Sr. Spclst, Project Management

Merck Gruppe - MSD Sharp & Dohme; Bogotá; Hybrid; COP 60,000,000 - 100,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck Sharp & Dohme Bogotá seeks a Senior Specialist to coordinate OR business operations and project management across Latin America Outcomes Research. You will align timelines, budgets, risks, and dependencies, and drive priority initiatives with cross-functional stakeholders.

The role emphasizes executive-ready updates, stakeholder engagement, and rigorous follow-through to enable scientific leadership to focus on evidence strategy and regional collaborations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in a relevant field.
• 5+ years in project management, business operations, or portfolio coordination.
• Experience coordinating multiple projects and stakeholders in parallel.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate OR portfolio and project coordination across Latin America.
• Translate priorities into structured plans with milestones and owners.
• Monitor progress, risks, dependencies, and decision logs.
• Prepare executive-ready updates and governance materials.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and external partners.
• Capture learnings and scale initiatives regionally.

Skills

Adaptability

Budget Development

Change Management

Data Analysis

Outcomes Research

Project Management

Process Improvements

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Health Administration, Project Management, Life Sciences, or a related field

Job description

Senior Specialist, OR Business Operations & Project Management

The Opportunity

Reporting to an OR Regional Director, the Senior Specialist, OR Business Operations & Project Management will coordinate project management, business operations, administrative execution, and the acceleration of priority initiatives across the Latin America Outcomes Research organization.

• OR Portfolio and Project Coordination: Providing integrated visibility of OR projects, timelines, budgets, risks, dependencies, decisions, and deliverables across Latin America.

• Acceleration of priority OR initiatives: translating priorities established by OR leadership into structured plans, coordinating stakeholders, monitoring progress, and facilitating implementation across Latin America.
• Research Partnership Coordination: coordinating institutional landscape mapping, partner-engagement activities, and the organization of regional research-partnership information, under the strategic direction of accountable OR leads.

The position will collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders and external research partners across Latin America to support the timely and structured execution of Outcomes Research activities.

Key Responsibilities

OR Portfolio and Project Coordination

• Support project planning and execution by tracking timelines, milestones, action items, and follow-ups.
• Maintain portfolio trackers, dashboards, status reports, action trackers, and decision logs.
• Consolidate project status, budget information, risks, dependencies, and upcoming decisions.
• Prepare project updates, pre-read materials, and portfolio summaries for governance and leadership discussions.
• Monitor progress against agreed timelines and deliverables and elevate potential delays or operational barriers.
• Support the development and maintenance of project-management tools, templates, and processes.

Acceleration of Priority OR Initiatives

• Translate priority initiatives defined by OR Latin America leadership into structured implementation plans, with clear objectives, milestones, accountable owners, dependencies, required inputs, risks, and success measures.
• Coordinate cross-country and cross-functional stakeholders, working sessions, and implementation activities under the direction of the accountable initiative owner.
• Monitor execution, facilitate the timely exchange of information, and elevate material barriers, gaps, unresolved dependencies, or decisions requiring leadership attention.
• Capture implementation learnings and support the structured adaptation and expansion of successful initiatives across Latin American countries.
• Prepare executive-ready updates, implementation roadmaps, and decision-support materials for initiatives that improve OR portfolio visibility, collaboration, operating models, use of data, digital enablement, knowledge sharing, and regional execution.

Research Partnerships Coordination

• Coordinate the development and maintenance of a regional landscape of research institutions, data partners, academic networks, and healthcare organizations.
• Collect and organize publicly available and internally approved information on institutional capabilities, data assets, research experience, and areas of expertise.
• Coordinate partner-engagement activities defined by accountable OR leads, including meeting preparation, documentation, action tracking, and follow-through.
• Maintain structured records of institutional profiles, interactions, areas of potential collaboration, agreed actions, and next steps.
• Prepare regional partnership landscape updates and materials for OR leadership discussions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Health Administration, Project Management, Life Sciences, or a related field.
• More than 5 years’ experience in project management, business operations, portfolio coordination, or administration within a corporate, matrixed, or regulated environment.
• Demonstrated experience independently coordinating multiple projects, stakeholders, timelines, dependencies, and deliverables in parallel.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, communication, sound judgment, and execution discipline.

• Experience preparing executive-ready presentations, portfolio updates, meeting materials, and decision-support documentation.

• Professional proficiency in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with the ability to conduct meetings and prepare business communications in all three languages.
• Ability to work effectively in a cross-functional and multicultural environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience in Outcomes Research, Medical Affairs, Market Access, business operations, portfolio management, or organizational transformation.
• Experience coordinating regional or multicountry initiatives across Latin America.
• Experience implementing process improvements, digital enablement initiatives, operating-model enhancements, or cross-functional programs.
• Project-management, agile, change-management, or process-improvement training or certification.

Your Impact

You will strengthen portfolio execution, accelerate priority OR initiatives, improve research-partnership coordination, and enhance the administrative effectiveness of the Latin America Outcomes Research organization. Through disciplined project management, integrated portfolio visibility, and structured follow-through, you will enable OR leadership and scientific leads to focus on evidence strategy, scientific decisions, and strategic stakeholder relationships.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Adaptability, Budget Development, Change Management, Critical Thinking, Data Analysis, Epidemiological Research, Health Care, Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Hospital Management, Knowledge Sharing, Leadership, Market Access, Medical Affairs, Organizational Effectiveness, Outcome Measures, Outcomes Research, Process Improvements, Program Management, Progress Monitoring, Project Development, Project Implementations, Project Management, Project Management Governance, Project Management Tools {+ 9 more}

Preferred Skills:

Outcome Measures, Outcomes Research, Process Improvements, Program Management, Progress Monitoring, Project Development, Project Implementations, Project Management, Project Management Governance, Project Management Tools, Clinical Trial Management, Real-World Evidence, Data Analytics

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. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.

Employee Status: Regular

Flexible Work Arrangements: Hybrid

Job Posting End Date: 11/13/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.

Requisition ID: R424586