Dir , Data Governance

Merck & Co.; Rahway (NJ); Hybrid; USD 173,000 - 273,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck & Co. seeks a Director to lead governance for Social, Web, Mobile, Market Research, and data products across DHH. You will embed governance-by-design, build scalable controls, and partner with Legal, Compliance, Privacy, IT, and business leaders to enable compliant digital analytics.

You will train the org on guidelines, manage risk and deviation processes, and drive adoption of SOPs and governance practices while ensuring regulatory defensibility and privacy by design.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Governance, risk and compliance, Marketing, Data strategy, Data Engineering, Product design & deployment, data science and AI enablement, digital channels and market research with at least 7+ years in Governance, Privacy, Risk Assessment and Compliance enablement
• Proven ability to translate policy into operational standards, playbooks and tooling
• Experience managing cross functional reviews with Privacy, Security and Legal
• Strong leadership of multi-disciplinary teams and vendor oversight
• Familiarity with risk registers, deviation/CAPA processes and vendor due diligence platforms
• Excellent stakeholder management and training program delivery skills

Responsibilities

• Set strategy, priorities, and operating model for DHH Digital, Social, Web, Mobile, Market Research, data, and digital data product governance enablement
• Align and influence DHH leadership and key stakeholders to embed governance-by-design into planning and delivery
• Build governance capability (frameworks, training, templates, tooling, and metrics) that accelerates delivery while protecting patients, customers, and the company
• Provide transparent risk reporting and timely escalation pathways to second-line oversight functions and enterprise governance forums
• Responsible for building a high performing team of GRC advisors. Responsible for coaching, mentoring, hiring, disciplining when required, and providing guidance to the team

Skills

Data Governance

Data Ingestion

Data Management

Digital Consumer Engagement

Digital Healthcare

Governance Management

Market Research

Operational Decisions

Pharmacovigilance

Privacy Compliance

Procurement

Quality Management

Risk Governance

Social Media

Social Media Management

Strategic Procurement

Technical Advice

Waterfall Model

Education

BS/MS in Engineering, Sciences, Liberal arts, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Business, Analytics or related fields

PhD preferred

Job description

Job Description

The Director is accountable for setting and driving the Social, Web, Mobile, Primary market research, data, digital data product and Digital data solutions governance & enablement strategy for Digital Human Health (DHH), across markets and franchises. This leader is responsible for embedding scalable governance-by-design controls across the lifecycle of customer facing digital engagement, primary market research, data ingestion and enablement across the medallion architecture, creation of Digital data products and more broadly pharma analytics and creation/enablement of digital solutions.

This role is responsible for leading a team that turns corporate policy and enterprise governance, privacy, risk, and compliance requirements into practical playbooks, tools and DHH operating standards. Socializes through alignment and influence with DHH leadership and key stakeholders across Legal, Compliance, IT RMS, General Counsel, Medical, Human Health leadership and with DHH product, platform, analytics teams, and vendor ecosystems. The leader will also be responsible to train the broader DHH organization to understand the guidelines, rules and playbooks. He/She will also strategize, design and build the right checkpoints to ensure adoption and becomes a trusted partner for DHH leadership to enable compliance by design, in the day to day ways of working across DHH.

He/She, with their team, will manage risk and deviation processes, coordinate cross functional reviews (Privacy, Security, Legal, Ethics, Procurement, Pharmacovigilance, Audit), and provide an escalation path for material risks while leaving operational delivery decisions with business owners.

Success in this role requires deep understanding of data, data driven analytics, Primary market research methodologies, digital marketing and marketing enablement across social, web and mobile channels. It is essential that the individual has extensive knowledge and experience in the application of Privacy (GDPR, HIPPA CCPA etc.), Pharmacovigilance (EMA, FDA), Anti-Trust, FCPA regulations etc. and their application to data, data sciences and market research. Given the evolving technology landscape, this individual is also expected to have learning orientation to learn to leverage technology and AI to enable the required capability builds, SOP creation, governance practices, monitoring and compliance readiness. The Director partners with first-line delivery leaders to enable responsible innovation while maintaining regulatory defensibility, privacy by design, and risk transparency, with clear linkage to second-line oversight functions.

Organizational Scope

The Director will lead a multidisciplinary team across Social, Web, Mobile, Market Research, Digital and Data governance enablement and GRC specialists (direct and matrixed). Scope includes governance enablement for:

• Primary market research
• Web, mobile and digital channels (apps, sites, content ecosystems)
• Social media (listening, influencer engagements, company owned handles/assets)
• Commercial data analytics- Prescriptive analytics and advanced statistical modeling
• Data governance and privacy integration - Sensitive data domains, including HCP and patient-level data (identified, de-identified, and pseudonymized), Commercial data ecosystems (1st/2nd/3rd party), data ingestion, linkage, and enrichment
• Digital data product governance enablement - Digital data products, insights platforms, and Digital data solutions
• Risk management, audit/inspection readiness, and governance capability building

Leadership Responsibilities

• Set strategy, priorities, and operating model for DHH Digital, Social, Web, Mobile, Market Research, data, and digital data product governance enablement.
• Align and influence DHH leadership and key stakeholders to embed governance-by-design into planning and delivery.
• Build governance capability (frameworks, training, templates, tooling, and metrics) that accelerates delivery while protecting patients, customers, and the company.
• Provide transparent risk reporting and timely escalation pathways to second-line oversight functions and enterprise governance forums.
• Responsible for building a high performing team of GRC advisors. Responsible for coaching, mentoring, hiring, disciplining when required, and providing guidance to the team.

