Rare Disease Account Specialist - Central California/Nevada

Job Description

We are looking for dynamic individuals who thrive in a team environment and are driven to succeed. The Rare Disease Account Specialist serves as a key point of contact to customer accounts for our Company’s Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) business. This role will be critical in establishing our presence in PAH and our commitment to supporting the efforts of PAH healthcare providers in improving patient health outcomes. This role will generate demand for our Company products, build and maintain a strong rapport with providers and office staff, engage and support account executives who help secure formulary access, and design account strategies to meet local customer needs.

This is a field-based position covering the Central California/Nevada area that includes the following cities: Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Burbank and Las Vegas, NV.

Primary Activities & Responsibilities will include but are not limited to the following:

Account Management:

- Responsible for the overall customer experience of all stakeholders within target accounts; builds relationships with providers and staff, as appropriate, and acts as cross-functional point of contact
- Develops deep understanding of account objectives, strategies, unique challenges, and stakeholder influence networks to generate strategic insights
- Plans & conducts quarterly strategic planning sessions for key accounts with our Company's relevant stakeholders to create shared understanding of market context, account, & stakeholder needs and refine account strategy, including objectives, strategic imperatives, and tactics. Our Company's relevant stakeholders includes both customer-facing and HQ roles
- Coordinates the execution of account strategies, tracks progress against objectives, and refines plans as needed to deliver on goals
- Proactively solicits feedback from account stakeholders to better understand needs and become a trusted resource

Care Team Engagement:

- Provides approved disease and product information and resources to approved members of the patient care team, including MDs, NPs, PAs, and other provider roles
- Shares information on target profiles to support the identification of appropriate patients for therapy
- Supports the education of and responds to questions from approved providers on the care team on the appropriate administration of our Company products
- Provides information and education to appropriate providers using approved resources on our Company’s patient support program to help address patient access and coverage issues
- Acts as the primary point of contact for all care team stakeholders and coordinates with our Company's other customer-facing roles to ensure customer needs are met in a compliant, orchestrated fashion
- Demonstrates commitment to compliance through understanding of regulations, industry codes, and policies that govern customer interactions and consistent focus on ensuring compliance with them

Ecosystem Management:

- Partners with internal colleagues to plan and host medical education events within designated territory
- Attends and supports our Company's presence at national & local congress/society events
- Proactively creates connections across care teams within designated territory to build appropriate provider-provider relationships
- Partners with HQ role(s) to plan and execute events with key thought leaders practicing within a designated territory

Key capabilities & competencies:

Scientific/Clinical Proficiency:

- Deep understanding of clinical and scientific aspects of PAH, competitor products, and our Company products: Disease state knowledge.
- Standards of care and emerging clinical trends.
- Relevant diagnostics and testing.
- Patient demographics.

Ecosystem Understanding:

- Deep understanding of regional and local health care networks: stakeholders and their relative level of influence, referral dynamics, payer controls, patient demographics, specialty pharmacy activity, etc.
- Understanding of access & insurance coverage processes in PAH, specifically those of payers most active in designated territory.

Business Acumen:

- Ability to understand and define customer business models and infer strategic objectives.
- Ability to create account strategies that deliver on both our Company and customer objectives.
- Understanding of customer business operations and PAH practice management standards.

Collaboration:

- Ability to effectively and efficiently partner with our Company's appropriate cross-functional stakeholders to develop and execute customer strategies & tactics.
- Ability to lead without authority across individuals in different reporting structures to ensure execution against objectives.
- Ability to partner with other Rare Disease Account Specialists to share best practices, peer-coach new team members, and create an environment of continual learning.

Education Minimum Requirements:

- Bachelor’s degree with 8 years sales experience OR a minimum of High School diploma with at least 10 years of equivalent experience.
- Equivalent experience can be: Professional sales experience, work experience in the healthcare/scientific field (including pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical devices) that is not sales related, professional marketing experience, or military experience.

Required Experience & Proficiencies:

- Minimum of 8 years’ experience in healthcare industry.
- Keen interpersonal skills, including abilities to interact with individuals from a variety of backgrounds and to influence senior levels of management, key thought leaders, and customers.
- Strong presentation and communication skills, including the ability to understand, distill, and convey complex scientific and public health-related concepts to different audiences.
- Strong prioritization skills and ability contextualize decisions into broader corporate strategies.
- Technologically proficient (e.g., MS Office Suite, iPad).

Preferred Experience and Skills:

- Advanced degree (e.g., MBA, PharmD, APP).
- Minimum of 2 years current/recent experience in the PAH market.
- Minimum of 2 years current/recent experience with rare disease products.
- 2+ years of account management experience in the healthcare industry.

Our Human Health Division maintains a “patient first, profits later” ideology. The organization is comprised of sales, marketing, market access, digital analytics and commercial professionals who are passionate about their role in bringing our medicines to our customers worldwide.

NOTICE FOR INTERNAL APPLICANTS

In accordance with Managers' Policy - Job Posting and Employee Placement, all employees subject to this policy are required to have a minimum of twelve (12) months of service in current position prior to applying for open positions.

If you have been offered a separation benefits package, but have not yet reached your separation date and are offered a position within the salary and geographical parameters as set forth in the Summary Plan Description (SPD) of your separation package, then you are no longer eligible for your separation benefits package. To discuss in more detail, please contact your HRBP or Talent Acquisition Advisor.

Required Skills:
Account Management, Business, Collaboration, Customer-Focused, Customer Relationship Building, Interpersonal Relationships, Lead Generation, Pharmaceutical Market, Prioritization, Product Knowledge, Sales, Sales Pipeline Management, Sales Presentations, Sales Proficiency, Sales Strategy Development

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

The primary location for this posting is:
USA - California - Bakersfield

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:
$156,900.00 - $247,000.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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 .

Additional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

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:
50%

Flexible Work Arrangements:
Remote

Shift:
Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:
Yes

Hazardous Material(s):
n/a

Job Posting End Date:
11/5/2026
*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.