Job Description
Title: Director, Scientific Strategy & KOL Engagement Product Marketing Owner (PMO)— HIV Treatments (U.S.)
General Description: Our company has been committed to advancing science for the treatment and prevention of HIV for more than 35 years. The HIV Business Unit is rapidly growing, with multiple marketed products, an investigational asset in late-stage development, and a robust research pipeline. We are recruiting a strategic, experienced leader to serve as Director, Scientific Strategy & KOL Engagement for HIV Treatments. This role will lead scientific engagement, thought-leader strategy, and the team responsible for translating scientific insights into commercial and medical strategies that advance care for PLWH and business objectives.
Reporting to the U.S. Commercial Leader, HIV Treatments, and based in Upper Gwynedd, PA, this is a high-visibility role that will shape scientific advocacy, KOL (key opinion leader) engagement, speaker and congress strategy, and the integration of KOL insights into brand planning and cross-functional go-to-market activities. You will build and lead a high-performing team that partners across Medical Affairs, Commercial, Policy, and Global functions to ensure compliant, impactful scientific engagement across the U.S. HIV community.
Primary Responsibilities
Scientific Strategy for HIV Treatments
- Lead development of scientific narrative for the HIV portfolio in partnership with Medical Affairs, Outcomes Research, Global Marketing, HCP Marketing, and other stakeholders.
- Advance scientific narrative by integrating into brand strategy and working with cross-functional teams to define and prioritize evidence needs that support clinical positioning, payer value, and future pipeline decisions; translate gaps into actionable evidence-generation and advocacy plans.
- Continuously monitor emerging science, guidelines, and competitive data; educate marketing and engagement teams on key developments and ensure the scientific narrative and materials are updated accordingly.
Scientific Leader and Organization Identification & Profiling
- Own identification, mapping, and profiling of national, regional, and emerging scientific leaders, clinical experts, and relevant society contacts across the U.S. HIV ecosystem including HIV Community
- Maintain a prioritized, dynamic KOL landscape aligned to brand and portfolio objectives, and surface relationship- and insight-priorities to cross-functional partners.
Strategic Scientific Engagement & Planning
- Design and execute strategic, compliance‑aligned engagement plans (advisory boards, external expert meetings, group input meetings, site visits, customer strategy sessions) that generate prioritized, actionable insights.
- Ensure engagements are explicitly linked to business questions and evidence needs; convert KOL input into clear recommendations for brand positioning, messaging, and evidence-generation priorities.
Medical Education & Speaker Development
- Lead development of medical education aligned to the scientific narrative and brand priorities; ensure content meets educational and compliance standards.
- Build and manage a U.S. HIV speaker bureau: identify faculty, oversee onboarding and training, and ensure speakers consistently reflect approved scientific platforms and messaging.
Congress & Scientific Meeting Strategy
- Develop and lead congress strategies to maximize scientific impact and insights capture across national, regional, and specialty meetings, including sponsorships, programming, and satellite activities.
- Coordinate logistics and stakeholder participation to ensure seamless execution and capture of strategic learnings.
Insight Generation & Integration
- Capture, synthesize, and operationalize real‑time qualitative and quantitative insights from KOL interactions, GIMs, speaker feedback, and field inputs.
- Partner with Data & Analytics and Medical Affairs to triangulate HCP insights with clinical, real-world, and outcomes data to inform brand strategy, evidence-generation plans, and commercial tactics—ensuring insights are documented, prioritized, and tracked to decision outcomes.
Team Leadership & Development
- Build, lead, and mentor a Scientific Strategy & Engagement team including 2 scientific strategy marketers and up to 4 Regional Clinical Liaisons RCLs; set team strategy, priorities, KPIs, and career development plans.
- Foster a high-performing culture of collaboration, accountability, scientific rigor, and continuous improvement.
Compliance, Quality & Vendor Management
- Ensure all scientific engagement, speaker, and congress activities comply with internal policies, industry codes, and regulatory requirements.
- Oversee external vendor and agency relationships, ensuring quality deliverables, timelines, and budget stewardship.
Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MPH, PharmD, MD, MS, or equivalent) preferred.
Required Experience & Skills
- Minimum of 8 to 10 years of relevant pharmaceutical industry experience in KOL management, medical/scientific engagement, field medical, or related roles supporting commercial or medical strategy.
- Strong strategic acumen with proven ability to craft and advance compelling, evidence‑driven scientific narratives
- Experience in HIV therapeutic area
- Demonstrated success in building and maintaining high-quality scientific relationships and networks within a therapeutic area.
- Strong track record of designing and executing speaker programs, advisory boards, and congress strategies that align with business and scientific objectives.
- Proven ability to synthesize KOL insights into strategic recommendations that impact brand positioning, evidence generation, and commercialization.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfortable delivering presentations to senior leadership and external experts.
- Strong cross-functional partnering skills and demonstrated ability to influence in a matrixed environment without direct authority
- Experience managing teams and external vendors/agency partners, with fiscal responsibility for budgets.
- Deep understanding of compliance and regulatory requirements governing scientific engagement and HCP-facing activities in the U.S.
- Flexibility and readiness to travel frequently for congresses, advisory meetings, and field engagements (up to 30% travel, including occasional weekends/evenings).
Preferred
- Existing KOL networks in HIV strongly preferred.
- Prior experience in a Medical Affairs, Field Medical, or Scientific Affairs leadership role.
- Familiarity with omnichannel approaches to HCP engagement and digital meeting platforms.
Why Join Us
- Lead scientific strategy and engagement for a mission-driven HIV portfolio with long-standing commitment and growing innovation.
- Drive measurable impact on patient care by ensuring scientific insights shape clinical and commercial strategy.
- Opportunity to build and develop a high-performing team and partner across medical, commercial, and global stakeholders.
If you are a strategic, scientifically-minded leader with strong relationship-building skills and a passion for advancing HIV care, we invite you to apply.
Required Skills
Accountability, Adaptability, Creativity, Digital Marketing, Market Access, Marketing Automation, Marketing Budget Management, Market Research, Omnichannel Marketing, People Leadership, Pharmaceutical Sales Marketing, Product Launches, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Teamwork
Preferred Skills
Communication, Marketing Strategies
Current Employees apply HERE
Current Contingent Workers apply HERE
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Requirements
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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”.
The salary range for this role is
$190,800.00 - $300,300.00
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
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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.
Employee Status
Regular
Relocation:
No relocation
VISA Sponsorship
No
Travel Requirements
25%
Flexible Work Arrangements
Hybrid
Shift
Not Indicated
Valid Driving License
No
Hazardous Material(s)
N/A
Job Posting End Date
05/5/2026
- 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.
Requisition ID:R394316
