Associate Director Digital Compliance

Merck; North Wales (Montgomery County); Hybrid; USD 129,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

401(k) retirement plan

Paid holidays and vacation

Job summary

Merck is seeking an Associate Director, Digital Compliance, to advance our AI governance program, ensuring responsible adoption of new digital solutions and alignment with privacy commitments. You will advise business units and help embed governance across a global organization.

You will partner with privacy colleagues to ensure personal data handling complies with global laws, and you will contribute to training, incident reporting, and monitoring of AI initiatives. Hybrid work is available.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in law, privacy, digital technologies, or public policy preferred.
• 7+ years in compliance, privacy, regulatory affairs, digital governance, or related functions in highly regulated environments.
• Experience implementing and supporting cross-functional governance programs.
• Strong understanding of data protection, governance, AI regulations, and risk management.

Responsibilities

• Lead expansion and maturation of the AI governance framework and training materials.
• Oversee AI compliance assessments and counsel on control implementation.
• Identify, evaluate, and enable AI use cases aligned with privacy commitments and digital trust standards.
• Collaborate with privacy teams to ensure AI initiatives handling personal data comply with laws.
• Promote a culture of digital compliance, transparency, and ethical accountability.
• Support training and expansion of the RAI Steward network within departments.

Skills

AI governance

Privacy compliance

Regulatory affairs

Communication

Cross-functional leadership

Education

BA/BS

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

Job Description

Our Global Privacy and Digital Trust Program is grounded in organizational accountability, responsible data stewardship, consistent global practices and standards, and ongoing oversight to ensure we adapt to evolving regulatory expectations as technology and the business continue to transform.

The Associate Director, Digital Compliance, will help enable the compliant and responsible adoption of emerging technologies and digital solutions across our organization. This role will help shape the future of our company AI governance program, acting as a trusted advisor to business units, and fostering a culture of responsible technology use across the organization.

Primary Responsibilities

• Facilitate the expansion, implementation, and maturity of our company AI governance framework, including, but not limited to contributing to use‑case specific guidance, standard operating procedures, leading the development of enterprise‑wide and role‑based training materials, supporting incident reporting and analysis, and developing monitoring plans.
• Assist with the execution and completion of AI compliance assessments for new and existing AI initiatives, including, where necessary, counseling the business on timely and appropriate implementation of controls.
• Support business stakeholders in the identification, evaluation, and enablement of AI use cases. Ensure that digital innovation accelerates business goals while strictly aligning with our privacy commitments and digital trust standards.
• Partner closely with privacy colleagues to ensure that key AI initiatives involving the ingestion of personal information align with global privacy laws.
• Foster a corporate culture of digital compliance, transparency, and ethical accountability regarding technology use.
• Support continuous training, engagement, and expansion of the RAI Steward network. Empower the stewards to proactively champion responsible AI practices and digital compliance within their respective departments.

Required Qualifications

• B.A./B.S. required; advanced degree in law, privacy, digital technologies, or public policy preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in compliance, privacy, legal, regulatory affairs, digital governance, or related functions, preferably in a pharmaceutical, life sciences, healthcare, or highly regulated environment.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and supporting complex, cross‑functional governance programs.
• Strong understanding of data protection frameworks, data governance, emerging AI regulations and governance, and risk management principles.
• CIPP/E/US/CIPM or AIGP preferred.

Required Skills

• Strong interpersonal and oral and written communication skills, including the ability to explain complex privacy and AI concepts to non‑technical stakeholders, and experience interacting in and presenting to large groups.
• Strong technical aptitude and demonstrated experience with AI and ML technologies.
• Established and effective business counseling skills, rooted in subject matter expertise in the relevant guidance, policies, codes, and regulations, as well as their application to business objectives, initiatives, and processes.
• Proven ability to deliver training, awareness, and change management activities related to AI governance, digital governance and emerging risks.
• Demonstrates a practical, analytical, and collaborative approach to problem‑solving.
• Ability to develop strong working relationships with key stakeholders across the organization.
• True “team player” with the ability to integrate seamlessly into a cohesive global team.
• Sound judgement founded on strong ethical values and compliance principles, demonstrated through timely and disciplined decision making.

AI Systems, Compliance Program Development, Digital Governance, EU AI Act, Governance Framework, Information Technology Compliance, Legal Regulatory Compliance, Policy Implementation, Privacy Laws, Responsible AI

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. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

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 Affi
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Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

The primary location for this posting is: USA - Pennsylvania - North Wales (Upper Gwynedd)

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is: $129,000.00 - $203,100.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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.

Additional location(s)

Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information

• Colombia
• Czech Republic
• Madrid
• France
• England
• Ireland
• Lithuanian
• Rahway

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

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

Relocation

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship

No

Travel Requirements

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements

Hybrid

Shift

1st - Day

Valid Driving License

No

Hazardous Material(s)

N/A

Job Posting End Date

11/18/2026

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

R426039