Director Commercial Operations CIS

Job Description

In line with the EEMEA footprint expansion strategy, we are embarking on a strategic expansion of our business into several new markets in the CIS region. Over the next 5 years, the CIS markets (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan) are expected to invest heavily in healthcare system improvements and thus become growth opportunities for the EEMEA Region. The current yearly business is around $8M mainly driven by UNICEF programs.

Our aim is to build and expand the commercial business in Eurasia/selected CIS markets (Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, & Mongolia) through establishing new partnerships that will enable access to our medicines and vaccines. By setting up a commercial engagement with appropriate controls, standards, and regulations in place in the selected countries, we will be serving 58M people; the revenue is anticipated to reach between $65M–$85M annually in five years, a cumulative of over $220M over 5 years. The CIS markets in scope are considered upper middle-income countries, for the exception of Uzbekistan.  

Given the complexity within those markets, we are seeking a CIS Commercial Director to build and drive the business in those markets, including setting up the right operational framework and business foundations, leading a team of 4 individuals, building relationships with the alliance partners, embedding capabilities & standards, and implementing the legal/compliance standards needed. Our current business of $8M comprises UNICEF programs to the public sector. However, this new model is expected to create/build in new areas of the private market. The CIS markets are quite complex in nature, and the business model itself requires significant expertise and experience to succeed.

The CIS Commercial Director will be the P&L owner, and will lead a team of marketeers, customer service, BPM as well as access initiatives. They will work very closely with the alliance partners to continuously build strategic capabilities to enhance customer and consumer experience and execute innovative commercial solutions. The role requires strong knowledge of the pharmaceutical market, the ability to navigate the complexity of the work of the alliance partners, deep understanding of dynamic healthcare ecosystem, a growth mindset, and the capability to lead change. This job plays a significant role in building capabilities to capture trade opportunities through structuring commercial terms, negotiating with alliance partners and building value-added relationships with our customers, as well as building the best-in-class team who can execute with excellence.

This role will be an important member of the Türkiye Cluster Leadership Team, reporting directly to the cluster Managing Director.

Roles and Responsibilities:

- Own the P&L: Demonstrate a clear understanding of the operational choices that impact both short and long-term financial outcomes and take accountability.

- Enterprise and Commercial Leader: Make decisions which prioritize Enterprise value creation in the markets while ensuring execution through resource allocation and organizational adaptation.

o Build and ensure that a holistic commercial strategy is put in place and is executed with our partners to drive positive business growth in a compliant way and in line with the country commercial policy document, ensuring proper governance on commercial terms executed in the market.

o Work closely & collaboratively with the Commercial/CTC regional stakeholders (across franchises) to create synergies for driving positive business results.

o Ensure that commercial strategies implemented in the market are in-line with the overarching Gross to Net strategy of the company.

o Execute a commercial strategy in line with business needs which drives positive business growth and brings the highest dollar value (ROI) back to the organization.

- Supply Chain & Customer Service: Effectively lead the customer service team to deliver on managing supply, inventory, in-market/to-market sales, expired goods, reconciliations, debit notes, credit notes, processing orders, demand planning and forecasting, update prices with pricing, manage supply issues, etc.

- Strategy Architect: Align cross-functional teams around a clear and compelling vision, strategic choices / objectives which will deliver both short-term and long-term business outcomes and reflect the local market environment and Enterprise priorities, have clear accountability for outcomes.

- Shape the Environment: Effectively communicate and engage external stakeholders and distributor teams to shape the market to the benefit of the company or the patients we seek to serve.

- Reputational Stewart: Role model and uphold our company values and standards to ensure compliance across all functional and levels within the CIS markets.

- People & Culture Leader: Understand and leverage cultural differences and role model our Enterprise ways of working and create a psychologically safe and collaborative culture where all employees feel respected, valued, and included.

- Build Talent: Identify, attract, coach, develop, and retain a diverse portfolio of talent, develop senior leaders in all relevant commercial functional and technical skills.  Lead a team of 4 individuals.

 

 

To be successful in this role, you will also have: 

· More than 10 years of experience, with strong strategic and financial acumen that includes leading a P&L.

· Complete understanding of P&L management and impact of commercial terms on the bottom-line & working capital related outcomes.

· Experience within a commercial organization with a complex operating model.

· Accustomed to working in a diverse and rapidly changing workload, delivering projects across several teams, timelines and within a matrix structure.

· Strategic capability to shape market access, develop the markets, and work closely with the distributors to strengthen the approach to disease management in the market.

· Strong understanding of compliance, with the ability to assess the risks and opportunities.

· Ability to motivate and lead teams and create a culture of innovation and collaboration, in a fast-evolving environment.

· Strong business acumen, commercially astute, and analytical skills, and a full understanding of how to operate successfully in the distributor operated markets set-up.

· Growth mindset, innovation and strategic thinking. Experience leading diverse teams in a matrix environment, strong leadership and influencing skills.

· Very strong organizational and project management skills as well as negotiation and problem-solving skills.

· Strong influencing and collaboration skills with the ability to navigate among many different stakeholders at various levels within the corporation, work cross-functionally and cross-divisionally and lead teams to get work done, experience interfacing with colleagues in global functions.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

· BA/BS degree or international equivalent from an accredited university

· Work Experience within distribution & trade channels is must

· Minimum 4 years of experience in a commercial role

· Minimum 1-year experience in people management

· Fluency in English is a must

· Must have Market Access or Commercial experience with dealing with Distributors, Alliance Partners, or other government institutions (e.g. MOH).

Travel time: 40%

Required Skills:

Business Solutions, Commercial Operations Management, Commercial Strategies, People Management, Profit and Loss (P&L) Ownership, Strategic Alliances, Supply Chain, Trade Strategy

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:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Remote

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

Job Posting End Date:

03/18/2026

*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.