Associate Director - Independent Medical Education

Job Description

Role Summary:

• The Associate Director, Independent Medical Education, (AD IME), position resides in the Value & Implementation (V&I) organization, which includes Global Medical and Scientific Affairs as well as Outcomes Research.  
• This position sits within the V&I Global Medical & Value Capabilities (V&I GMVC) Global Medical Proficiency and External Affairs (GMPEA) organization and is primarily responsible for planning, coordinating and reviewing IME grant proposals.
• This position is responsible for IME strategy including IME grant-proposal assessment, conducting educational-needs assessments to identify and address gaps in health-care professional (HCP) education, cross-functional collaboration, budget management, and compliance oversight.

Responsibilities and Primary Activities:

• Develops and executes IME strategy by identifying practice gaps and supporting high-impact education designed to improve clinical practice and patient care.  
• Supports innovative, independently created medical education that is aligned with our therapeutic area (TA) priorities to advance HCP knowledge, skills, competence, and performance.
• Conducts educational-needs assessments to identify educational gaps of HCP learners ensuring grant support is addressing evidence-based needs, working with regional company representatives to ensure global understanding of educational needs.
• Partners cross-functionally and within GMPEA to understand educational needs from stakeholders including Global Professional Society Affairs (GPSA) and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Center of Excellence (HQI CoE).
• Maintains knowledge of trends in IME and continuing professional development (CPD) along with emerging technological approaches using adult-learning principles. Establishes and facilitates Grant Review Committee (GRC) meetings across areas of responsibility to gain insights on medical and scientific alignment of IME grant proposals to areas of educational need (AEN) and TA priorities.
• Liaises with global and U.S. V&I stakeholders to compliantly share outcomes of completed IME initiatives and TA educational-impact summaries.
• Ensures compliance with existing internal and external guidelines as they pertain to continuing medical education, as well as the internal standards of our company based on its interpretation of the applicable laws and regulations.
• Assesses, negotiates and monitors operating budget for approved IME programs throughout the lifecycle of a grant.
• Maintains appropriate processes and financial controls to ensure completion of programs within established budgets.
• Attends, monitors and assesses supported IME programs.

Required Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Minimum:

• BA/BS degree.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience across the pharmaceutical industry and professional medical organizations, with at least one year of pharmaceutical industry experience required.
• High level of business acumen and influence, as well as communication, planning, collaborative, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
• Experience applying adult-learning principles and assessing IME against the seven levels of Moore’s Outcomes of Knowledge and Practice Gaps.

Preferred:

• MPH, PhD, or credentialed health-care professional degree (PharmD, NP, PA).
• Previous external-facing position.
• Experience in one or more TAs with company-supported IME.

Required Skills:

Continuing Medical Education (CME), Grant Review, Healthcare Education, Medical Affairs, Medical Knowledge, Meeting Management, Pharmaceutical Industry, Project Management

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.

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The primary location for this posting is:

USA - Pennsylvania - North Wales (Upper Gwynedd)

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:

$173,200.00 - $272,600.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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.

Additional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

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:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

11/30/2026

*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.