Associate Director, GRACS BD

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

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401(k) retirement benefits

Paid holidays and vacation

Sick days and compassionate leave

Job summary

Merck & Co. seeks a GRACS leader to drive business development transactions from inception to signing and transition support. You will coordinate diligence, negotiate master and regulatory agreements, and lead cross-functional implementation teams across GRACS, Legal, and Alliance Management.

The role emphasizes strong negotiation, project management, and regulatory expertise in a rapidly evolving BD landscape. Hybrid work options and comprehensive benefits apply.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams across GRACS and BD.
• Experience with regulatory and contract negotiations in large organizations.
• Strong negotiation, communication, and project-management skills.

Responsibilities

• Represent GRACS on business development transactions from initiation through signing and transition support.
• Coordinate diligence and manage GRACS activities with BD, Legal, Alliance Management and Clinical teams.
• Draft, negotiate, and maintain master and regulatory agreements, amendments and side letters.
• Lead deal-specific GRACS implementation teams and drive cross-functional alignment to closeout.
• Serve as primary contact for alliance management questions and ancillary agreements as needed.
• Update BD projects and contracts within the Business Development Lifecycle Management system.

Skills

Adaptability

Agreement Management

Budget Management

Business Development

Change Management

Clinical Leadership

Project Management

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Job description

Job Description

The incumbent is responsible for representing Global Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Safety (GRACS) on business development transactions from deal initiation through potential signing and transition execution support. More specifically, this position will manage the GRACS activities for business development stages of strategy, evaluation, due diligence, contracting, and implementation support. The deal types largely reflect, but are not limited to, acquisitions, licensing, and collaborations.

• Throughout the business development lifecycle, the incumbent partners with appropriate functional areas within GRACS as well as Business Development, Clinical Research, Legal, and Alliance Management to support diligence, execution, and management of Business Deals.

• Support the drafting, negotiation, execution, and maintenance of both master agreements as well as regulatory agreements, amendments, side letters, and other contractual forms.

• Coordinates and conducts due diligence on business development activities for all projects with GRACS functional area subject matter experts. Recruits and onboards due diligence team members to the due diligence project, facilitates discussions with GRACS due diligence team members to identify gaps and risks, tracks progress and coordinates GRACS due diligence summary reports, ensures GRACS Leadership is made aware of critical due diligence findings as needed, and liaises with GRACS Portfolio and Prioritization group to support GRACS resource estimation. Responsible for reviewing commercial contracts and collaborating with the Corporate Business Development and GRACS SMEs to negotiate the GRACS-related contract language with the partner.

• Charter and manage deal-specific GRACS implementation teams comprised of representatives from the impacted functions/ processes; responsibility will include (a) utilizing project management tools to drive development of implementation project plans; (b) identifying & ensuring cross-functional alignment of interdependent activities; and (c) driving execution of the plans through to project close-out.

• Where an ongoing relationship is maintained with the business partner, the incumbent will be responsible for serving as the point of contact for all alliance management issues including contractual questions related to ongoing GRACS activities and as required, lead execution and support of ancillary agreement creation, such as regulatory agreements. Conduct/oversee ongoing relevant partner diligence.

• Support any other work related to BD activities including updating BD projects and contracts within the Business Development Lifecycle Management system.

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree

Required Skills:

• Adaptability
• Adaptability
• Agreement Management
• Budget Management
• Business Development
• Change Management
• Clinical Leadership
• Community Relations
• Contract Processing
• Cross-Cultural Awareness
• Cross-Functional Project Management
• Data Management
• Employee Training Programs
• FDA Regulations
• Partner Relationship Management (PRM)
• Partnership Development
• People Management
• Pharmacovigilance
• Policy Implementation
• Project Implementations
• Project Management
• Project Management Methodology (PMM)
• Project Management Tools
• Project Planning
• Project Resource Management {+ 9 more}

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.

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 $129,000.00 - $203,100.00

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

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:

09/28/2026

*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:

R417558