Franchise Head - Immuno-Oncology Marketing Director

Job Description:

Cancer is one of the most significant global health challenges today, representing one of the world’s most urgent unmet medical needs.

Our goal is to translate breakthrough science into biomedical innovations to help people with cancer worldwide. For our Oncology division, helping people fight cancer is our passion, supporting accessibility to our cancer medicines is our commitment, and pursuing research in immuno-oncology is our focus to potentially bring new hope to people with cancer.

Our mission is to deliver breakthrough innovations that extend and improve the lives of people with cancer.

We are focused on advancing innovative molecules that harness the power of the immune system to fight cancer. We are making considerable investments in the field of immuno-oncology and we are committed to accelerating every aspect of development and commercialization in order to bring our innovative investigational medicines to patients around the world.

We also recognize that we have a role to play – in partnership with other key stakeholders – in helping to ensure our products are accessible and affordable to those in need. Through access to care, partnerships with the community and expansion of our capabilities, we want to help as many people with cancer as possible.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Business Unit Director, the Franchise Head is accountable for one of the our leading  IO (ImmunoOncology) franchises.

His/her main responsibilities are development and implementation of marketing plans to achieve sales, market share, and strategic objectives while remaining within approved expense budgets. He/She will manage and develop a team of brand managers.

Position is based in Rome. Regular travel required (mainly national but also international) for around 25% of time.

Areas of Responsibility

• Development, communication and execution of Oncology commercial strategy
• People management responsibilities for the Marketing team
• Leading cross-functional Commercial Team and coordinating the development of high quality, integrated cross-functional launch and brand plans
• Gaining and leveraging best-in-industry, actionable customer insights
• Assessing risks, tradeoffs, and uncertainties and developing contingency plans where warranted
• Lead the development of forecasting process (sales and costs) for the product/indications assigned in collaboration with oncology commercial operation lead and the Finance team
• Developing and maintaining strong business relationships with key customers
• Fostering innovation & discipline to ensure excellence in execution
• Representing Italy at internal regional and global meetings and external medical congresses

Education/Experience/Language

• Bachelor’s Degree required; MBA or other master preferred
• Minimum 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry
• Experience in Oncology is highly preferred
• Experience in marketing with product launch execution is mandatory
• Experience in managing direct reports required
• Experience in coordinating cross functional team
• Demonstrated track record of performance excellence in meeting targets and objectives
• Fluency in business level English is required.

Skills and competencies

• Strong understanding of the Oncology market including current & future trends
• An understanding of the general Oncology market space, not only from a marketing standpoint, but also from the point of view of colleagues in medical affairs, clinical development, regulatory affairs, and market access
• Demonstrated ability to understand and manage key levers that drive growth and profitability
• Must possess a high degree of technical expertise, have excellent interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills; must be able to coordinate and manage a team and coordinate with other teams/peers.  
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills
• Manages effectively under VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity).
• Manages bottom-line and top-line, coping with trade-offs between them.
• Outstanding leadership skills: can motivate, train, coach and give constructive feedback.
• Demonstrated leadership skills in leading and influencing cross-functional teams and communication with senior leadership
• Successful management of large budgets
• Excellent written, oral and interpersonal communication skills
• Drives effective collaboration across functions, business units, affiliates, and organizations.
• Leads and performs with the highest ethical standards and respect of industry rules and regulations.
• Strong knowledge of industry standards, laws and regulations.

This position is classified at the 'Dirigente' level, under the terms of the current National Collective Labour Agreement (NCLA) for Industry Executives.

The Primary Location for this position is

ITA - Lazio - Roma

The salary range for this position is

€88,200.00 - €149,900.00

This is the lowest and highest salary we, in good faith, believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. It is based on the applicable NCBA, as well as an individual’s experience, skills, organizational needs, and compensation levels within their peer group. If applicable, employees may also be eligible for an annual bonus, long-term incentives, or other benefits. Our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information if needed.

Required Skills:

Analytical Thinking, Analytical Thinking, Brand Management, Brand Marketing, Brand Planning, Digital Marketing, Financial Goal Setting, Financial Management, Health Care Systems, Market Access, Marketing Operations, Marketing Strategies, Market Research, Multilingual Communications, Oncology Marketing, Partner Relationship Management (PRM), People Leadership, People Management, Pharmaceutical Industry, Pharmaceutical Sales, Pharmaceutics, Presentation Delivery, Product Management, Product Rollouts, Results-Oriented {+ 7 more}

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

Secondary Language(s) Job Description:

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:

Visa Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Valid Driving LIcense:

Hazardous Material(s):

Job Posting End Date:

10/12/2026

*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.