Job Description
**The Associate Director, Launch Excellence PMO will work closely with cross-functional stakeholders, including BU/Brand teams, Market Access, Medical, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Commercial, and KA, to support priority new launch brands through disciplined planning, tracking, and follow-through, ensuring launch-related actions, risks, and dependencies are actively managed across functions. **
**Launch PMO Support **
Provide PMO support to priority launch brands across different launch stages.
Maintain integrated launch plans, timelines, action trackers, and key milestone views for supported assets, to keep aligned to launch framework and global guidance.
Work closely with asset teams to ensure launch priorities are clearly tracked and progressed.
**Drive Readiness & Follow-Through **
Drive readiness on key launch items and support launch review.
Follow through on launch review outputs to ensure issues, decisions, and action items are translated into execution.
Coordinate with cross - functional team to drive execution, maintain visibility on what is on track, what is at risk, and what requires leadership attention.
**Cross-Functional Experimentation & Learning **
Work with BU/Brand teams and cross-functional stakeholders to test and experiment with improved launch approaches in real business settings.
Accumulate learning from pilots, execution feedback, and practical launch challenges across supported brands.
Provide actionable insights for reiteration, helping teams refine launch frameworks/ plans, improve execution, and strengthen future launch practices.
Requirements
**Education / Professional Certificate **
- Bachelor’s degree (Master or MBA is plus)
**Working Experience **
8+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, PMO, commercial operations, consulting, or cross-functional business management.
Hands-on experience in launch execution, readiness tracking, project/program management, or complex cross-functional coordination is preferred.
Experience supporting new product launches or launch-related governance in a matrix organization is strongly preferred.
Consulting background is a plus.
**Professional knowledge and skill **
Strong PMO discipline, including milestone management, action tracking, risk identification, issue escalation, and follow-through.
Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work closely with BU/Brand teams and multiple cross-functional partners.
Strong sense of execution, accountability, and urgency, with the ability to keep teams focused on closure and outcomes.
Strong organization and communication skills, including the ability to prepare clear status updates and leadership-ready materials.
Resilient, proactive, and detail-oriented, with strong ownership and persistence.
Professional proficiency in English and Mandarin.
**Required Skills: **
Adaptability, Agile Project Management, Collaborative Development, Cross-Team Collaboration, Detail-Oriented, Portfolio Management, Project Management, Resource Allocation, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking
**Preferred Skills: **
Current Employees apply HERE
Current Contingent Workers apply HERE
**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:
No Travel Required
Flexible Work Arrangements:
Hybrid
Shift:
Not Indicated
Valid Driving License:
No
Hazardous Material(s):
n/a
Job Posting End Date:
06/30/2026
***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. **