Associate Director, HP/PBM Customer Manager

Job Description

This position sits within US Market Access End-to-End Contracting which delivers best-in-class, end-to-end services aimed at providing affordable patient access, insightful customer experiences, and enriching employee experiences. The Integrated Account Management (IAM) Team manages direct account and contract responsibility across the entire US health care system for our company's commercial and government business.

The Associate Director, Health Plan (HP) / Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) Customer Manager (CM) acts as a unique and critical connection point in this dynamic environment to bridge field and internal stakeholders for the purpose of reaching mutually beneficial customer contracts. In close partnership with the designated National Account Director (NAD), this role relies on deep customer knowledge, close collaboration with internal stakeholders, and analytical acumen to serve as the internal-facing customer advocate. 

The CM will focus on managing the end-to-end contract lifecycle from development through implementation in coordination with field personnel for our health plan/PBM contracts.  Incumbents in this role must have advanced proficiency in both cross-functional (e.g., communication, project management) and domain-specific (e.g., access strategy, financial acumen) competencies.

 

Core Responsibilities include but may not be limited to:

• • Manages end-to-end contract process by drafting, revising, and negotiating utilization-based contracts.

  • Serves as internal-facing counterpart to NAD to drive activities such as:

    • Implementation and negotiation of contracting initiatives

    • Evaluation/review of account performance and segment trends to optimize net sales for company products

    • Balance improved customer performance with our company's business objectives

    • Identification and execution of contracting opportunities that meet profitability and access objectives

    • Engagement with our company's Senior Leadership to conduct business reviews, suggest strategic approaches to navigate customer relationships, and identify opportunities to optimize internal business objectives

  • Partners with NAD on development and implementation of Customer Account Plans.

  • Establishes and maintains meaningful relationships with contract decision makers inclusive of internal and external stakeholders.

  • Drives collaboration among company stakeholders (e.g., CCE, Finance, Payer Marketing) to work toward agreements that are mutually beneficial to the Customer and our company.

  • Proactively identifies opportunities to bring value to the customer(s) and provides recommendations to the NAD.

  • Interprets legal language and understands its implications to develop Terms & Conditions (T&C), including identifying business-related areas of risk and exposure, in partnership with commercial attorneys or other internal counsel.

  • Understands rules and contracting processes; uses that knowledge to identify creative solutions to successfully negotiate with internal our company's teams and/or Customers.

  • Coordinates financial, trend, or data modeling analytic results and implications to support negotiations.

  • Oversees internal-facing evaluations and analyses of customer contracts.

  • Has a working knowledge of data analytics techniques to inform inputs/outputs of sophisticated analyses; can draw logically sound, data-driven conclusions about contract scenarios.

  • Accurately applies appropriate analogy models and customer understanding to best recommend discounting options with customer financial modeling and profitability metrics.

  • Monitors marketplace trends and regulatory changes that could influence contracts.

  • Proactively gathers and analyzes product level information from other CMs and collaborates with Payer Marketing to guide payer marketing strategies.

  • Demonstrates awareness of and sensitivity by creating experiences for all customers and coworkers.

  • Utilizes strengths and acceptance of in team members, customers, or other individual stakeholders (e.g., in background or experience) to improve own performance

Qualifications:

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree (BS/BA) or equivalent

• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical/healthcare industry

• Direct account management, customer contracting and financial analysis, customer marketing, and/or pharmaceutical supply chain experience.

• Demonstrated ability to negotiate, execute, and implement contracts

• Demonstrated ability to deliver on key initiatives and meet deadlines

• Demonstrated ability to prioritize and work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

• Demonstrated ability in strategic, relational, business-minded, analytical, and operational capabilities

Preferred:

• Account management and/or contracting experience with Health Plans (HPs) and Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs)

Required Skills:

Account Management, Account Management, Bidding Process, Business Reviews, Business Risk Management, Commercial Contract Management, Contract Management, Cross-Functional Leadership, Customer-Focused, Customer Management, Customer Marketing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Delivering Value, Fast-Paced Environments, Financial Analysis, Market Access, Marketing, Marketing Strategies, Market Research, National Accounts Management, Operational Delivery, Payer Marketing, Pharmaceutical Supply Chain, Relationship Management, Sales Acumen {+ 2 more}

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

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.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

The salary range for this role is

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

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

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:

Remote

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

06/5/2026

*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.