Director, Cheminformatics & Data Science

Merck; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 236,000 - 372,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Long-term incentive

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Merck & Co., Inc. in USA - Boston, MA is seeking a Director, Cheminformatics – Modeling & Informatics to lead a high-impact data science team across drug discovery. The role guides the development of scalable cheminformatics capabilities and collaborates with chemistry, biology, and IT to amplify pipeline impact.

The position emphasizes talent development, inclusive leadership, and cross-site collaboration, with strong focus on building partnerships and delivering data-driven decision support.

Qualifications

• PhD and 7+ years of professional experience applying computational and data science approaches to interdisciplinary scientific problems in drug discovery, MS and 9+ years of experience, OR BS and 13+ years of experience.
• 2+ years of managerial experience with demonstrated strength in team building, talent development, and inclusive leadership
• Experience designing and implementing modern computational workflows, including coding best practices, cloud-based systems, and MLOps/DataOps approaches

Responsibilities

• Sets vision and strategy for cheminformatics capabilities and platforms that accelerate scientific learning and decision‑making in drug discovery
• Leads a multi‑site team of cheminformatics and data science specialists, spanning data engineering, analytics, and scientific software development
• Actively develops talent, fosters diversity of thought, and builds an inclusive culture that engages and empowers all team members
• Engages stakeholders across the drug discovery spectrum—from early target identification and chemical biology through lead optimization and safety—to understand needs and enable impactful solutions
• Translates scientific challenges into scalable data architectures, workflows, and algorithmic approaches that can be broadly leveraged across multiple projects
• Drives development of next‑generation cheminformatics workflows through integration of modern technologies, including machine learning (e.g., generative and predictive modeling), knowledge graphs, and emerging AI approaches
• Ensures that developed capabilities are effectively deployed and adopted in collaboration with project teams and modeling partners
• Builds and maintains strong partnerships with IT to co‑develop robust, sustainable platforms supporting scientific workflows
• Balances strategic investment in new capabilities with effective utilization of existing solutions to maximize organizational value
• Collaborates with leaders across Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Quantitative Biology, and Modeling to align on data science strategy and priorities
• Contributes to cross‑divisional alignment on the role of data science and informatics in the organization
• Works closely with Modeling, Structure, and Biophysics leadership to identify opportunities where cheminformatics can enhance broader modeling and discovery efforts
• Maintains visibility across the discovery portfolio to identify emerging needs and opportunities for scalable cheminformatics support

Skills

Artificial Intelligence

Cheminformatics

Chemistry

Cloud Computing

Data Science

Machine Learning

Data Modeling

People Management

QSAR

Stakeholder Engagement

Education

PhD or MS or BS in related STEM field

Tools

MLOps/DataOps

Knowledge Graphs

Cloud-based systems

Job description

Merck & Co., Inc. in USA - Boston, MA is seeking a Director, Cheminformatics – Modeling & Informatics to lead a high-impact data science team across drug discovery. The role guides the development of scalable cheminformatics capabilities and collaborates with chemistry, biology, and IT to amplify pipeline impact.

The position emphasizes talent development, inclusive leadership, and cross-site collaboration, with strong focus on building partnerships and delivering data-driven decision support.