Director (Principal Scientist), Clinical Research, Respiratory
Merck
August 07, 2026
Remote friendly (Upper Gwynedd, PA)
United States
Clinical Research and Development
The Clinical Director (Principal Scientist) plans and directs clinical research activities for new or marketed medicines in the Cardiovascular and Respiratory therapeutic area, including study design, initiation, execution, monitoring, analysis, regulatory reporting, and publication.
Responsibilities
- Plan clinical trials based on clinical development strategy
- Provide medical oversight and overall conduct of clinical trials for investigational or marketed drugs
- Analyze/summarize clinical findings to support safety/efficacy decisions and support regulatory submissions, clinical study reports, or publication
- Participate in internal and joint internal/external research project teams
- Support business development assessments of external opportunities
Additional responsibilities
- Engage with other functional areas to support study execution
- Work with cross-functional experts (e.g., commercialization, regulatory, statistics, manufacturing)
- Provide expert internal/external opinions on scientific questions
- Maintain scientific knowledge (scientific updates, identify investigators, communicate with investigators, attend meetings)
- Author development documents, presentations, budgets, and position papers; facilitate global collaborations
- Travel ~20% to manage clinical research projects
Education
- M.D. or M.D./Ph.D.
Required qualifications/experience
- Industry or senior faculty (academia) experience
- 3+ years clinical medicine experience
- 1+ year industry drug development or academic biomedical research experience
- Record of scientific scholarship; strong communication and interpersonal skills; teamwork
Preferred qualifications
- Board Certified/Eligible in Pulmonology, Cardiology, or related field
- Pediatric and/or adult care experience
- Clinical research experience and prior publication
Skills (required)
- Cardiology, Pulmonology, Clinical Development/Research, Clinical Trials, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Early Clinical Development, Intellectual Curiosity
Skills (preferred)
- Cardiovascular Diseases; Clinical Studies
Application
- Apply via: https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (current employees: Workday Jobs Hub)
Responsibilities
- Plan clinical trials based on clinical development strategy
- Provide medical oversight and overall conduct of clinical trials for investigational or marketed drugs
- Analyze/summarize clinical findings to support safety/efficacy decisions and support regulatory submissions, clinical study reports, or publication
- Participate in internal and joint internal/external research project teams
- Support business development assessments of external opportunities
Additional responsibilities
- Engage with other functional areas to support study execution
- Work with cross-functional experts (e.g., commercialization, regulatory, statistics, manufacturing)
- Provide expert internal/external opinions on scientific questions
- Maintain scientific knowledge (scientific updates, identify investigators, communicate with investigators, attend meetings)
- Author development documents, presentations, budgets, and position papers; facilitate global collaborations
- Travel ~20% to manage clinical research projects
Education
- M.D. or M.D./Ph.D.
Required qualifications/experience
- Industry or senior faculty (academia) experience
- 3+ years clinical medicine experience
- 1+ year industry drug development or academic biomedical research experience
- Record of scientific scholarship; strong communication and interpersonal skills; teamwork
Preferred qualifications
- Board Certified/Eligible in Pulmonology, Cardiology, or related field
- Pediatric and/or adult care experience
- Clinical research experience and prior publication
Skills (required)
- Cardiology, Pulmonology, Clinical Development/Research, Clinical Trials, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Early Clinical Development, Intellectual Curiosity
Skills (preferred)
- Cardiovascular Diseases; Clinical Studies
Application
- Apply via: https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (current employees: Workday Jobs Hub)