Executive Director, HR Business Partnership & IT Solutions Lead

Merck; New Jersey; On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking an Executive Director, HR Business Partnership & Solutions Lead within Enterprise IT to partner with HR leadership and shape the enterprise HR digital, data, technology, and AI strategy. You will drive AI-enabled transformation across HR, deliver multi-year roadmaps, and ensure value realization through common patterns and accountable governance.

The role focuses on redefining HR work, services, decisions, and experiences via responsible AI, analytics, and automation,

Responsibilities

• Serve as the strategic EIT partner to senior HR leaders, helping shape HR strategy, transformation priorities, workforce capabilities, employee experience and the future HR operating model.
• Establish an integrated multi-year HR digital, data, technology and AI strategy aligned with enterprise priorities.
• Translate strategic priorities into a sequenced roadmap of process, experience, data, platform, product and AI investments, with clear business cases and outcomes.
• Bring external insight on HR, workforce and technology trends to identify opportunities to reinvent work rather than digitize existing processes.
• Own the integrated HR technology and solutions portfolio and establish clear accountability across business ownership, product leadership, platforms, data, delivery, adoption and value realization.
• Establish portfolio priorities, product investment recommendations, platform direction, delivery sequencing and lifecycle decisions within the HR portfolio.
• Serve as the senior EIT escalation point for material HR technology decisions, cross-functional dependencies, investment trade-offs and delivery risks.
• Drive reuse of enterprise platforms, data products, AI capabilities and common technology patterns while determining where differentiated HR capabilities are justified.
• Establish and govern an integrated HR AI transformation portfolio spanning employee and manager support, HR services, talent, recruiting, learning, workforce planning, insights, knowledge and HR operations.
• Lead end-to-end reimagination of HR journeys and processes using generative AI, responsible agents, predictive analytics, intelligent workflow and automation.
• Partner with HR leaders to redesign work, service models, decision points and human-machine interactions as AI changes how HR expertise and services are delivered.
• Determine whether AI capabilities should be delivered through enterprise platforms, embedded HR products, reusable enterprise capabilities, HR-specific solutions or strategic partners.
• Reduce fragmented experimentation through common priorities, reusable patterns, data requirements, governance and value measures.
• Sponsor responsible agentic solutions with appropriate human accountability for consequential workforce, talent, employee and manager decisions.
• Lead an integrated solutions ecosystem spanning HR services, talent, learning, recruiting, workforce insights, and employee and manager experiences; align DigitalU with the broader HR strategy and talent agenda.
• Translate priorities into outcome-based product strategies, roadmaps, experience designs and adoption plans, while enabling technical teams to determine implementation approaches.
• Establish the data, content, knowledge, access and governance foundations required for trusted digital, analytics and AI-enabled experiences.
• Orchestrate delivery across HR, product, engineering, data, architecture, cybersecurity, privacy, Legal, Compliance, vendors and enterprise platform teams.
• Ensure solutions are intuitive, inclusive, accessible, globally scalable and responsive to applicable local requirements.
• Establish transparent governance for prioritization, funding, capacity, delivery, risk, adoption and value realization.
• Define outcome commitments for major investments, including employee and manager experience, service quality, process performance, productivity, decision quality, adoption, control effectiveness and business value.
• Evaluate investments against strategic alignment, adoption, delivery confidence, risk and realized value to inform future portfolio decisions.
• Ensure HR products, platforms, data, AI capabilities and s

Job description

The Opportunity

The Executive Director, HR Business Partnership & Solutions Lead is the senior Enterprise IT (EIT) leader accountable for partnering with Human Resources (HR) leadership to shape and execute the enterprise HR digital, data, technology and AI strategy. The role connects HR strategy, workforce priorities, employee experience, operating-model transformation, enterprise platforms, data, AI, products and delivery into an integrated transformation agenda. A defining mandate is to lead AI-enabled transformation of HR: reimagining work, services, decisions and experiences through responsible use of generative AI, agents, analytics, intelligent workflow and automation. The Executive Director establishes the integrated portfolio, translates strategy into multi-year roadmaps and investment choices, and ensures adoption and measurable business value. Role design emphasis: HR business expertise and transformation leadership are primary. The leader must have the credibility to co-shape HR strategy and operating-model change, then mobilize technology, data and AI to deliver those outcomes.

What You Will Do

HR Strategy, Transformation and Executive Partnership

• Serve as the strategic EIT partner to senior HR leaders, helping shape HR strategy, transformation priorities, workforce capabilities, employee experience and the future HR operating model.
• Establish an integrated multi-year HR digital, data, technology and AI strategy aligned with enterprise priorities.
• Translate strategic priorities into a sequenced roadmap of process, experience, data, platform, product and AI investments, with clear business cases and outcomes.
• Bring external insight on HR, workforce and technology trends to identify opportunities to reinvent work rather than digitize existing processes.

Portfolio, Decision Rights and Governance

• Own the integrated HR technology and solutions portfolio and establish clear accountability across business ownership, product leadership, platforms, data, delivery, adoption and value realization.
• Establish portfolio priorities, product investment recommendations, platform direction, delivery sequencing and lifecycle decisions within the HR portfolio.
• Serve as the senior EIT escalation point for material HR technology decisions, cross-functional dependencies, investment trade-offs and delivery risks.
• Drive reuse of enterprise platforms, data products, AI capabilities and common technology patterns while determining where differentiated HR capabilities are justified.

AI Transformation and Process Reimagination

• Establish and govern an integrated HR AI transformation portfolio spanning employee and manager support, HR services, talent, recruiting, learning, workforce planning, insights, knowledge and HR operations.
• Lead end-to-end reimagination of HR journeys and processes using generative AI, responsible agents, predictive analytics, intelligent workflow and automation.
• Partner with HR leaders to redesign work, service models, decision points and human-machine interactions as AI changes how HR expertise and services are delivered.
• Determine whether AI capabilities should be delivered through enterprise platforms, embedded HR products, reusable enterprise capabilities, HR-specific solutions or strategic partners.
• Reduce fragmented experimentation through common priorities, reusable patterns, data requirements, governance and value measures.
• Sponsor responsible agentic solutions with appropriate human accountability for consequential workforce, talent, employee and manager decisions.

HR Platforms, Products, Data and Experience

• Lead an integrated solutions ecosystem spanning HR services, talent, learning, recruiting, workforce insights, and employee and manager experiences; align DigitalU with the broader HR strategy and talent agenda.
• Translate priorities into outcome-based product strategies, roadmaps, experience designs and adoption plans, while enabling technical teams to determine implementation approaches.
• Establish the data, content, knowledge, access and governance foundations required for trusted digital, analytics and AI-enabled experiences.
• Orchestrate delivery across HR, product, engineering, data, architecture, cybersecurity, privacy, Legal, Compliance, vendors and enterprise platform teams.
• Ensure solutions are intuitive, inclusive, accessible, globally scalable and responsive to applicable local requirements.

Value, Risk and Operational Accountability

• Establish transparent governance for prioritization, funding, capacity, delivery, risk, adoption and value realization.
• Define outcome commitments for major investments, including employee and manager experience, service quality, process performance, productivity, decision quality, adoption, control effectiveness and business value.
• Evaluate investments against strategic alignment, adoption, delivery confidence, risk and realized value to inform future portfolio decisions.
• Ensure HR products, platforms, data, AI capabilities and s