Director, Clinical Data Management, Strategy and Operations Lead - Hybrid

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

Job summary

Merck in Rahway, NJ seeks a strategic leader to partner with BVSV and Platform Services, translating strategy into actionable roadmaps and measurable outcomes. You will govern leadership forums, manage investments, and ensure execution with an integrated view of demand, capacity, and priorities.

You will develop executive materials, lead performance reporting, and drive continuous improvement through data-driven decisions, automation, and cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• Adaptability and clear decision-making for complex, global programs.
• Strategic planning and change management across validated operations and platforms.
• Strong stakeholder management and enterprise leadership capabilities.
• GxP, 21 CFR Part 11 compliance knowledge is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Translate strategy into priorities, roadmaps, and measurable outcomes.
• Lead governance and leadership enablement across BVSV and Platform Services.
• Provide an integrated view of demand, capacity, and priorities.
• Develop executive communications and strategic updates.
• Establish organizational KPIs, dashboards, and performance reporting.
• Drive operational excellence, standardization, and automation initiatives.

Skills

Adaptability

Strategic Planning

Change Management

Decision Making

Stakeholder Management

Enterprise Leadership

GCP

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Advanced Degree

Job description

• Partner with BVSV and Platform Services leadership to translate strategy into priorities, roadmaps, operational plans, and measurable outcomes.
• Establish an integrated planning process linking demand, portfolio commitments, resources, capacity, and organizational priorities.
• Facilitate prioritization and investment discussions to ensure focus on the highest-value opportunities.
• Monitor progress against strategic objectives and identify risks, dependencies, and areas requiring leadership action.
• Operational Governance & Leadership Enablement
• Lead the governance framework for BVSV and Platform Services, including leadership forums, decision management, escalation processes, and performance reviews.
• Serve as a strategic partner and Chief of Staff to the leadership team.
• Ensure decisions, commitments, and actions are tracked through execution.
• Develop executive communications, strategic updates, and leadership materials.
• Portfolio, Demand & Capacity Management
• Provide an integrated view of service demand, delivery commitments, backlog, resource capacity, and organizational priorities.
• Support intake, assessment, and prioritization processes across validation and platform services.
• Identify capacity constraints, competing priorities, and resource risks and support leadership decision-making.
• Ensure commitments remain aligned with available resources and strategic objectives.
• Performance, Metrics & Business Insights
• Establish and maintain organizational KPIs, dashboards, scorecards, and performance reporting.
• Provide leadership visibility into service performance, demand, capacity, quality, risks, and strategic outcomes.
• Drive measurement of business value, operational efficiency, quality improvements, and organizational performance.
• Translate data into actionable insights and recommendations.
• Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement
• Lead operational excellence and transformation initiatives across BVSV and Platform Services.
• Drive simplification, standardization, automation, and process improvement opportunities.
• Promote data-driven decision-making and adoption of AI and automation capabilities where appropriate.
• Ensure improvements are sustainable and aligned with organizational goals.

Responsibilities

Job Description

• Strategy, Planning & Prioritization
• Partner with BVSV and Platform Services leadership to translate strategy into priorities, roadmaps, operational plans, and measurable outcomes.
• Establish an integrated planning process linking demand, portfolio commitments, resources, capacity, and organizational priorities.
• Facilitate prioritization and investment discussions to ensure focus on the highest-value opportunities.
• Monitor progress against strategic objectives and identify risks, dependencies, and areas requiring leadership action.
• Operational Governance & Leadership Enablement
• Lead the governance framework for BVSV and Platform Services, including leadership forums, decision management, escalation processes, and performance reviews.
• Serve as a strategic partner and Chief of Staff to the leadership team.
• Ensure decisions, commitments, and actions are tracked through execution.
• Develop executive communications, strategic updates, and leadership materials.
• Portfolio, Demand & Capacity Management
• Provide an integrated view of service demand, delivery commitments, backlog, resource capacity, and organizational priorities.
• Support intake, assessment, and prioritization processes across validation and platform services.
• Identify capacity constraints, competing priorities, and resource risks and support leadership decision-making.
• Ensure commitments remain aligned with available resources and strategic objectives.
• Performance, Metrics & Business Insights
• Establish and maintain organizational KPIs, dashboards, scorecards, and performance reporting.
• Provide leadership visibility into service performance, demand, capacity, quality, risks, and strategic outcomes.
• Drive measurement of business value, operational efficiency, quality improvements, and organizational performance.
• Translate data into actionable insights and recommendations.
• Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement
• Lead operational excellence and transformation initiatives across BVSV and Platform Services.
• Drive simplification, standardization, automation, and process improvement opportunities.
• Promote data-driven decision-making and adoption of AI and automation capabilities where appropriate.
• Ensure improvements are sustainable and aligned with organizational goals.

Technical Skills

• Understanding of compliance and documentation standards (e.g., GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, and audit traceability practices)
• Deep experience in Program and project governance and enterprise risk management
• Advanced knowledge of automation and AI testing guard rails, including validation of ML models and automated testing pipelines
• Strong understanding of operations of functions

Non-technical Skills

• Excellent communicator with the ability to translate technical and operational priorities into clear, actionable direction
• Distills complex issues into decision-ready narratives; frames options, risks, and recommendations to influence senior decisions.
• Ability to define and execute organizational strategy for validation operations across regions
• Demonstrated success managing large, varied perspectives, and geographically distributed teams
• Strong understanding of operational, financial, and compliance dimensions of global data delivery
• Capable of leading transformation initiatives and fostering innovation across complex organizations
• Leads through influence across functions/geographies; mentors global cohorts; provides structured feedback.
• Engages vendor, data, and industry forums; represents team professionally and credibly under pressure; maintains resilience and composure

Enterprise Leadership Skills

• Business Savviness | Anticipates business and regulatory issues and shapes strategy accordingly; connects technical expertise to organizational and industry context to make strategic recommendations
• Influence | Leads large teams / projects, helps shape departmental strategy influences leaders, peers, and cross-functional partners to align on decisions and strategic direction
• Change Catalyst
• Drives improvements (e.g., organizational and cultural changes) with broader impact; demonstrates adaptability and ability to collaborate with others to make change successful; helps others overcome resistance to change

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree with a minimum of 10 year's experience working in relevant field for associated job description (related technical role), as well as:
• People management skills
• Demonstrated deep subject matter expertise in relevant discipline PMP, Change management and communication

OR

• Advanced Degree (Masters or Doctorate) with a minimum of 8 year's experience working in relevant field for associated job description, as well as:
• People management skills

Required Skills

Adaptability, Business Agility, Business Decisions, Business Process Improvements, Change Management, Clinical Data Management, Decision Making, Enterprise Leadership, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Organizational Leadership, Planning, Situational Leadership, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning, Strategy Deployment

Preferred Skills

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Our company is proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.

US And Puerto Rico Residents Only

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities.

Requirements

As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:
EEOC Know Your Rights
EEOC GINA Supplement

Salary Range

$173,200.00 - $272,600.00

Benefits

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.

Location and Working Arrangements

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
Hybrid

Employee Status

Regular

Relocation

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship

No

Travel Requirements

10%

Shift

1st - Day

Valid Driving License

Yes

Hazardous Material(s)

No

Job Posting End Date

09/24/2026

• 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.