Executive Director - Companion Animal Global Marketing, Therapeutics Portfolio Lead

Job Description

The Executive Director, Companion Animal (CA) Therapeutics Portfolio leads the strategy development and execution across markets throughout the world. It drives global marketing strategies and activities to drive successful key company CA launches and maximizes the value of in-line products. Our Animal Health Division has a very robust pipeline of new products and initiatives providing customer benefits and driving business growth.

You will lead the brand and product management of existing and new Therapeutics, marketing strategy, campaign and key message development to drive successful global strategic launches of major new innovative products. The Lead and the franchise marketing teams are expected to drive innovation to capture the most value at the customer level in alignment with division’s strategic initiatives.

This is a new position requiring a leader with vision, strong market understanding, and outstanding leadership and influencing skills. You will be responsible for setting the direction for all existing and future therapeutic products and the full therapeutic portfolio. You will also have responsibility for influencing category growth, the company’s category portfolio strategy and synergies between all product and service offerings within the therapeutic franchises.  Further, in conjunction with Research and Development, you will be driving the future pipeline direction utilizing your deep understanding of the needs of customer segments and motivators that drive behavior.

The Companion Animal Therapeutic Portfolio Lead reports directly to the Associate Vice President of the Companion Animal Business Unit and will lead a core team of 3 marketing experts but with a scope of influence extending globally, leading large extended teams consisting of marketing and sales team members across all geographies. The position will be based in Rahway, NJ.

This position is an essential and prominent leadership position and will interact and influence at all levels of the company as needed (including Senior Executives) to ensure optimized and successful CA marketing strategy, competitive differentiation, and creating cross-portfolio value.

Primary Responsibilities: 

Global Brand, Category, and Portfolio Strategy

• Accountable to lead brand and global cross portfolio strategy, understand competitive dynamics above product level, identify growth opportunities, prioritize areas of focus and growth, define competitive advantages, and set a work standard of excellence.

• Direct, oversee and develop customer strategies and portfolio marketing/ commercial strategies for all existing and future therapeutic products and full therapeutic range within and across categories, ensuring alignment with and integration of regional and key local market needs and growth opportunities.

• Develop and gain company agreement for plans to drive category growth, the company’s category portfolio strategy, and synergies between all product and service offerings within the therapeutic franchises.

• Collaborate with Regional VPs, market GMs and CA Business Unit leaders to prioritize strategic portfolio development, strategy, and timelines.

• Communicate, collaborate, and align actions with key stakeholders within the organization on core marketing launch strategies and address local launch and post-launch needs.

• Provide strong category leadership to ensure successful implementation to support product launches throughout the world.

• Build, further develop, and leverage relationships with industry to grow our Animal Health Division in market leadership for companion animal.

Market Insights, and Competitive Intelligence and Knowledge Sharing

• Understand and use key sources of information working with Competitive Intelligence resources to understand dynamics of categories and seek market opportunities.

• Build and leverage deep insight at segment level.

• Collaborate and partner with regions, markets, and customers to gain insights.

• Share learnings with the local team and internal partners.

Messaging, Positioning, Integrated Marketing Campaigns and Customer Engagement 

• Craft messaging and positioning in the categories; conduct competitive and market analysis to determine and highlight key differentiators.

• Leverage proprietary customer segmentations (vets and pet owners) to elaborate content and messages customized to targeted populations.

• Direct planning, creation, and launch creative campaigns that resonate with Veterinary professionals and Pet Owner audiences.

• Lead customer-centric thinking and craft programs to meet those target audiences.

Performance Management and Business Governance

• Establish goals and create strategy for meeting marketing deliverables and metrics; work with marketing directors to establish team and individual goals and metrics.

• Ensure launch execution of key strategic products, aligned with set ambition.

• Be an effective leader and ensure all marketing campaigns are successful, metrics-driven, and goal-oriented.

• Orchestrate Business steering process on a bi-annual basis to track implementation of long-term growth.

Team Leadership, Capability Building, and Talent Development

• Drive the development of marketing capabilities in the Global Companion Animal Business Unit and among team members.

• Lead and continually develop the franchise marketing team members to increase talent, marketing expertise, and drive performance. Shape culture to develop highly aligned, motivated marketing team.

• Identify and recruit industry-leading talent to build a high-performing team.

Education Minimum Requirement:  

• Bachelor’s Degree

• Preferred: Master’s Degree, MBA or Advanced degree in marketing, product management, and/or business strategic development. Vet degree with a marketing degree and proven business experience 

Required Experience and Skills:

• Strong life sciences, Veterinary medicine, animal science, or medical marketing and business experience is highly preferred with a minimum of 15 years of broad work experience in marketing, product management, leadership, and related sales support activities.

• Proven track record of inspirational and transformational leadership, building and leading high-performing teams from diverse countries and business backgrounds.

• Skilled in navigating and influencing within an international matrix organization, driving rapid growth, and elevating market position, aligned with global and regional objectives.

• Proven marketing experience of global successful product launches with measured results with set of clear metrics.

• Demonstrated management of multimillion-dollar budgets supporting across multiple initiatives.

• Marketing acumen and experience within new product planning, portfolio management and brand positioning.

• Excellent ability to plan and manage marketing planning workflow.

• Familiarity of the Animal Health or related industry, marketing, and commercial Operations.

• People management experience mandatory

• Strong experience in creating, defining, and leveraging segmentation, positioning, messaging, go-to-market, and lifecycle strategies based on market research, competitive analysis, and an unwavering focus on the customer.

• Managing and executing the strategic product marketing and launch plans to drive revenue.

• Setting and monitoring metrics that yield improved performance including revenue, pricing, forecasting, sales cycle, markets, and sales opportunity targets.

• Interpersonal skills that will help in developing and building strong internal and external relationships with key stakeholders to collaborate and drive results for business unit.

• Ability to challenge and drive the organization towards the success of multiple projects.

• Ability to work in matrix organization and work with people in across multiple time zones and locations.

• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills

• A great motivator, coach, and collaborator with the ability to develop high quality working relationships both internally and externally.

• Able to travel up to 35% of time including Europe, Asia, and South America.

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Business Performance Management, Change Management, Collaborative Communications, Developing Pricing Strategies, Direct Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Market Access Strategies, Market Development, Marketing Management, Marketing Strategies, Market Research, People Leadership, Pharmaceuticals Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, Results-Oriented, Strategic Market Analysis, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Transformational Leadership

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

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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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The salary range for this role is

$255,800.00 - $402,700.00

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:

Domestic

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:

07/1/2026

*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.