Job Description

Position Overview

The Patient Journey Manager is responsible for understanding, designing and continuously improving the end-to-end patient journey within the respective therapeutic area. The role identifies key patient needs, barriers and opportunities across the journey and translates these insights into actionable solutions that improve patient awareness, access, experience and health outcomes.

The Patient Journey Manager works cross-functionally across Marketing, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Sales, Digital and other relevant functions to ensure that initiatives are designed around patient and healthcare system needs. The role requires a strong patient-centric mindset, strategic thinking, cross-functional leadership and execution excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Patient Journey Strategy & Insights

·  Develop and continuously refine the end-to-end patient journey for the respective therapeutic area.

·  Identify patient needs, barriers, drop-off points and opportunities across individual stages of the journey.

·  Collect and integrate insights from patients, healthcare professionals, Scientific Leaders, customer-facing teams, market research and available data.

·  Understand the healthcare ecosystem and how different stakeholders influence the patient journey and patient outcomes.

·  Translate insights into clear strategic priorities, intervention opportunities and measurable objectives.

Patient Journey Solutions

·  Design and implement solutions addressing prioritized barriers and unmet needs across the patient journey.

·  Develop initiatives supporting disease awareness, health literacy, prevention, diagnosis, HCP recommendation, access and pathway navigation, based on therapeutic-area needs and the applicable regulatory framework.

·  Ensure solutions are based on identified patient and stakeholder needs rather than individual channels.

·  Leverage appropriate digital, omnichannel and face-to-face approaches to maximize impact.

·  Continuously evaluate and optimize solutions based on insights, performance and stakeholder feedback.

Cross-functional Leadership

·  Lead cross-functional collaboration around defined patient journey priorities.

·  Bring together Marketing, Medical Affairs, Market Access, Sales, Digital and other relevant functions to address critical barriers.

·  Align stakeholders around a common understanding of the patient journey and the most important intervention points.

·  Facilitate prioritization based on patient impact, business relevance and feasibility.

·  Ensure a strong connection between strategic priorities and local execution.

Stakeholder & Ecosystem Engagement

·  Develop a strong understanding of the stakeholders influencing different stages of the patient journey.

·  Work with healthcare professionals, Scientific Leaders and other relevant external stakeholders in collaboration with Medical Affairs and customer-facing teams.

·  Identify opportunities for partnerships and initiatives that can address systemic barriers within the patient journey.

·  Regularly engage with customer-facing teams to validate insights and understand changes in the healthcare environment.

Performance, Budget & Optimization

·  Establish measurable objectives and KPIs for priority patient journey initiatives.

·  Monitor the impact and effectiveness of implemented solutions and translate findings into actionable improvements.

·  Manage allocated budgets and focus resources on initiatives with the highest expected impact.

·  Contribute patient journey and market insights to relevant planning and forecasting processes.

·  Share learnings and best practices across the organization and with relevant regional or global teams.

Ideal Candidate Profile

·  University degree in Marketing, Business, Life Sciences, Public Health or a related field.

·  Experience in pharmaceutical or healthcare marketing, patient engagement, customer experience, market access or a related commercial role.

·  Strong understanding of healthcare systems and patient/customer pathways.

·  Proven experience leading cross-functional projects in a matrix organization.

·  Strong analytical capability and ability to translate insights and data into strategic priorities.

·  Experience developing patient- or customer-focused solutions across multiple channels.

·  Strong project management, communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.

·  Capability to work independently and proactively and manage multiple interconnected initiatives.

·  Czech or Slovak and English language proficiency; driving licence.

Competencies & Leadership Expectations

• Patient-centric mindset

• Strategic and systems thinking

• Cross-functional leadership

• Influence without authority

• Data-driven decision making

• Innovation and solution orientation

• Execution excellence

• Collaboration and stakeholder management

• Agility and adaptability

• Results orientation and accountability

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

Required Skills:

Creative Campaign Development, Engagement Marketing, Interpersonal Communication, Interpersonal Relationships, Marketing Budget Management, Marketing Data Analysis, Marketing Strategy Implementation, Strategic Planning

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

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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:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

NA

Job Posting End Date:

11/10/2026

*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.