at Merck in Springfield, Illinois, United States
Job Description
Job Description
The US CA Veterinary Insights and Medical Affairs Director sets the strategic vision for the development, refinement, and implementation of veterinary medical and technology programs for companion animals. The individual communicates the medical necessity (the why) of our company’s Animal Health products, protocols, and solutions to current and prospective customers as well as internal stakeholders. This position bridges our company’s R&D efforts, innovation, and technology solutions with commercial application to drive scientific engagement and maintain our company’s Animal Health’s leadership as a highly innovative company driven by the science of healthier animals in a highly competitive market.
Reporting to the Executive Director, US CABU Professional Services, this position works closely with Marketing and our company’s Animal Health Intelligence Team to provide guidance from a medical perspective on strategy and tactics that ensure compliance and alignment with standards of care. The Veterinary Insights and Medical Affairs Director leads a best-in-class team by establishing a culture that promotes innovation, continuous improvement, a customer focused mindset, and values feedback and inclusion to develop talent.
The Director, Veterinary Insights and Medical Affairs provides oversight and direction for activities such as market support studies, working with R&D on pipeline products, identifying and supporting business development activities, as well as supporting marketing from strategy to execution of existing portfolio of products for the CABU unit. This position supports investment and promotional program recommendations and brings the pipeline and innovation business to market, uses veterinary insights and trends within the animal health industry to drive innovation, and delivers a full portfolio value proposition that differentiates our company from competitors. This position also collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to ensure our company’s portfolio and solutions exceed standards of care and helps to advance standards of care for pet owners.
The Veterinary Insights and Medical Affairs Director translates strategic insights into potential solutions based on an awareness of market trends, pet owner preferences, competitor strategies, and the challenges facing veterinary and animal welfare professionals to provide the best care for animals. This position identifies and promotes partnership opportunities (e.g., veterinary schools, industry association) or acquisitions that compliment our company’s offerings and strategies, as well as being financially beneficial.
Essential Accountabilities: Strategic, Operational, and Leadership Responsibilities
Strategic responsibilities may include, but are not limited to: (40%)
+ Develop technical content (white papers, presentations, blog posts, etc.) to educate customers and sales team about our solutions, as well as excite, motivate, and inspire them to adopt our company’s Animal Health’s products and solutions.
+ Build compelling and integrated cases for product concepts and solutions considering competitive factors, market demand, risk management, program economics, strategic fit, and operational complexity.
+ Identify potential licensing/partnership/acquisition targets.
+ Shepherd projects through the licensing/partnership process, working with business, legal, and finance teams to develop investment /business cases and execute the contracts.
+ Identify, prioritize, structure, and manage complex issues that drive product priorities and demonstrate bottom line results.
+ Develop a plan for training the salesforce to keep them up to date regarding key product messages, why it is medically necessary and within our sales model, as well as gather feedback about how the value statements and messages are received by customers.
+ Collaborate with CABU leadership team and key internal partners on the strategy, development, and management of KOLs and Advisory Board for our company’s portfolio to help create demand for our company’s solutions and influence future direction.
+ Ensure awareness of roadmap, projects, products, technologies, and capabilities across CABU leadership team and supporting functions. Identify and use connections, expertise, experiences, and resources where appropriate.
+ Guide the PSV specialist team in customer engagement through new product launches and in-line portfolio support
Operational Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to: (30%)
+ Work across departments including marketing, business development, R&D, and global teams to develop and drive the implementation of strategies to enhance a culture of scientific excellence and engagement.
+ Use innovative business thinking to challenge the status quo and drive the identification of creative solutions that positively impact our company’s Animal Health’s portfolio of products and solutions.
+ Design, develop, and own the process for setting, tracking, evaluating, and presenting progress on program, acquisition and partnership roadmaps for Companion Animal category.
+ Build a reputation both within the company and among our company’s Key Opinion Leaders as a recognized authority in innovative products and solutions, the best and most trusted partner in the industry.
+ Conduct research on the market, the competition, and customers to identify trends and opportunities for future growth in close collaboration with the marketing team.
+ Understand business performance and drivers, customer needs and areas of interest, market and regulatory trends, competitive dynamics, and emerging companies or technologies.
+ Develop a strategy and priorities for any post-approval market support studies that expand indications and/or achieve competitive advantage.
+ Synthesize insights into a strategic framework to help our company’s Animal Health determine where to develop new solutions next.
+ Strategizes with the Global Strategic Development & Innovation team on global activities and represents US position in strategic responsibilities and operational practices when appropriate.
+ Ideate, design, and implement a comprehensive KOL strategy to expand our company’s Animal Health influence and drive the selection of our company’s Animal Health solutions.
Leadership Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to: (30%)
+ Lead, manage, and develop direct and indirect team members to increase talent, diversity, and capabilities and drive performance; participate in the recruitment of industry-leading talent to build a high-performing team.
+ Proactively evolve culture through providing feedback, ongoing monitoring, and coaching to develop highly effective sales team.
+ Champion, develop, and integrate a consistent strategic platform, mission, and purpose for the organization through close collaboration with CABU Leadership Team and other key stakeholders.
+ Conduct and encourage frequent formal and informal communication within the group to ensure full engagement and efficient operation.
+ Promote and use diversity to achieve the best outcomes. Ensure all interested parties have opportunities to influence and contribute to decisions and outcomes.
+ Lead a group of professionals who will work in close collaboration with US Marketing and their contract agencies to ensure marketing materials and programs are developed efficiently, and ensuring content is accurate and relevant for the target audiences.
+ Serve as an essential member of the Executive Director’s leadership team.
Internal Key Contacts
+ Global CA&E Marketing and Technical Teams
+ Veterinary & Consumer Affairs
+ Research and Development
+ Supply, Quality, Regulatory
+ Strategic Development and Innovation, Marketing, Sales, Salesforce Enablement and Effectiveness, Integrated Customer Ex
