Associate Director, Quality Assurance

Merck; West Point (PA); Hybrid; USD 129,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus and long-term incentive

Comprehensive benefits package

Relocation support

Job summary

Merck is seeking an Associate Director, Clinical Supplies Quality, Global Development Quality, to provide quality oversight and strategic leadership for clinical supply chain activities across the portfolio. This role ensures clinical supplies are fit for use, compliant with regulatory requirements, and available for trials with strong cross-functional collaboration.

The position focuses on U.S. quality operations, global distribution planning, and Medical Device/Combination Product supply

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years in pharma/GMP or related field.
• Experience leading quality oversight for clinical supply chain.
• Knowledge of Medical Device/Combination Products and emerging tech.

Responsibilities

• Provide quality oversight for Clinical Supply Chain activities across programs.
• Develop quality and stakeholder engagement strategies aligned with business objectives.
• Disposition and investigations related to deviations and quality events.

Skills

Quality Oversight

Regulatory Compliance

Stakeholder Management

Quality Risk Mgmt

Leadership

Clinical Supplies

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Scientific Discipline

Advanced Degree

Tools

cGMP Knowledge

Regulatory Affairs

Job description

The Associate Director, Clinical Supplies Quality, Global Development Quality provides quality oversight, disposition support, and strategic quality leadership for Clinical Supply Chain activities supporting clinical development programs across the company’s portfolio. The role is accountable for ensuring clinical supplies are available, fit for use, and compliant with applicable regulatory requirements. Key areas of responsibility include U.S. quality operations and disposition, global distribution planning and management, Medical Device/Combination Product supply activities, and acquisition integration.

Primary Activities

This position requires close, cross-functional collaboration with key stakeholder groups, including Global Clinical Supplies, Global Development Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Device Development & Technology, External Development & Manufacturing, and Quality Assurance sites and functions across the clinical supply chain. The role also requires the ability to navigate dynamic, high-impact, and highly visible situations to help ensure continuity of the company’s clinical development portfolio and minimize disruption related to clinical supply issues.

• Provide in-depth technical and quality expertise in clinical supply operations, integration activities, Medical Device/Combination Products, and emerging technologies.
• Develop and execute quality and stakeholder engagement strategies, as well as continuous improvement initiatives aligned with business objectives, while streamlining processes, procedures, and technology-enabled ways of working.
• Evaluate and disposition Medical Device/Combination Product materials, ensuring they are manufactured in accordance with applicable company policies, procedures, and governing regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate and/or support investigations related to deviations and significant quality events.
• Identify quality trends, potential compliance gaps, and emerging risks, and proactively lead resolution of significant issues that may impact product quality or clinical supply chain reliability.

Required Skills

• Strong technical expertise in R&D activities related to clinical supplies, with preferred experience in Medical Device/Combination Products and emerging technologies.
• Strong compliance knowledge and understanding of regulatory agency expectations, including the ability to interpret and apply cGMP requirements within an R&D environment.
• Demonstrated experience working with external partners and cross-functional stakeholders, with the ability to engage, influence, and align subject matter experts and senior leaders.
• Demonstrated knowledge of continuous improvement methodologies, with the ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives that improve processes, systems, and ways of working.
• Demonstrated leadership capability, including strategy development and deployment, with a track record of delivering measurable business, quality, or operational benefits.

Preferred Skills

• Preferred experience in Medical Device/Combination Products and emerging technologies.

Required Education/Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Scientific Discipline with 8+ years relevant experience within the pharmaceutical industry or Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) related field (including Technical, Engineering, Quality or Operations) or advanced Degree with 6+ years relevant experience.

Required Skills

Deviation Management, Process Implementations, Product Compliance, Project Leadership, Project Risk Assessments, Quality Oversight, Quality Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance, Stakeholder Management, Standards Compliance, Strategic Leadership, Strategy Development

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 Aff…

The primary location for this posting is:

USA - Pennsylvania - West Point

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

$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

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

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

11/10/2026

• 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: R418447