Associate Director, Launch Excellence & Portfolio Capability Management

The Associate Director, Launch Excellence & Portfolio Capability Management will be a key member of the Global Launch Excellence and Portfolio Management team within Global Commercial Operations. The team is responsible for end-to-end coordination of product launches and portfolio management across Livestock and Companion Animal species.

This role will drive the mobilization and execution of Key Revenue Driver (KRD) launch squads, support launch governance processes, and lead the development and continuous improvement of Launch Excellence capabilities, tools, and methodologies, including New Product Prioritization, Control Tower, IRIS administration, and related frameworks.

Reporting to the Executive Director, Launch Excellence & Portfolio Management, this individual will partner across Commercial, R&D, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Regulatory Affairs, Finance, and regional teams to provide a consolidated view of launch progress, enhance organizational transparency, and enable informed leadership decision making.

The successful candidate will demonstrate strong leadership, project management, stakeholder engagement, and communication skills while fostering a culture of continuous improvement, learning, and operational excellence.

• Partner with cross-functional teams to mobilize and govern Key Revenue Driver (KRD) launch squads.
• Serve as the primary Launch Excellence point of contact for designated KRD product launches.
• Collaborate with Marketing Leadership to identify Launch Leads and align Project Management resources to support launch execution.
• Develop and manage mechanisms to consolidate launch status, risks, milestones, and key decisions across all KRD programs.
• Provide leadership with a holistic and transparent view of launch performance and execution progress.
• Support onboarding and training of new Project Managers on Launch Excellence methodologies, tools, governance, and best practices.

• Serve as a key interface between Launch Excellence and Portfolio Management to ensure alignment across launch programs and portfolio priorities.
• Coordinate and facilitate Launch Excellence governance forums, including leadership reviews, regional touchpoints, and internal operating meetings.
• Monitor launch performance, risks, dependencies, and critical milestones, escalating issues as appropriate.
• Support portfolio decision-making by providing launch-related insights, progress updates, and recommendations.

• Own the development, deployment, and continuous enhancement of Launch Excellence capabilities, frameworks, and operating models.
• Lead ongoing refinement of tools and processes, including New Product Prioritization, Control Tower, IRIS, and other launch management solutions.
• Capture and institutionalize lessons learned from launches to continuously improve methodologies and ways of working.
• Identify and drive functional and cross-functional process improvement opportunities across the launch ecosystem.
• Measure and track Launch Excellence KPIs to evaluate performance and identify areas for optimization.
• Organizational Enablement & Communications
• Drive Launch Excellence awareness, adoption, and organizational capability building across global teams.
• Partner with Learning & Development and functional stakeholders to design and deliver training, communications, and enablement programs.
• Develop toolkits, playbooks, best practices, and knowledge-sharing resources that strengthen launch capabilities across the organization.
• Promote a culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and operational excellence.

• Manage day-to-day IRIS administrative activities and related governance processes.
• Maintain launch data integrity, reporting standards, and portfolio visibility tools.
• Support special projects and strategic initiatives sponsored by the Launch Excellence and Portfolio Management leadership team.

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Advanced degree (MBA, MS, or equivalent) preferred.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in Launch Operations, PMO, Process Excellence, Commercial Operations, Capability Building, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex cross-functional programs in a matrixed global environment.
• Experience developing and implementing frameworks, methodologies, toolkits, or governance models.
• Strong understanding of commercialization, launch management, portfolio management, and product development processes within Animal Health or related industries.

• Strong project and program management capabilities.
• Proven ability to influence and lead without direct authority across stakeholder groups.
• Excellent executive communication, presentation, and storytelling skills.
• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear, actionable insights for senior leadership.
• Experience facilitating governance forums and decision-making processes.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven mindset.
• Proficiency in Excel, Power BI, and other reporting and visualization tools.
• Experience with project management platforms such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Planisware, or similar solutions is preferred.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment.
• Growth mindset with a passion for continuous improvement, innovation, and organizational capability building.

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The salary range for this role is

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.