Clinical Science Director - Lung & Head & Neck (Hybrid)

Merck & Co.; Upper Gwynedd Township (Montgomery County); Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 331,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Job summary

Merck & Co. in Rahway, NJ is seeking a Senior Director of Clinical Science to provide strategic clinical leadership across multiple programs and assets within the lung and head and neck portfolio, guiding development strategy and integrating scientific insights.

The role requires deep clinical, scientific, and therapeutic-area expertise to lead clinical development planning, evidence-generation strategies, and interpretation of complex data. Mentoring and governance responsibilities are included.

Qualifications

• Advanced healthcare or scientific degree (e.g., PhD, PharmD), or equivalent.
• Master's degree, preferably in life sciences, with 12+ years of pharmaceutical, clinical drug development, and/or medical field experience
• Bachelor's degree, preferably in life sciences, with 15+ years pharmaceutical, clinical drug development, and/or medical field experience

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic scientific leadership across programs, assets, or disease areas, ensuring quality and consistency of Clinical Science approaches
• Shape the development and evolution of Clinical Development Plans and set strategic direction for study design
• Provide oversight of medical monitoring and medical data review approaches and guide interpretation of complex clinical data across programs
• Integrate clinical evidence, therapeutic-area science, emerging external data, and competitive insights to shape development strategy across programs
• Provide strategic oversight and clinical guidance for key regulatory documents, Health Authority interactions, and other major development activities
• Shape governance strategy and communicate scientific development opportunities to senior leaders
• Shape scientific publication and external engagement strategies and develop strategic relationships with investigators and key opinion leaders
• Provide strategic oversight of clinical/scientific quality, risk management, and audit and inspection readiness across areas of responsibility
• Shape digital and AI-enabled Clinical Science approaches, identify high-value use cases, and drive scalable adoption across programs
• Shape Clinical Science standards, leading practices, and innovative ways of working across programs or disease areas
• Develop Clinical Science talent and organizational capabilities through scientific leadership, coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship
• May lead a large Clinical Science team

Skills

Clinical Development

Clinical Leadership

Clinical Product Development

Clinical Research

Clinical Research Management

Clinical Sciences

Clinical Trial Development

Clinical Trial Management

Decision Making

Drug Development

Scientific Leadership

Strategic Planning

Team Leadership

Education

Advanced healthcare or scientific degree (e.g., PhD, PharmD), or equivalent

Master's degree, preferably in life sciences

Bachelor's degree, preferably in life sciences

Job description

Merck & Co. in Rahway, NJ is seeking a Senior Director of Clinical Science to provide strategic clinical leadership across multiple programs and assets within the lung and head and neck portfolio, guiding development strategy and integrating scientific insights.

The role requires deep clinical, scientific, and therapeutic-area expertise to lead clinical development planning, evidence-generation strategies, and interpretation of complex data. Mentoring and governance responsibilities are included.