Associate Director, Business Insights Analytics - Data Science

Job Description

We are seeking growth and improvement minded Data Science & Business Analytics Associate Directors that can help drive our Strategic Operating Priorities. 

The Data Science & Business Analytics Associate Director role will partner with the Human Health Digital, Data and Analytics (HHDDA) area to use and apply data to produce actionable insights that drive greater customer and market comprehension to inform launch brand strategies, help meet in-line brand growth objectives, and achieve improved customer engagement.  They will be an integral part in helping to facilitate the creation of actionable commercial use-cases that create ‘data-driven’ decisions, that leverage knowledge across the organization and be more relevant to the customer. 

The preferred candidate will have an entrepreneurial spirit, comprehension of healthcare & technology, a demonstrated record of producing actionable insights from analytics.  The candidate will need to comprehend the nuances of different product lines and be well versed in the Life Science commercial space.  They will have demonstrated consistently strong leadership skills, an ability to work objectively and deal well with ambiguity and strong partnership skills. They will empower a growth mindset and inspire a culture of continual learning. This role will require interfacing and collaborating with many teams requiring strong communication skills. 

Colleagues who will thrive in this role are motivated by developing a deep appreciation of pharma secondary data sources and possess an ability to define and translate objectives and business questions into analytical problems that require advanced and scalable solutions that produce actionable insights. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists and business analysts (on-shore and off-shore), providing guidance on best practices in data analytics, modeling and data visualization.  

• Translate business needs and priorities to build analytical plans that answer business questions by providing actionable insights. Effectively communicating advanced analytics to stakeholders to inform business decision.  

• Analyze data using advanced analytical/statistical techniques across disparate databases/sources (including claims/EMR Data and other sources) to develop insights drive to inform the commercial business strategies 

• Collaborate across HHDDA teams (i.e. data visualization, data solutions, other data scientists, other BIA teams, etc.) to deliver best-in-class solutions to drive data driven insights often acting in consulting capacity. 

• Stay current with industry trends and advancements in analytical methodologies to bring new ideas forward that will enhance analytic capabilities of the organization. 

• Contribute to innovative experiments, specifically to idea generation, idea incubation and/or experimentation, identifying tangible and measurable criteria 

Education Requirements: 

• BS (or equivalent) in Data Science, Mathematics, Economics, Computer Science, Statistics, Decision Science, Marketing, Engineering, or Public Health is required.  

• MBA, MS or PhD degree is preferred.  

Required Experience and Skills: 

• 5+ years of relevant experience delivering complex analytical projects in the pharmaceutical/biotech/healthcare industry 

• Knowledge in mining patient medical claims/EMR data with a strategic mindset and proven record of being able to produce actionable business insights that drive positive commercial results. 

• Knowledge in developing both machine learning and descriptive algorithms/modeling using such languages as Python, R studio, SAS, SQl etc. 

• Self-motived, proactive mindset, and ability to work independently 

• Effective interpersonal and communication skills 

• Strong business acumen, with proven ability to comprehend business processes and commercial strategies in detail and translate these into detailed business standards/questions that power analytics. 

• Effective stakeholder management and communication skills, along with the ability to convey appropriately and confidently with colleagues from different backgrounds and seniority levels 

• Effective organizational and project management skills to work effectively across organization and manage capability of team of data scientists efficiently and effectively  

• Proven data science leveraging advanced statistical methods, Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing (NLP) modeling and model evaluation is a plus. 

Preferred Experience and Skills: 

• Preferred: Prior hands-on experience working with healthcare data especially in EMR/EHR, Claims Data and various IQVIA data offerings 

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.

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U.S. Hybrid Work Model

Effective September 5, 2023, employees in office-based positions in the U.S. will be working a Hybrid work consisting of three total days on-site per week, Monday - Thursday, although the specific days may vary by site or organization, with Friday designated as a remote-working day, unless business critical tasks require an on-site presence.This Hybrid work model does not apply to, and daily in-person attendance is required for, field-based positions; facility-based, manufacturing-based, or research-based positions where the work to be performed is located at a Company site; positions covered by a collective-bargaining agreement (unless the agreement provides for hybrid work); or any other position for which the Company has determined the job requirements cannot be reasonably met working remotely. Please note, this Hybrid work model guidance also does not apply to roles that have been designated as “remote”.

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:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Required Skills:

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Brand Growth, Brand Management, Brand Strategy, Business, Business Administration, Business Data Analytics, Business Intelligence (BI), Business Management, Business Processes, Business Process Management (BPM), Business Reviews, Business Strategies, Commercial Excellence, Commercial Strategies, Customer Engagement, Customer Service Improvement, Database Design, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Data Science, Data Visualization, Electronic Health Records (EHR), Electronic Medical Records Management {+ 14 more}

Preferred Skills:

Job Posting End Date:

05/15/2025

*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.