Associate Director Global Trademark Development

Job Description

Our company is dedicated to delivering innovations that extend and improve the lives of people worldwide. We are committed to supporting accessibility to medicine, providing new therapeutic options, and collaborating with governments and payers to help people who need our medicines and vaccines gain access to them. We focus on innovation, translating breakthrough science into innovative medicines, and launch excellence, to help people globally.

In support of critical launches, the Global Trademark Development (GTD) team in Human Health (HH) Marketing drives, manages, and implements the end-to-end process for development of brand name trademarks. This includes supporting business objectives of the brand while ensuring adherence to internal processes and regulatory guidelines.  To prepare for these launches, we are looking for an Associate Director (AD) to join our center of excellence.

Description: 

Under the direction of the GTD Director, the Associate Director will be responsible for developing multiple global brand name strategies for pipeline and business development assets of HH marketing in accordance with health authority and governmental trademark office requirements. The Associate Director will manage individual projects within multiple therapeutic areas, functioning as the single, accountable, global point of contact on each.  Interacting with internal marketing, regulatory, and trademark legal colleagues and third- party vendors, the AD will coordinate the creation, review, testing, and final selection of global brand name candidates.

Primary Activities:

• Leads the development of worldwide naming strategy for Human Health assets to optimize and obtain trademark approval in time for health authority submissions.

• Leads regulatory submission and rejection strategies for global, regional, and local brand names to ensure timely approvals and partners with internal regulatory colleagues in preparing trademark submission documents to health authorities.

• Manages the multi-year process for the generation, development, and evaluation of global trademark candidates for all Human Health pipeline and business development assets.

• Leads a cross-functional team through the development and submission process.

• Partners with trademark attorneys to ensure brand names are legally viable.

• Ensures patient safety-based principles are applied to all aspects of name development. 

• Synthesizes evaluation results to provide final name recommendations to the commercial team and upper management.

• Provides leadership, support, and expertise to country marketing and regulatory organizations for pipeline and licensing trademark needs. 

• Builds knowledge of country-specific regulations related to trademark development to become a subject matter expert.

• Educates colleagues on the trademark development process to build company-wide awareness and reinforce appropriate trademark usage.

• Stays abreast of global trademark-related regulatory and legal issues through attendance at industry-related conferences and meetings.

• Supports IT updates and enhancements to trademark applications and databases.

Educational Requirement:

• Bachelor's degree (B.S/B.A)

Required Experience and Skills:

• Minimum 8 years biopharmaceutical or equivalent experience.

• Experience with collaborating, influencing without authority, and working successfully in building consensus with Marketing and other teams and the ability to successfully work across geographic boundaries.

• Project management, including the ability to adapt to changing priorities and manage multiple projects simultaneously at various stages of completeness and complexity.

• Strong leadership, problem solving, teamwork, analytical, written, and verbal communication skills.

• Proficient presentation skills.

• Demonstrates high learning agility in new subject areas.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• A minimum of 2 years of experience in pharmaceutical brand name development including working knowledge of regulatory guidelines and trademark legal registration processes.

• Experience interacting with internal regulatory colleagues in filing documents with health authorities.

• Process optimization experience to best deliver work in accordance with timelines and regulations.

• Ability to develop relationships with external vendors and industry experts.

• Exceptional interpersonal skills.

Location:  Rahway, NJ

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Analytical Skills, Communication, Content Management, Creativity, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Detail-Oriented, Name Development, Process Improvements, Professional Presentation, Project Management, Regulatory Compliance, Strategic Planning

Preferred Skills:

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:

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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

U.S. Hybrid Work Model

Effective September 5, 2023, employees in office-based positions in the U.S. will be working a Hybrid work consisting of three total days on-site per week, Monday - Thursday, although the specific days may vary by site or organization, with Friday designated as a remote-working day, unless business critical tasks require an on-site presence.This Hybrid work model does not apply to, and daily in-person attendance is required for, field-based positions; facility-based, manufacturing-based, or research-based positions where the work to be performed is located at a Company site; positions covered by a collective-bargaining agreement (unless the agreement provides for hybrid work); or any other position for which the Company has determined the job requirements cannot be reasonably met working remotely. Please note, this Hybrid work model guidance also does not apply to roles that have been designated as “remote”.

The salary range for this role is

$139,600.00 - $219,700.00

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.

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:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

NA

Job Posting End Date:

12/6/2025

*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.