budgets.

• Partner with broader brand and patient experience teams to ensure a consistent, consumer-centric omnichannel experience.

Minimum Education

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's preferred.

Required Experience & Skills

• Minimum 4 years inpharmaceutical marketing, consumer marketing, or commercial communicationswith a strong focus onDTC patient marketing, patient engagement, or consumer-facing campaigns.

• Proven success inconsumer campaign activation,DTC channel strategy, and asset production in regulated environments.

• Strong understanding ofpatient journey, consumer segmentation, and healthcare consumer behavior.

• Experience developing and optimizingpatient-facing digital campaignsand content.

• Strong cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management; ability to influence without authority.

• Data-driven; experience using consumer insights, patient data, and performance metrics to optimize campaigns.

• Project and vendor management experience; familiarity with agile/scrum preferred.

• Technical familiarity with Veeva/PromoMats, SAP, and common digital analytics tools preferred.

Preferred Experience & Skills

• Consumer pharmaceutical marketing orDTC launch planningexperience.

• Experience leadingpatient education, awareness, or adherence/support campaigns.

• Media and channel budget planning and spend optimization.

• Experience with Integrated Profit Plan preparation and TBR processes.

• Expertise inconsumer messaging, campaign measurement and optimization, and digital strategy.

• Regulatory/compliance awareness and strong stakeholder influence skills.

• Adaptability, initiative, and collaborative mindset.

• Experience integrating emerging digital capabilities intopatient engagement strategies.

Additional Qualifications

• Independent, decisive thinker who performs well under ambiguity and tight timelines.

• Working knowledge of website/CMS best practices, landing-page conversion fundamentals, and applicable AI use cases for consumer engagement, such as:

  • Content personalization

  • AI-assisted analytics

  • Patient chat/virtual assistants

  • Automated content and insight generation

• Track record of integrating emerging digital capabilities intoDTC patient marketing strategies.

• Strong ability to develop consumer-friendly messaging that balances brand goals, patient empathy, and compliance requirements.

Position Location

• Upper Gwynedd, PA

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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Relocation:

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Requisition ID:R401480