Job Description

Position Description/Summary

The GPAM Associate Director, Project Manager, is a core member of Early Drug Development and/or Late Drug Development Teams, partnering with team leaders to develop strategies and execute our Company's drug and vaccine development efforts to progress the Research & Development pipeline and realize its full potential. The Associate Director is expected to provide project management leadership and drive cross-functional teams with sufficient influence and mastery of project management to take on challenging assignments with minimal guidance. Projects could span any therapeutic areas in which our company is actively engaged. In addition to project work, the Associate Director is expected to contribute to ongoing business process improvement and talent development in Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM).

Primary Responsibilities

• Managing the end-to-end drug development process, including projects of significant complexity; driving cross-functional teams and leading by influence to develop comprehensive strategies and ensure successful execution.
• Act as enterprise leaders by guiding teams through the creation, approval, and execution of integrated project plans appropriate to the project's phase of development and complexity. This includes integrating strategic and tactical input from diverse disciplines (e.g., clinical, regulatory, market access, manufacturing, CMC, commercial, and other areas) as applicable to the project.
• Building and maintaining project schedules and critical project information in enterprise project management systems and databases.
• Using these tools to integrate activities across key team members, proactively identify risks, and ensure clear and effective communication with key team, management, and cross-departmental stakeholders.
• Leveraging relationships and networks to improve and enhance team dynamics; proactively identifying and removing obstacles to drive business results.
• Navigating our company's process and organizational norms to enable teams to understand corporate governance and business requirements, thereby enabling decision-making.
• Leading key team meetings including creating thoughtful agendas, ensuring appropriate participation, contributing project management insights, and following up to ensure the team continues to make progress while holding others accountable.
• Participating in Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM) departmental initiatives and workstreams aimed at improving the way that we work and the way that we interact with one another as well as other departments.
• Improving business processes to find new efficiencies and connect people to the information that they need.
• Providing mentoring, coaching, and oversight to Specialist and Senior Specialist project managers working on common projects.
• Sharing lessons learned and best practices to impact the Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM) community positively.

Required Education, Experience, And Skills

• Bachelor’s degree required; concentration in a scientific or applied discipline preferred.
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in project management or a related role required.
• Product development experience required; in a pharmaceutical/biotech industry preferred.

Preferred Experience And Skills

• Advanced degree (e.g., MS, MBA, Ph.D., PharmD) preferred.
• Experience and knowledge of clinical drug development strongly preferred; including the different phases of development and how the various functional areas contribute to a comprehensive strategy.
• Project management certification (PMP) and/or formal coursework/training in project management strongly preferred.

Required Travel

Minimal

About

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

U.S. Hybrid Work Model

Effective September 5, 2023, employees in office-based positions in the U.S. will be working a Hybrid work consisting of three total days on-site per week, Monday - Thursday, although the specific days may vary by site or organization, with Friday designated as a remote-working day, unless business critical tasks require an on-site presence.

Expected US Salary Range

$135,500.00 - $213,400.00

Available Benefits

Available benefits include bonus eligibility, long term incentive if applicable, health care and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, paid holidays, vacation, and sick days.

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.

Employee Status

Regular

Relocation

Domestic

VISA Sponsorship

No

Travel Requirements

25%

Flexible Work Arrangements

Hybrid

Shift

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License

No

Hazardous Material(s)

n/a

Job Posting End Date

01/30/2025