Education

• B.S. or M.S. in Engineering, Sciences, Liberal arts, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, Business, Analytics or related fields
• Ph.D. is preferred

Data Governance & Privacy Integration

• Partner with CD&AO, DHH teams, HH leaders, Global Privacy Office, BIRO/ITRMS, Ethics & Compliance, and Legal to ensure policy alignment and consistent execution.
• Embed privacy-by-design and data governance controls into DHH Digital and data product workflows, including secondary use, linkage/enrichment, cross-domain integration, and retention requirements.
• Translate policies into concise playbooks, standards, templates and delivery tools.
• Ensure defensible documentation for de-identification/pseudonymization methods and periodic reassessment, with clear traceability to intended use.

Digital Data Product Governance Integration

• Integrate governance checkpoints into SDLC and agile product ways of working, with clear review/approval triggers where required.
• Ensure end-to-end traceability across data inputs, transformations, model integration (where applicable), outputs, and intended use.
• Set documentation and quality standards for digital data products and vendor-provided solutions, including controls for data acquisition and fair market value (FMV) approvals.

Risk Enablement & Escalation

• Maintain and mature the DHH risk register to cover data/digital data products, including consistent assessment criteria and mitigation tracking. Align with enterprise ERM, enforce standardized risk classification and escalation procedures; ensure timely logging, ownership, mitigation and closure.
• Identify systemic control gaps and drive remediation plans with delivery leaders; monitor effectiveness through defined metrics.
• Escalate material privacy, security, and cybersecurity risks to second-line functions and enterprise risk governance, with timely executive communication.

Enterprise Governance, Risk & Compliance Alignment

• Translate enterprise governance requirements into practical, auditable operational controls for DHH.
• Coordinate with IT GRC, APEX (AI risk), ECO/Legal, Global Privacy Office, BIRO/ITRMS, Procurement, and MCAAS to ensure alignment, clear ownership, and effective escalation.
• Anticipate emerging regulatory expectations impacting Social, Web, mobile, Market research, Digital and data. Update DHH standards and guidance accordingly.
• Ensure documentation and evidence expectations support inspection readiness and defensible decisions.
• Coordinate Privacy, Security and Legal reviews, document decisions with audit trails, and define escalation paths for analytics and insights activities.
• Partner with Procurement to verify onboarding and due diligence in Aravo, maintain approved vendor list, validate MSAs/compliance before go live, monitor vendor performance and escalate material vendor risks.

Audit & Inspection Readiness

• Set standardized evidence and documentation expectations across domains to support audits and regulatory inspections.
• Ensure all required artifacts are complete, traceable, and defensible for intended use and risk posture.
• Coordinate audit responses across DHH data domains and maintain ongoing readiness.

Governance Culture, Capability and Advocacy

• Training & culture: design and deliver role based GRC training, track competency and completion, sponsor governance stewards and run regular steward forums.
• Drive governance adoption by aligning with and influencing DHH leaders and delivery teams; clarify accountabilities, escalation paths, and decision forums.
• Build practical enablement (role-based training, playbooks, templates, and tooling) that increases consistency and reduces delivery friction.
• Champion responsible stewardship, balancing innovation, patient/customer trust, and compliance obligations.
• Own success metrics (adoption, training completion, auditability, time to escalation, risk closure, stakeholder satisfaction) and drive improvements from register insights.

Decision Rights

The Director has authority to:

• Define minimum governance controls for Social, Web, Mobile, Market research, Content, data, data products, digital data solutions within company policy and standards boundaries in close partnership with other teams that have a role in defining privacy, risk, compliance and governance standards for Human Health (HH).
• Require minimum documentation and evidence prior to deployment and material change.
• Escalate material risks for additional review, decisioning, and approval, as required.
• Mandate remediation or mitigation plans for control gaps and monitor closure.
• Business and product leaders retain ownership of delivery decisions and risk acceptance within company policy and standards; the Director provides governance enablement standards, oversight cadence, and escalation pathways to support consistent, defensible outcomes.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Governance, risk and compliance, Marketing, Data strategy, Data Engineering, Product design & deployment, data science and AI enablement, digital channels and market research with at least 7+ years of experience in Governance, Privacy, Risk Assessment and Compliance enablement
• Proven ability to translate policy into operational standards, playbooks and tooling
• Experience managing cross functional reviews with Privacy, Security and Legal
• Strong leadership of multi-disciplinary teams and vendor oversight
• Familiarity with risk registers, deviation/CAPA processes and vendor due diligence platforms
• Excellent stakeholder management and training program delivery skills

Required Skills:

Data Governance, Data Ingestion, Data Management, Digital Consumer Engagement, Digital Healthcare, Governance Management, Market Research, Operational Decisions, Pharmacovigilance, Privacy Compliance, Procurement, Quality Management, Risk Governance, Social Media, Social Media Management, Strategic Procurement, Technical Advice, Waterfall Model

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

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The salary range for this role is

$173,200.00 - $272,600.00

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 .

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: Not Indicated

Valid Driving License: No

Hazardous Material(s): n/a

Job Posting End Date: 08/26/2026

*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.