Senior Manager, Change Management

Job Description:

We welcome remote candidates across the continental U.S. This role requires flexibility to align with Pacific Time Zone hours as needed and may include occasional client travel to the Los Angeles area.

Company Description

Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 16,000+ employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with additional offices in the US, Europe, and Asia. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network.

Job Description

The Senior Manager, Change Management is responsible for designing and executing the adoption strategies that drive successful transformation outcomes across commercial transformation initiatives. As a key member of the Transformation Enablement Office, this role focuses on audience-specific change planning and enablement, stakeholder engagement, organizational readiness, communications, training, adoption measurement, and employee experience.

The Senior Manager will work across multiple transformation workstreams to ensure employees understand what is changing, why it matters, how it affects their role, and what actions are required for successful adoption. This role serves as the operational lead for the Adoption Engine and helps convert transformation strategies into tangible behavioral change and business results.

The ideal candidate for this position must have a strong passion for problem solving and a deep understanding of how businesses, brands and customers interact, with an advanced understanding of the rapidly evolving role that data and technology play in this relationship. Candidates must possess the ability to support business growth opportunities and develop strategic recommendations to support the growth of client relationships.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute change management strategies that support enterprise commercial transformation initiatives and drive successful adoption of new capabilities, processes, and ways of working.

• Partner with transformation, business, and program leadership teams to integrate change management activities into overall transformation roadmaps and value realization plans.

• Conduct stakeholder assessments and organizational impact analyses to identify adoption risks, readiness gaps, and mitigation strategies.

• Develop audience-specific change and enablement plans tailored to impacted stakeholder groups, roles, and business functions.

• Design and execute stakeholder engagement strategies that build alignment, sponsorship, and commitment across the organization.

• Create and manage communications strategies, messaging frameworks, and communication plans that support transformation objectives and business outcomes.

• Develop executive presentations, leadership communications, talking points, and transformation updates for governance forums and senior stakeholders.

• Facilitate workshops, leadership alignment sessions, stakeholder meetings, and working sessions to drive engagement and decision-making.

• Design and implement organizational readiness frameworks, readiness assessments, and go-live support activities.

• Develop training and enablement strategies, including learning journeys, role-based training plans, job aids, playbooks, and adoption resources.

• Establish and manage change champion networks and feedback mechanisms to strengthen adoption and continuously improve change interventions.

• Support pilot-to-scale readiness assessments and adoption planning to ensure successful transition from implementation to sustained business use.

• Define, track, and report on adoption, readiness, engagement, and change management KPIs to measure transformation effectiveness.

• Partner with governance, PMO, and business value teams to support dependency management, executive reporting, and value realization efforts.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, business stakeholders, and external partners to drive measurable adoption outcomes and sustained transformation success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.

• 7+ years of experience in change management, organizational transformation, consulting, employee experience, or organizational effectiveness.

• Experience leading change activities for enterprise technology, process, and operating model transformations.

• Strong background in stakeholder engagement, communications, training, organizational readiness, and adoption measurement.

• Experience conducting change impact assessments and stakeholder analyses.

• Exceptional facilitation, presentation, and communication skills.

• Demonstrated ability to influence leaders and stakeholders across complex organizations.

• Proficiency developing executive-level presentations and communications materials.

Preferred

• Prosci, CCMP, or similar change management certification.

• Experience supporting commercial transformation initiatives within pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences, or healthcare organizations.

• Experience supporting AI, content operations, digital transformation, workflow, CRM, customer engagement, or enterprise platform implementations.

• Familiarity with employee experience design, workforce transformation, and organizational adoption frameworks.

• Experience with executive enablement platforms, learning technologies, and communications tools.

The annual salary range for this position is $94,000-$132,750. Placement within the salary range is based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and other factors permitted by law.

Benefits available with this position include:

• Medical, vision, and dental insurance,

• Life insurance,

• Short-term and long-term disability insurance,

• 401k,

• Flexible paid time off,

• At least 15 paid holidays per year,

• Paid sick and safe leave, and

• Paid parental leave.

Dentsu also complies with applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, in accordance with its plans and policies. For further details regarding Dentsu benefits, please visit www.dentsubenefitsplus.com.

To begin the application process, please click on the “Apply” button at the top of this job posting. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and qualified candidates will be contacted for next steps.

At dentsu, we believe great work happens when we’re connected. Our way of working combines flexibility with in-person collaboration to spark ideas and strengthen our teams. Employees who live within a commutable distance of one of our hub offices, currently located in Chicago, metro Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City, are required and expected to work from the office three days per week (two days per week for employees based in Los Angeles). Dentsu may designate other Hub offices at any time. Those who live outside a commutable range may be designated as remote, depending on the role and business needs. Regardless of your work location, we expect our employees to be flexible to meet the needs of our Company and clients, which may include attendance in an office.

#LI-LE1 #LI-MERKLE #LI-REMOTE

Location: Detroit Brand: Merkle Time Type: Full time Contract Type: Permanent

Dentsu is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do this without regard to race, color, national origin, sex , sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religious practices and observances, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

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