Associate Director, Media Capabilities and Agency Lead

Job Description

Your role as Associate Director, Media Capabilities and Agency Lead, carries the vital responsibility of advancing our company's digital marketing capabilities. If you possess expertise in media channels, partnerships, ad tech and agency management and have a passion for driving innovation, best practices and operational excellence and value in these areas, this position is ideal for you.

Our company's Media team brings together media intelligence, enterprise scale, strategic partnerships, compliant channel best practices, data and technology to make better investment decisions, unlock greater value from our direct partnerships and Agency relationship, and continuously advance how our company's connects with customers.

The Lead will provide strategic media consultation to assigned brands and business teams, serving as a trusted advisor on channel best practices, governance, reviews, approvals, and media investment decisions. This role will also lead partnership management across key internal and external stakeholders, fostering alignment, transparency, accountability, and long-term value creation. Additionally, the Lead will oversee agency relationships for assigned brands and advance value-based media contracting approaches in partnership with Finance and Procurement.

You will work closely with the rest of the Media Team and collaborate with Marketing, Architects, BU Engagement Leads, Media Agency as well as a variety of other stakeholders and partners/vendors at our company and externally.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Establish yourself as an Media Capabilities Lead and Agency Governance Point for assigned brands. Address media channel best practices and governance, agency relationship, media operations, workflow bottlenecks and media value accountability.

• Continuously assess and challenge media operations approaches and processes and identify improvement opportunities, resolve systemic issues, and drive operational excellence.

• Lead assigned channel expertise in collaboration with Channel Guidance teams, maintaining current, in-depth knowledge of the evolving marketplace, defining enterprise best practices, and supporting governance reviews and approvals.
• Educate and advise internal stakeholders on channel strategy, capabilities, and best practices, translating marketplace developments into actionable recommendations and shaping a forward-looking channel innovation roadmap.
• Serve as the internal partnership lead for priority and emerging media partners, overseeing strategic roadmaps, joint business plans, capability evaluations, pilots, innovation opportunities, and delivery against agreed commitments.

• Strengthen agency accountability and transparency by establishing clear expectations, monitoring delivery and performance, escalating risks, and ensuring agency recommendations are rigorous, evidence-based, and aligned with our company's priorities.
• Connect brand-level needs with media capabilities, identifying opportunities to scale successful approaches, reduce duplication, and maximize the value of our company's collective investments, intelligence, data, technology, and partnerships.
• Oversee multiple efforts and projects at once.
• Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, processes, guidelines and principles.

Education Minimum Requirement:  

• Bachelor’s Degree.

Required Experience and Skills:

• 5+ years of demonstrated experience in media channel planning, media buying and Agency Management. In depth specific channel expertise is preferred.
• Have strong understanding of Media operations, buying strategies in variety of channels, measurement approaches and advertising technologies.
• Proven ability to drive strategic initiatives from start to finish, with focus on collaboration, streamlined ways of working and achieving results.
• Proactive, independent thinker and collaborator.
• Demonstrated experience in managing vendor/agency relationships.
• Exceptional communication and relationship management skills – deep, cross-functional collaboration is required.

• Ability to build strong relationships and collaborate effectively with leaders and peers.

Required Skills:

Agency Relationship Management, Business Alignment, Business Decisions, Channel Management, Channels Strategy, Collaborative Leadership, Cross-Functional Project Management, Customer Insights, Digital Consumer Engagement, Digital Marketing, Ideation, Leadership Reporting, Omnichannel Marketing, Partnership Management, Relationship Management, Strategic Alignment, Strategic Alliances, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Strategy Development

Preferred Skills:

Digital Media Strategy

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:

EEOC Know Your Rights

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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

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:

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

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:

Domestic

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:

11/6/2026

*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.