Clinical Director, Oncology Early Development
Merck
July 01, 2026
Remote friendly (Upper Gwynedd, PA)
United States
Clinical Research and Development
Clinical Director (Principal Scientist)
Primary responsibility: plan and direct clinical research activities for new or marketed medicines in the Early Oncology therapeutic area, including the study lifecycle (design, initiation, execution, monitoring, analysis, regulatory reporting, and publication).
Role Responsibilities:
- Plan clinical trials (designing, collaborating on operational plans) based on the clinical development strategy.
- Provide medical oversight and overall conduct of ongoing or new clinical trials for investigational or marketed drugs.
- Analyze and summarize clinical findings to support safety/efficacy decisions and inputs for new drug applications, clinical study reports, and publications.
- Participate in internal and joint internal/external research project teams for new compounds and further study of marketed compounds.
- Support business development assessments of external opportunities.
- Engage with other functional areas to support study execution.
- Work with cross-functional experts (commercialization, regulatory affairs, statistics, manufacturing) to manage clinical development projects.
- Keep colleagues informed of progress of company and competitor studies.
- Provide expert opinion internally and externally on relevant scientific questions.
Scientific knowledge maintenance:
- Stay current on new findings and methodologies.
- Identify strong investigators and establish communications with prominent clinical investigators.
- Attend appropriate scientific meetings.
- Author development documents, presentations, budgets, and position papers; facilitate global collaborations; travel ~20%.
Education:
- M.D. or M.D./Ph.D.
Required Experience/Skills:
- Industry experience or senior faculty in academia.
- 3+ years clinical medicine.
- 1+ year industry drug development or biomedical research experience in academia.
- Scientific scholarship/achievement; proven clinical medicine and biomedical research background.
- Strong interpersonal skills; strong verbal/written communication and presentation.
Preferred:
- Board Certified or Eligible in Oncology (or related).
- Prior clinical research experience and publications.
Required Skills: Clinical Development, Clinical Judgment, Clinical Research, Clinical Trials, Clinical Trial Support, Drug Discovery Research, Early Clinical Development, Oncology.
Application instructions:
- Current employees: apply via HERE (Workday Jobs Hub). Current contingent workers: apply HERE.
- Apply: https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (deadline stated on the posting).
Primary responsibility: plan and direct clinical research activities for new or marketed medicines in the Early Oncology therapeutic area, including the study lifecycle (design, initiation, execution, monitoring, analysis, regulatory reporting, and publication).
Role Responsibilities:
- Plan clinical trials (designing, collaborating on operational plans) based on the clinical development strategy.
- Provide medical oversight and overall conduct of ongoing or new clinical trials for investigational or marketed drugs.
- Analyze and summarize clinical findings to support safety/efficacy decisions and inputs for new drug applications, clinical study reports, and publications.
- Participate in internal and joint internal/external research project teams for new compounds and further study of marketed compounds.
- Support business development assessments of external opportunities.
- Engage with other functional areas to support study execution.
- Work with cross-functional experts (commercialization, regulatory affairs, statistics, manufacturing) to manage clinical development projects.
- Keep colleagues informed of progress of company and competitor studies.
- Provide expert opinion internally and externally on relevant scientific questions.
Scientific knowledge maintenance:
- Stay current on new findings and methodologies.
- Identify strong investigators and establish communications with prominent clinical investigators.
- Attend appropriate scientific meetings.
- Author development documents, presentations, budgets, and position papers; facilitate global collaborations; travel ~20%.
Education:
- M.D. or M.D./Ph.D.
Required Experience/Skills:
- Industry experience or senior faculty in academia.
- 3+ years clinical medicine.
- 1+ year industry drug development or biomedical research experience in academia.
- Scientific scholarship/achievement; proven clinical medicine and biomedical research background.
- Strong interpersonal skills; strong verbal/written communication and presentation.
Preferred:
- Board Certified or Eligible in Oncology (or related).
- Prior clinical research experience and publications.
Required Skills: Clinical Development, Clinical Judgment, Clinical Research, Clinical Trials, Clinical Trial Support, Drug Discovery Research, Early Clinical Development, Oncology.
Application instructions:
- Current employees: apply via HERE (Workday Jobs Hub). Current contingent workers: apply HERE.
- Apply: https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (deadline stated on the posting).