
Associate Director, Project Management - Chemistry Manufacturing & Controls (CMC) (HYBRID)
Merck
Summary
The CIPM Associate Director, Project Manager, is a core member of Development and Commercialization Teams (DCTs), partnering with team leads to develop strategies and execute drug and vaccine development efforts to progress the R&D pipeline. The Associate Director provides project management leadership and drives cross-functional teams with sufficient influence and proficiency in project management to take on challenging assignments with minimal guidance. Projects span the full CMC development continuum from Line of Sight to First in Human to Transfer to Supply stage-gates.
Job description
Position Description/Summary
The CIPM Associate Director, Project Manager, is a core member of Development and Commercialization Teams (DCTs), partnering with team leads to develop strategies and execute drug and vaccine development efforts to progress the R&D pipeline. The Associate Director provides project management leadership and drives cross-functional teams with sufficient influence and proficiency in project management to take on challenging assignments with minimal guidance. Projects span the full CMC development continuum from Line of Sight to First in Human to Transfer to Supply stage-gates.
Primary Responsibilities
- Manage the end-to-end CMC development process, including projects of significant complexity; drive cross-functional teams and lead by influence to develop comprehensive strategies and ensure successful execution.
- Act as an enterprise leader by guiding teams through the creation, approval, and execution of integrated project plans appropriate to the project's phase of development and complexity.
- Drive development of a CMC strategy that is optimized for the portfolio.
- Build and maintain project schedules and critical project information, using these tools to integrate activities across key functional areas, proactively identify risks, and ensure clear and effective communication with key team, management, and cross-departmental stakeholders.
- Leverage relationships and networks to improve and enhance team dynamics, proactively identifying and removing obstacles to drive business results.
- Navigate company process and organizational norms to enable teams to understand corporate governance and business requirements, thereby enabling informed decision-making.
- Lead 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.
- Participate in CIPM and 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.
- Provide mentoring, coaching, and oversight to Specialist and Senior Specialist project managers working on common projects, sharing lessons learned and best practices to positively impact the community.
- Support multiple projects providing team management, stakeholder management, and governance preparation support to DCT teams.
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.
- Experience with the planning and execution of strategies for drug / vaccine product registration and commercialization / life-cycle management (can be R&D, manufacturing, or commercial perspective), with demonstrated ability to translate knowledge and expertise to other development teams and areas.
- Strong communication skills, both oral and written.
- Knows when and how to speak up and appropriately raise issues to team and to management.
- Keeps both team members, departmental colleagues (as appropriate), and management fully apprised of project initiative status and issues at the right level of detail.
- Demonstrated ability to serve as a resource for colleagues and program teams.
- Effective interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively across different teams and networks; able to foster cooperation in others, using the different perspectives of others to generate ideas.
- Ability to succeed in a dynamic environment with flexibility to respond to changing priorities.
Preferred Experience and Skills
- Advanced scientific 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.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree required
- Minimum of five (5) years of experience in project management or a related role required
- Experience with planning and execution of strategies for drug / vaccine product registration and commercialization / life-cycle management
- Strong communication skills, both oral and written
- Ability to raise issues appropriately to team and management
- Demonstrated ability to serve as a resource for colleagues and program teams
- Effective interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively across teams and networks
- Ability to succeed in a dynamic environment with flexibility to respond to changing priorities
Benefits
- Medical, Dental & Vision
- Retirement Benefits
- 401(k)
- Paid Holidays
- Vacation
- Compassionate & Sick Days
- Annual Bonus
- Long-Term Incentive
Company overview
Merck & Co., Inc., known as Merck in the United States and Canada and MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) internationally, is a premier American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey. Founded in 1891 as the U.S. subsidiary of the German Merck Group, the company became independent following World War I and has since grown into one of the world's largest biomedical companies, ranking fourth globally by revenue. Merck operates across three core business segments: pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and animal health products. The company is renowned for its groundbreaking research and development, having brought numerous life-saving medicines to market including Keytruda (pembrolizumab), a leading immunotherapy for cancer treatment that generated $29.5 billion in 2024 revenue, and Gardasil, a revolutionary HPV vaccine. With approximately 75,000 employees worldwide, Merck maintains a robust pipeline of innovative therapies focused on oncology, vaccines, hospital acute care, cardiology, neuroscience, virology, immunology, and diabetes. The company invests heavily in R&D, spending $17.9 billion in 2024 alone, demonstrating its commitment to advancing scientific discovery. Merck's legacy spans over 130 years of bringing hope to humanity through important medicines and vaccines, operating with a purpose to use leading-edge science to save and improve lives globally while fostering an inclusive workforce and responsible business practices.