AI/ML Capabilities Lead for Therapeutic R&D

Merck; Rahway (NJ); On-site; USD 173,000 - 273,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Annual bonus potential

Long-term incentive plan

Job summary

Merck seeks an AI/ML Capability Engineering Team Lead to supervise a cross-functional team of AI/ML engineers and data scientists. You will guide NLP and agentic AI initiatives across R&D, partnering with product teams to design and optimize workflows and ensure responsible deployment.

You’ll oversee strategy, governance, and mentoring, driving cutting-edge AI methods, evaluating models, and presenting outcomes to leadership to advance patient outcomes.

Qualifications

• PhD in data science, AI/ML/LLM/Agentic system engineering, computer science, semantic engineering, or related field with 5 years of industry experience.
• MS with 6 years relevant industry experience.
• BS with 7 years relevant industry experience.
• 5 years of technical leadership experience with AI/ML, NLP, or Agentic AI projects or products.
• 2 years of experience supervising team members.

Responsibilities

• Lead a cross-functional team of AI/ML engineers and data scientists.
• Develop and deploy AI/ML workflows and agentic AI capabilities across R&D pipelines.
• Partner with stakeholders to ideate, design, and build impactful AI solutions.
• Mentor and recruit AI/ML talent; supervise project execution and delivery.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy and ethical AI guidelines.
• Present plans and results to science and IT leadership.

Skills

Apache Airflow

Apache Spark

Artificial Intelligence

Natural Language Processing

Python

Git

SDLC

Model Deployment

Education

PhD in data science/AI/ML/Agentic systems

MS in a related field with industry experience

BS in a related field with industry experience

Tools

LangGraph

Airflow

Docker

Job description

Merck seeks an AI/ML Capability Engineering Team Lead to supervise a cross-functional team of AI/ML engineers and data scientists. You will guide NLP and agentic AI initiatives across R&D, partnering with product teams to design and optimize workflows and ensure responsible deployment.

You’ll oversee strategy, governance, and mentoring, driving cutting-edge AI methods, evaluating models, and presenting outcomes to leadership to advance patient outcomes.