Director, Study Data Services — Data & Automation Leader

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

Job summary

Merck in Rahway, New Jersey is seeking a Director, Study Data Services (M-track) to lead programming, data engineering, and reporting strategy across therapeutic areas. You will drive automation, data integrity, and scalable standards while managing external partners and cross‑functional teams.

The role emphasizes audit readiness, regulatory compliance, and leadership development for high‑performing teams across global studies. Hybrid work is supported in a primary U.S. location.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree with a minimum of 10 years’ experience in clinical data programming/data management; 3 years of people management.
• Advanced Degree (Masters/Doctorate) with at least 8 years in clinical data programming/data management and 3 years of people management.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute long-term programming and reporting strategy for data integration, reporting, automation, and analytics enablement.
• Establish and improve standards, frameworks, and operating models for compliance and scalability.
• Manage service provider partnerships with adherence to enterprise processes and quality benchmarks.
• Oversee programming and reporting delivery across complex studies ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Provide subject matter expertise on programming/data engineering and data flow across clinical systems.
• Collaborate with DI&A leadership to set strategy for programming capabilities; plan capacity and growth for Data Architects.

Skills

Clinical Data Management

Data Integrity

Stakeholder Management

People Leadership

Strategic Thinking

Team Leadership

Change Leadership

Operational Leadership

Risk Management

Data Governance

Education

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field

Advanced Degree (Master's or Doctorate) in a related field

Tools

Python

R

SAS

SQL

Azure Data Factory

AWS Glue

Databricks

Job description

Merck in Rahway, New Jersey is seeking a Director, Study Data Services (M-track) to lead programming, data engineering, and reporting strategy across therapeutic areas. You will drive automation, data integrity, and scalable standards while managing external partners and cross‑functional teams.

The role emphasizes audit readiness, regulatory compliance, and leadership development for high‑performing teams across global studies. Hybrid work is supported in a primary U.S. location.