Associate Director, Data Science

Merck; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 251,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Long-term incentive

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision care

401(k)

Job summary

Merck's Translational Genome Analytics group is recruiting an Associate Director to join our data science team. You will perform data mining of molecular data and inform decisions across our oncology pipeline.

You will analyze multi-modal clinico-genomic data and apply deep learning to identify biomarkers and guide therapies, collaborating across AIML teams. The role requires advanced degree and substantial computational experience; strong communication and collaboration are essential.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD with a strong computational and statistical component in pharma/biotech or related field.
• Extensive experience in data mining and statistical learning for multimodal molecular profiling datasets.
• Proficiency in scientific computing environments (R/Python, Matlab) and reproducible analyses.
• Experience applying deep learning/inference frameworks to oncology or related therapeutic areas.

Responsibilities

• Enable reverse translation from clinical datasets to inform biomarker discovery and strategies.
• Analyze and visualize findings from large clinico-genomic datasets (RNAseq, WES/WGS, imaging, proteomics).
• Leverage deep learning and multivariate modeling to discover biomarkers predicting clinical outcomes.
• Collaborate with AIML teams on development of foundation models using large cohorts.

Skills

Statistical learning

Data mining

Multimodal data analysis

R

Python

MATLAB

Deep learning

Biomarker discovery

Education

Master's with 8+ years

Ph.D. with 4+ years

Tools

R

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Job Description

The Translational Genome Analytics group within the Data, AI & Genome Sciences Department is recruiting an Associate Director (Associate Principal Scientist) to join our data science team. We are seeking an experienced and innovative computational scientist to perform data mining of molecular data and inform decisions across all stages of our company’s expanding oncology pipeline.

The Successful Candidate Will

• Enable reverse translation from clinical datasets to inform biomarker discovery, combination strategies, and novel target identification linked to molecularly defined patient populations with unmet medical need.
• Analyze, summarize, and visualize the findings from large multi-modal clinico-genomic datasets which include bulk RNAseq, WES/WGS, imaging, epigenetic profiling, single-cell RNAseq, and proteomics data from oncology clinical trials and real-world datasets.
• Leverage advanced deep learning and AI methods and multivariate predictive modeling to discover novel biomarkers predictive of clinical outcomes. Demonstrated expertise in the application of statistical inference frameworks and/or deep learning approaches to the integrative analysis of multimodal, high-dimensional tumor profiling datasets in the oncology and immuno-oncology context
• Effectively collaborate with AIML teams working on development of foundation models trained on large cohorts of human data.

Qualifications

Education

• Master's (with 8+ years) or Ph.D. (with 4+ years) in a quantitative discipline such as Engineering, Applied Physics/Mathematics, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology or related field with a significant computational and statistical component and relevant experience in pharma, biotech or academic setting.

Required Experience And Skills

• Demonstrated expertise in the application of methods of statistical learning and data mining to the integrative analysis of multimodal, high-dimensional molecular profiling datasets in oncology, immuno-oncology or other therapeutic area.
• Hands‑on analysis experience with algorithms for large genetic, genomic, immunogenomic and clinical datasets (e.g. IEDB, TCGA, GTEx, DepMap).
• Expertise to code in scientific computation environments (R/Python, Matlab) with adoption of best practices for reproducible data analyses.
• Demonstrated expertise in the application of statistical inference frameworks and/or deep learning approaches to the integrative analysis of multimodal, high-dimensional disease profiling datasets in oncology, immuno-oncology or other therapeutic area.
• Strong communication and presentation skills; ability to guide and influence decisions through use of data‑driven hypotheses; attention to detail.
• Independent, flexible and collaborative mindset.

Preferred Experience And Skills

• Experience with analysis of genomic data originating from clinical trials.
• Understanding of the major concepts of cancer biology as represented in molecular data.
• Experience with a matrix environment and ability to effectively collaborate with colleagues from a wide range of disciplines.
• Record of publishing in high profile scientific journals.

Required Skills

Cancer Biology, Computational Biology, Data Analysis, Data Mining, Data Science, Genomic Data Analysis, Immuno-Oncology, MATLAB, Multimodal Analysis, Python (Programming Language), R Programming, Statistical Analysis, Statistical Learning

US And Puerto Rico Residents Only

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities.

Requirements

As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit: EEOC Know Your Rights EEOC GINA Supplement We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.

The salary range for this role is

$159,600.00 - $251,200.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

San Francisco Residents Only

We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Los Angeles Residents Only

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance.

Employee Status

Regular

Relocation

Domestic/International

VISA Sponsorship

Yes

Travel Requirements

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements

Not Applicable

Shift

1st - Day

Valid Driving License

No

Hazardous Material(s)

N/A

Job Posting End Date

09/4/2026

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: R413640