Director, Transformation Squad Lead

Merck; North Wales (Montgomery County); Hybrid; USD 173,000 - 273,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking a Transformation Director to accelerate its Human Health transformation, building an AI-enabled, agile, integrated commercial model. The role leads a portfolio of strategic initiatives, delivering end-to-end value and enabling enterprise impact across Marketing, Data, and Global teams.

Responsibilities include directing a team of Associate Directors, shaping the transformation roadmap, and driving adoption of new operating models while maintaining governance and executive

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s preferred.
• 10+ years industry experience in related field.
• 5+ years in transformation or strategic planning.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and initiatives.
• Proven change management experience in a matrix organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of Associate Directors across transformation initiatives.
• Own a portfolio of initiatives aligned to enterprise priorities from strategy to value realization.
• Translate strategy into a transformation roadmap and sequence for impact.
• Oversee pilot design, execution, and scaling with repeatable playbooks.
• Ensure deployment of capabilities across brands and units with measurable value.
• Establish governance, tracking, and reporting on progress and risks.

Skills

Leadership

Transformation

Strategy

Agile

Cross-functional

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

Master’s Degree

Job description

Job Description

This role is designed to accelerate our Human Health transformation as we work to create an AI-enabled, agile, and integrated commercial model. The Transformation, Director will lead a team responsible for shaping a future where strategy and execution operate as a unified system, transformation is delivered at scale with speed, and new capabilities such as AI and automation redefine how work is done. In this team leader role, the individual will provide direction, coaching, and prioritization across a portfolio of strategic initiatives while ensuring strong execution, talent development, and enterprise impact. As market dynamics continue to evolve and digital, data, and AI reshape how commercial organizations create value, HH is accelerating its focus on Commercial Model Innovation. This work centers on designing, scaling, and realizing the capabilities, ways of working, and integrated solutions that will enable a more agile, responsive, and growth-oriented future.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team of Associate Directors, providing direction, prioritization, and coaching to drive high performance and consistent delivery across transformation initiatives
• Own a portfolio of transformation initiatives aligned to enterprise strategic priorities, ensuring end-to-end delivery from strategy through deployment and value realization
• Translate enterprise strategy into a coherent transformation roadmap, aligning initiatives to business outcomes and sequencing for maximum impact
• Oversee pilot design, execution, and scaling, ensuring insights are codified into repeatable playbooks for enterprise adoption
• Ensure effective deployment of capabilities across brands and business units, driving adoption, change integration, and measurable value realization
• Establish governance, tracking, and reporting to monitor progress, risks, and value delivery across the transformation portfolio
• Partner with senior leaders across Marketing, Review, Data, Market Access, and Global teams to align on priorities, resolve trade-offs, and enable execution
• Shape future-state operating models, including AI-enabled workflows, embedded compliance, and ecosystem-based delivery models
• Drive evolution of roles, ways of working, and organizational capabilities to support future-state transformation
• Act as a senior thought partner to executive stakeholders, framing decisions, risks, and trade-offs
• Champion agile ways of working, fostering a test-and-learn culture that accelerates delivery speed and improves outcomes
• Ensure integration across initiatives, avoiding fragmentation and driving a cohesive Strategy Realization approach.

Qualifications

Education Minimum Requirement:

• Bachelor’s Degree, required
• Master’s Degree, preferred

Required Experience And Skills

• Minimum of 10+ years of related Industry Experience
• Minimum 5+ years Transformation or Strategic Planning Experience
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and initiatives
• Established People Manager with ability to lead a across a matrixed organization Demonstrable Change Management experience or a combination of professional certification(s)
• Demonstrable experience executing comprehensive transformational change plans across a broad group of stakeholders/functions (HQ, field, COEs, strategic partners, executive sponsors, etc.) to work collaboratively and achieve success
• Comfortable working in white space and managing multiple workstreams simultaneously
• Experience working with external vendors to execute on transformational projects
• Strong executive presence and communication skills
• Strong understanding of compliance-related concepts and application in all job-related functions

Preferred Experience And Skills

• Direct customer experience (i.e. Sales, Marketing)
• Established business owner (i.e. P&L, Financial trade‑offs)
• Knowledgeable in systems thinking, design thinking and organizational behavior
• Experience with digital, AI, or data-driven transformation preferred

Required Skills

Acquisitions Divestitures, Acquisitions Divestitures, Agile Leadership, Business Alignment, Competency Management, Cross‑Functional Project Management, Employee Performance Evaluations, Environmental Scanning, Executive Presence, Feasibility Studies, Financial Analysis, Forecasting Models, Growth Mindset, Leading Project Teams, Matrix Management, Operating Models, Operations Analysis, Organizational Leadership, People Leadership, People Management, Project Management Leadership, Resource Management, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management, Stakeholder Negotiations {+ 8 more}

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

We are 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.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

Additional location(s):

The primary location for this posting is: USA - Pennsylvania - North Wales (Upper Gwynedd)

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is: $173,200.00 - $272,600.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

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