Senior Director, Epidemiology
Merck
June 29, 2026
Remote friendly (West Point, PA)
United States
Clinical Research and Development
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide management and scientific oversight of a team of epidemiologists focused on Respiratory Disease and Hospital Specialty Medicine therapeutic areas.
- Make key epidemiologic decisions; own deliverables (strategies, plans, timelines, reports) and team study budgets.
- Solve operational and cross-functional issues (study execution, resourcing, personnel, cross-divisional coordination) to deliver on schedule and within budget.
- Provide expert guidance on primary sample and data collection/natural history studies supporting clinical programs in Vaccine/Infectious Disease.
- Lead people management (recruit, assign projects, allocate resources, performance management, approve expenses, coaching/mentoring/professional development).
- Strengthen external scientific reputation through publishing/presenting, peer review, and academic/consortia activities.
- Lead program-wide epidemiology/RWE strategy aligned with clinical, regulatory, and HTA strategies.
- Set product/indication epidemiology strategy; review regulatory documents/publications for accuracy/alignment.
- Provide scientific/regulatory guidance pre- and post-approval, including interpreting results, advising submissions/responses, and participating in regulatory/external meetings.
- Identify opportunities and propose innovative/advanced RWE methodology for clinical development and regulatory decisions.
- Build cross-functional and external partnerships; translate epidemiology needs into business terms; cultivate executive sponsors/KOLs; share findings to secure stakeholder consensus.
- Travel: 5%.
Education/Qualifications:
- Required: PhD in Epidemiology with 8+ years relevant experience.
- Preferred: PhD in Epidemiology (or related field) or MD with additional research training in Epidemiology.
Required Experience/Skills:
- 8+ years relevant experience (preferably pharma/biotech).
- People management experience.
- Extensive experience directing large epidemiologic projects; knowledge of epidemiologic approaches in pharma/biotech; peer-reviewed publication record.
- Molecular epidemiology background.
- Creative problem-solving and excellent oral/written communication.
Preferred Experience/Skills:
- Experience designing/conducting epidemiologic biomarker and natural history studies.
- Expertise using innovative/advanced methods to generate RWE supporting clinical development and regulatory decisions.
- Provide management and scientific oversight of a team of epidemiologists focused on Respiratory Disease and Hospital Specialty Medicine therapeutic areas.
- Make key epidemiologic decisions; own deliverables (strategies, plans, timelines, reports) and team study budgets.
- Solve operational and cross-functional issues (study execution, resourcing, personnel, cross-divisional coordination) to deliver on schedule and within budget.
- Provide expert guidance on primary sample and data collection/natural history studies supporting clinical programs in Vaccine/Infectious Disease.
- Lead people management (recruit, assign projects, allocate resources, performance management, approve expenses, coaching/mentoring/professional development).
- Strengthen external scientific reputation through publishing/presenting, peer review, and academic/consortia activities.
- Lead program-wide epidemiology/RWE strategy aligned with clinical, regulatory, and HTA strategies.
- Set product/indication epidemiology strategy; review regulatory documents/publications for accuracy/alignment.
- Provide scientific/regulatory guidance pre- and post-approval, including interpreting results, advising submissions/responses, and participating in regulatory/external meetings.
- Identify opportunities and propose innovative/advanced RWE methodology for clinical development and regulatory decisions.
- Build cross-functional and external partnerships; translate epidemiology needs into business terms; cultivate executive sponsors/KOLs; share findings to secure stakeholder consensus.
- Travel: 5%.
Education/Qualifications:
- Required: PhD in Epidemiology with 8+ years relevant experience.
- Preferred: PhD in Epidemiology (or related field) or MD with additional research training in Epidemiology.
Required Experience/Skills:
- 8+ years relevant experience (preferably pharma/biotech).
- People management experience.
- Extensive experience directing large epidemiologic projects; knowledge of epidemiologic approaches in pharma/biotech; peer-reviewed publication record.
- Molecular epidemiology background.
- Creative problem-solving and excellent oral/written communication.
Preferred Experience/Skills:
- Experience designing/conducting epidemiologic biomarker and natural history studies.
- Expertise using innovative/advanced methods to generate RWE supporting clinical development and regulatory decisions.