Director, AI Solutions & Data Science — R&D QA

Merck; Rahway (NJ); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking an Associate Director, Data Science & AI Solutions to lead the lifecycle of next-generation AI and data science tools within the R&D Quality Assurance Analytics & Tech Systems team. You will bridge hands-on development with business strategy and partner with governance bodies to ensure robust, compliant analytics.

You will collaborate with stakeholders to identify high-value use cases, translate complex AI concepts for a non-technical audience, and mentor teams on LLMs and MLOps

Qualifications

• BS/BA degree in a relevant area and 5 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech or technology related industry.
• 5+ years of Python, R, and SQL to design and deploy ML, forecasting, or optimization models.
• Hands-on experience developing custom RAG architectures, working with LLM APIs, and MLOps practices (version control/Git, monitoring, and model maintenance).
• Proficiency in dashboards (PowerBI or Spotfire) and understanding of ETL pipelines and data structures.
• Familiarity with hosting AI solutions or agentic pipelines in AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Experience in a regulated pharmaceutical (GxP) environment with software validation or AI governance exposure.
• Excellent communication and the ability to translate complex concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience in a global, cross-functional, matrixed organization.
• Continual learner with interest in generative AI and emerging technologies.

Responsibilities

• AI Development & System Lifecycle: Build, deploy, and maintain advanced AI apps (including RAG pipelines and agentic systems) alongside traditional analytics (forecasts, simulations, optimizations).
• Environment Management: Work within enterprise analytics platforms (Dataiku, Posit Workbench) to monitor, enhance, and scale existing analytics systems.
• GxP AI Governance & Compliance: Develop frameworks ensuring AI solutions align with regulatory requirements, validation playbooks, and monitoring protocols.
• Business Partnership & Technical Translation: Translate AI concepts to non-technical stakeholders and leadership; identify high-value data science use cases; understand business processes.
• Leadership & Upskilling: Mentor QA team on modern tech stacks, LLMs, and data literacy; represent the company in cross-functional forums such as IMPALA.

Skills

Python

R

SQL

Machine Learning

Forecasting

Optimization

RAG

LLMs

MLOps

Dataiku

Posit Workbench

Power BI

Spotfire

ETL

AWS

Azure

GCP

GxP

Communication

Global Collaboration

Learning

Education

BS/BA in relevant field

Tools

Dataiku

Posit Workbench

Power BI

Spotfire

Git

Job description

Merck is seeking an Associate Director, Data Science & AI Solutions to lead the lifecycle of next-generation AI and data science tools within the R&D Quality Assurance Analytics & Tech Systems team. You will bridge hands-on development with business strategy and partner with governance bodies to ensure robust, compliant analytics.

You will collaborate with stakeholders to identify high-value use cases, translate complex AI concepts for a non-technical audience, and mentor teams on LLMs and MLOps