Merge Storytelling and Technology

We bring together the minds and passions of creative pioneers, tech innovators, and data explorers to help ambitious clients solve business challenges and rise to the top. MERGE has enduring client partnerships with American Express, T-Mobile, LG, Subway, Kate Spade NY, Coach, The North Face, Meta, Adobe, BlueCross BlueShield, Abbott, Astellas, Supernus, CSL, GE Healthcare, Broward Health, Indiana University Health, Nationwide, and Morgan Stanley. With offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Montreal, New York City and Los Angeles. MERGE uses a talent-to-task process that enables clients to think higher and feel deeper about their customers.

Promote Health, Wellness & Happiness

We are committed to promoting health, wellness and happiness in the world by partnering with purpose-driven clients in purpose-driven industries in healthcare, life science, and consumer products. Our deep vertical expertise and category insights stem from decade-long partnerships with our top clients.

Emerge to the Top of Your Career

At MERGE, we strive to create a superior work experience where talented and ambitious people grow. An experience that encourages people to think higher and feel deeper. An experience where people engage their minds and hearts to do the best work of their careers.

As our VP, Strategy Leader, you will…

Spark new ways of looking at the world and help drive creative solutions that address those realities. You serve as a strategic brand leader for our life sciences clients and take a lead in growing their business, partnering to guide our most senior clients toward bold solutions. You are also a key leader within internal teams, proactively contributing to help extended teams deliver work that meaningfully addresses client issues to drive growth.

Be Accountable and Responsible

Translate business questions and challenges into actionable ideas.
Uncover human insights and craft strategies based on qualitative and quantitative research that inspire teams to deliver meaningful work.
Lead effective collaboration with clients, creative leads, and extended partners in informal and formal settings (e.g. brand workshops, creative ideation).
Lead Brand Strategy on assigned accounts, including delivering outputs such as audience insights (e.g. research findings), positioning, launch strategies, and brand plans. You’re flexible with tailoring frameworks to the job at hand.
Present strategic recommendations from a core brand strategy to a creative brief to a strategic roadmap, and partner to develop and sell inventive solutions.
Inspire work beyond traditional communications tactics; develop and foster strategies and ideas that solve the real client issue.
Apply brand and marketing strategy principles, frameworks, and methodologies to drive brand growth
Demonstrate and encourage curiosity about culture and people. You’re attuned to learning about new ways of thinking and new technologies that can help support our work for clients.
Take on a strategic leadership role in thought leadership and new business efforts.
Support the development and deployment of strategy staff.

These are the qualifications we're looking for

12+ years of relevant professional experience, with 4+ years of life sciences experience at an agency or consultancy preferred
A brand builder who excels at leading strategy for large projects and client accounts, you think progressively about the many ways a brand is built today
A proven ability to enlist and inspire teams in developing culturally relevant ideas
A trusted thought leader who champions and innovates upon brand thinking and approaches to drive the best outcome. Command of brand strategy and a variety of marketing models
Familiar with a range of research methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative solutions. Recognizing how agencies tend to have access to the same tools, you’re inventive at arriving at fresh customer insights
The ability to consult with clients on how brands grow and how to measure this impact in a way that invites investment
An outstanding storyteller, accomplished at inspiring and persuading others
You believe that working in true partnership with others leads to the best outcomes
You’ve done this work with various companies, whether start-ups or members of the

Fortune 100, and you are adept at engaging with senior clients and their teams to realize ambitious outcomes

At MERGE, we’re committed to fostering an environment where our team members can thrive in both their careers and personal lives, ensuring they feel supported and empowered to succeed.

MERGE is proud to invest in benefits that include meaningful Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, 401K, Lifestyle Spending Account, Employer Paid Life & Disability Insurance, Flexible Time off & Holidays plus many other benefits and rewards.

MERGE believes in transparency and equity. In accordance with state regulations, we’re proud to include salary ranges in our job postings to ensure fair compensation practices.

The salary range for this role is $180,000 - $190,000, based on the individual’s skills, experience, qualifications, location, and other relevant factors. The salary pay range is subject to change and may be modified at any time.

Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States.

#LI-VM1

#LI-HYBRID

And here’s how we live our values at MERGE

Ability. Mastering our craft
Agility. Delivering with a growth mindset
Humility. Collaborating for shared success

MERGE is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

MERGE welcomes and celebrates diversity regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status or people with abilities. We believe that the more diverse we are, the more creative our work will be!

Apply for this Job

* Required

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Phone *

Location (City) *

Resume/CV *

Dropbox Google Drive

(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)

Cover Letter

Dropbox Google Drive

(File types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf)

Do you have at least 4+ years brand strategy experience working on pharmaceutical (drug launch, new indications) directed at HCP and patients: including outputs such as: audience insights (e.g. research findings, personas), brand strategy (e.g. positioning, brand architecture), and campaign-related assets (creative briefs, and measurement plans)? *

We are looking for a minimum of 12 years of relevant professional experience, with 4+ years leading strategy for life science accounts at an advertising agency. Briefly tell us about your advertising strategy leadership experience. *

How many years of brand strategy experience do you have with in the pharma vertical and and what brands have you worked on? *

Are you legally authorized to work in the United States? *

What is your desired salary? *

How did you hear about us? *

If you were referred, who were you referred by? *

LinkedIn Profile *

Will you now, or in the future, require sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g. H-1B visa status, OPT, STEM OPT, F-1)? *

If you selected other, please specify. *

We are in a hybrid WFH/office environment. Are you able to commit to going into the office for 2 days per week? *

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in MERGE’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Gender

Are you Hispanic/Latino?

Please identify your race

Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Veteran Status

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305

Page 1 of 1

OMB Control Number 1250-0005

Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
Blind or low vision
Cancer (past or present)
Cardiovascular or heart disease
Celiac disease
Cerebral palsy
Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
Diabetes
Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
Intellectual or developmental disability
Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
Short stature (dwarfism)
Traumatic brain injury

Disability Status

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Enter the verification code sent to to confirm you are not a robot, then submit your application.

Security Code *

This application was flagged as potential bot traffic. To resubmit your application, turn off any VPNs, clear the browser's cache and cookies, or try another browser. If you still can't submit it, contact our support team through the help center.