Vaccines Business Unit Director

Job Description

The Business Unit Director (BUD), Vaccines, is a pivotal senior leadership position responsible for steering the strategic direction, commercial performance, and organizational readiness of our company’s Vaccines business in Romania. Reporting directly to the Managing Director, this role encompasses full accountability for the business unit’s growth, profitability, and market impact. The BUD serves as a key member of the Romanian leadership team, driving innovation, shaping the external environment, and fostering a culture of excellence across the organization.

Scope of the Role

The Business Unit Director oversees all aspects of the Vaccines business, including marketing, sales, with collaboration in the areas of market access, pricing, policy engagement, and stakeholder relations. This leader is charged with evolving the go-to-market model, ensuring launch excellence for new products and indications, and optimizing the performance of the existing portfolio.

We are seeking a resilient, strategic leader who thrives under pressure and inspires positive energy across the team. The ideal candidate maintains a broad perspective on the vaccines ecosystem, anticipates trends, and guides strategic choices. They navigate cross-functional tensions, align stakeholders, and challenge the status quo constructively—fostering growth among cross functional and  Leadership Team members. With an entrepreneurial mindset, they shape the external environment, empower others while staying hands-on, and collaborate effectively to drive business success. 

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership & Vision: Defines and executes the long-term strategy for the Vaccines business, anticipating market trends and guiding the organization through complex challenges, enabling networks to simplify, as well as to ensure commercial excellence and strong collaboration cross-functionally within and above country, in order to enable future growth and expansion of the Vaccines BU.

• Commercial Excellence: Holds full P&L responsibility, delivering strong financial results, market share growth, and operational milestones. Oversees annual planning, forecasting, and execution.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Builds and nurtures relationships with internal stakeholders (Policy, Medical, Market Access) and external partners, ensuring alignment and support for business objectives.

• Team Development & Empowerment: Leads, motivates, and develops a high-performing sales and marketing organization. Champions a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Market Shaping & External Engagement: Identifies growth opportunities, shapes strategies to address evolving customer needs, and drives access to innovative vaccines. Engages with key customers, scientific leaders, and stakeholders to enhance patient outcomes.  Identifies brand growth opportunities, setting portfolio priorities and securing appropriate business plans within the country. 

• Launch Excellence: Prepares for and executes successful launches of new products and indications, while maintaining focus on optimizing existing business performance. 

• Stakeholder Management: Represents the Vaccines business at national and international levels, requiring approximately 50% travel to engage with top customers and partners.

Perform

• Execution by assuming responsibility for the P&L within a multifunctional organization and achieving annual budget targets, in a highly strategic and competitive therapeutic area

• Achieve targets and secure strong financial performance and successfully deliver on operational commitments including top line revenue growth, market share improvement and increased profits

• Develops in collaboration with the cross functional team the Brand Plan for Romania and follows up execution, based on specific KPIs

• Develops sales and expenses forecasting and follows up implementation of approved action plan.

• Develops relevant promotional and non-promotional material and programs, customizes global and regional materials to be appropriate to local market

• Integrates MCM activities, customer solutions projects, communication plans and other customer related activities and ensures accomplishment of strategic objectives

• Collaborates with support functions to conduct market research/analysis.

• Conducts frequent field visits to liaise with SLs and other physicians, gaining deeper market understanding and customer insights.

Transform

• Develop imaginative, broad based and non-traditional approaches to develop Vaccines business opportunities, using a customer driven, end-to-end approach. Flex and adapt rapidly to new situations, develop and implement solutions addressing the customers’ needs and requirements, and continually seek for new opportunities

• Evaluate alternatives, have the constitution for change, and the skills to drive it. Encourage others to generate new ideas

Inspire & Develop

• Lead, engage, motivate and inspire the sales and marketing organizations. Set direction for the business and align the team to enthusiastically execute on Vaccines strategy. Demonstrate ability to lead and influence people and team who are not reporting directly to her/him

• Set the winning mindset approach and unleash aspirations to achieve success

• Attract, retain and develop strong and diverse talents inclusive of succession planning

Collaborate

• Liaise and build strong rapport with the local and cluster organization by integrating the broader organization’s expertise and know-how into the operations and take guidance effectively from and contribute to corporate knowledge resources

• Collaborate extensively and successfully with Managing Director, and Romanian peers, cross-Business-Unit resources, local and regional colleagues.

