Associate Director, HP/PBM Customer Manager

at Merck in Augusta, Maine, United States

Job Description

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 (https://wd5.myworkday.com/msd/d/task/1422$6687.htmld)

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE (https://wd5.myworkday.com/msd/d/task/1422$4020.htmld)

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 (https://survey.sogosurvey.com/r/aCdfqL) 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:

EEOC Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/22-088\EEOC\KnowYourRights\10\20.pdf)

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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 (https://www.msdprivacy.com/us/en/CCPA-notice/)

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 b