Clinical Quality Operations Manager- Remote

Merck; Helena (MT); Remote; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck seeks a senior Clinical Quality Operations professional to oversee trial quality, risk management, and inspection readiness. You will lead root cause analyses, CAPA development, and regulatory communication while collaborating with CQO leadership to sustain world‑class standards.

In this role, you will supervise inspection activities, coordinate quality oversight for external providers, and contribute to CQO innovations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in healthcare or scientific area required.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant pharma/clinical research experience.
• Strong knowledge of ICH GCP guidelines and global regulatory requirements.
• Experience in RCA, CAPA development, and QA oversight.

Responsibilities

• Provide clinical quality oversight for trials, ensuring quality by design across trial teams.
• Lead inspection readiness activities and act as Inspection Lead for site visits.
• Coordinate CAPA programs and root cause analyses for quality issues.
• Support sponsor inspections and regulatory audit preparations and responses.
• Oversee service provider quality agreements and performance.
• Contribute to CQO process improvements and specialized projects.

Skills

Quality management

RCA

CAPA development

Regulatory knowledge

GCP compliance

Audit coordination

Service provider oversight

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in healthcare or life sciences

Tools

QMS software

Audit management tools

Job description

Job Description

It is critical that consistent, accurate, high-quality data is generated and maintained from clinical trials conducted worldwide. In collaboration with the Clinical Quality Operations Lead (CQOL) and Head of CQO, the CQOM is responsible for the execution of clinical quality oversight activities within an assigned trial. This includes proactive quality management, risk-based quality oversight, and clinical trial inspection management activities.

The CQOM will provide clinical quality operations support to Trial Teams (TTs) to proactively embed quality into sponsored trials, ensure robust supplier oversight, and address critical quality issues as needed.

The incumbent will assist with the overall strategy for maintaining ongoing inspection readiness, as well as preparing for, managing, and following up on regulatory inspections.

Core Responsibilities:

Trial Team, Research Portfolio and Enterprise Support

• Independently support assigned Trial Teams (TT) and drive implementation of Quality by Design.
• Act as a Process Subject Matter Expert (SME) within Clinical Quality Operations, providing guidance on quality processes, standards, and regulatory requirements to TTs.
• Support identification, investigation, escalation, and resolution of study-level quality issues including Significant Quality Issues (SQIs) and Serious Breaches (SBs).
• Support Trial Teams in assessing trial health and conducting quality reviews, as needed.
• Lead Inspection Hypercare Teams (IHT) with the aim of ensuring that, at all stages, the Trial Team (TT) maintains ongoing inspection readiness.

Regulatory GCP Inspections & Research and Development Quality Assurance Audits

• Provide oversight for operational management of sponsor inspections (e.g., act as Control Room Lead or Control Room Support).
• Act as Inspection Lead for site inspections.
• Conduct pre-inspection visit (PIV) for impending site inspections.
• Author key inspection communications (e.g., daily summaries, inspection outcomes, and issue escalations).
• Coordinate the inspection response process managing the root cause analysis, Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) and associated regulatory commitments to completion, ensuring that key inspection documentation is maintained at all times.
• Support Quality Assurance audits (i.e., Study Level Audits) providing support to TT before, during and after audit, including coordinating root cause analysis for any applicable observations, development of responses, CAPA management and tracking.

Clinical Quality Risk Management

• Collaborate with the Clinical Quality Risk Manager (CQRM) to operationalize quality risk management during trial conduct.
• Provide critical insights from study level audits, inspections, and quality issues and support identification of actionable resolution pathways for quality signals that emerge during trial conduct.

Service Provider Quality Oversight

• Serve as the primary clinical quality Point of Contact (POC) for assigned key service providers (e.g., tier 1 and tier 2 service providers).
• Responsible for the strategic development and management of service provider clinical quality agreements.

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Support quality-related mergers and acquisitions activities, as required, to ensure comprehensive knowledge transfer, risk management, and inspection readiness.

CQO Infrastructure, Process Innovation & Special Projects

• Contribute to the ongoing development of CQO infrastructure and process innovation.
• Support and lead special projects and strategic assignments within CQO as assigned by CQOL.

AI Efficiency & Optimization

• Proactively identify and apply AI-driven approaches to improve operational efficiency and decision-making within CQO.
• Work with data and analytics to monitor performance and drive continuous improvement.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree or equivalent in a health care or scientific area.

Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical industry and/or clinical research.
• Robust knowledge of quality management and clinical trial operations.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Quality Management Systems (QMS), ICH GCP guidelines, and worldwide Regulatory Health Authority requirements.
• Advanced experience in independent root cause analysis (RCA), CAPA development and effectiveness management, and service provider quality oversight.