Reports to: This position reports to Managing Director

Location: This position must be located in Romania

Extent of Travel: ~ 50% national and international

Education & Experience, Competencies

The ideal candidate will demonstrate a blend of strategic vision, commercial acumen, and people leadership. Key competencies and qualifications include:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in Life Sciences, Business, or Economics preferred

• Minimum 5 years’ senior experience in the pharmaceutical industry, ideally with vaccines and successful product launches

• Proven track record in leading business units, managing P&L, and driving commercial growth

Core Competencies

• Strategic Perspective: Ability to anticipate market trends, understand the broader vaccines ecosystem and interdependencies, and guide the team to make choices that position the business for short, medium and long-term success. Establishes clear directions and stretching objectives

• Commercial & Financial Acumen: Expertise in market planning, forecasting, and delivering strong financial results; skilled in portfolio management and regulatory compliance.

• Leadership & Team Development: Inspires, motivates, and develops high-performing teams; fosters a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement. Empowers team members to take ownership while remaining engaged and hands-on when needed. Balances delegation with active involvement to ensure accountability and results. Builds and sustains team morale, energizing others around towards a shared purpose, even in challenging circumstances. Has a nose for talent and brings out the best in people.

• Change Catalyst: Demonstrates resilience and adaptability; drives transformation and encourages creative problem-solving. Challenges current thinking in a positive, respectful way, contributing to the evolution and effectiveness of the leadership team.

• Networking & Partnerships: Builds strong relationships across functions, geographies, and levels; influences stakeholders and navigates complex matrix organizations. Skilled at navigating natural tensions within cross-functional teams. Aligns diverse stakeholders towards common goals, fostering collaboration and mutual respect.

• External Engagement: Shapes the external environment, builds partnerships, and maintains trusted relationships with key customers and scientific leaders. Thinks and acts entrepreneurially identifying new opportunities and adapting strategies to maximize impact in a dynamic healthcare landscape.

• Communication: Outstanding communicator, able to convey complex ideas clearly and persuasively. Demonstrates composure and effectiveness under pressure.

Additional Assets

• Deep understanding of healthcare systems, market dynamics, and cultural diversity in Romania

• Experience in launch excellence and lifecycle management for pharmaceutical products

• Strong networking skills and ability to represent the business at national and international levels

Leadership behaviors:

• Strategy & Planning

• Coaching & Development

• Execution Excellence

• Change Catalyst

• Motivation & Inspiration

• Networking & Partnership

Professional Competencies:

• Business & Financial acumen

• Working across boundaries

• Project Management

• Productive Communication

• Problem Solving

• Product knowledge and portfolio management

• Regulatory and compliance knowledge

• Lifecycle management

Desired:

• Knowledge of the company, processes and clients and/or customers

• Knowledge of brand heritage, evolution and critical success factors

• Deep understanding of cultures and health care systems in market

• Strong understanding of medical concepts and products. Ability to interpret and discuss medical literature and educational material

Language: Fluent in conversational and written English

Required Skills:

Accountability, Accountability, Agile Methodology, Animal Health Care, Brand Growth, Commercial Excellence, Communication, Communication Management, Data Analysis, Digital Marketing, Financial Performance, Financial Performance Management, Health Outcomes, Innovation, Management Process, Market Access, Market Access Strategies, Marketing Strategies, Market Research, Market Share Analysis, Oncology Marketing, People Leadership, Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M), Profit and Loss (P&L) Management, Relationship Building {+ 4 more}

Preferred Skills:

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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:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

Job Posting End Date:

12/16/2025

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