Senior Director, Program Lead - Neuroscience

Merck & Co.; Rahway (NJ); On-site; USD 210,000 - 331,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck & Co. in Rahway, USA, is seeking an experienced Clinical Operations leader to guide multi-disease programs from planning through post-approval, directing global, cross-functional teams.

You will own program schedules, enrollment strategies, risk management, and collaboration with PSRM and QA to ensure timely delivery and compliant submissions. The role requires extensive pharmaceutical development experience and strong leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 15 years in pharma/drug development.

Responsibilities

• Lead and direct teams on program planning and governance meetings.
• Provide operational input during protocol design and development planning.
• Develop and maintain Clinical Operations Project Schedule with milestones.
• Oversee enrollment, site feasibility, and engagement strategies with stakeholders.
• Plan resources, staffing, and manage Trial Managers and leads.
• Ensure execution quality, track milestones, and mitigate risks.
• Escalate issues and promote cross-functional collaboration.
• Collaborate with PSRM on strategy and contracting.
• Support regulatory submissions input and quality plans.

Skills

GCP Regulations

ICH Guidelines

Digital Transformation

Cross-functional Leadership

Regulatory Submissions

Project Management

Education

Bachelor's degree + 15 years

Master's + 12 years

PhD/PharmD + 8 years

Tools

Clinical DB Platforms

Central Monitoring RBQM

Data Review Tools

Job description

Job Description

This position provides expert strategic and operational leadership in the planning and execution of highly complex program(s) (e.g., spanning multiple disease areas/indications, involving large outcome trials). In this position, you will have the opportunity to lead and direct global, cross-functional teams in end-to-end clinical development activities (strategic planning through post-marketing approval). You will apply project management and organizational leadership expertise in our fast paced, industry-leading, dynamic bio-pharmaceutical company. You will have both direct & indirect reports, managing team(s) across programs/within a disease area.

Your responsibility in this role will include:

• Leading and directing teams within a program/disease area/asset on key program planning and execution elements (e.g., program-level overviews; senior management and governance meetings).
• Providing operational input at the CST level during protocol design (e.g., feasibility, execution risk, operational implications of design choices) and on program-level development planning documents (e.g., Clinical Development Plan, Protocol Concept Sheet, Protocol), ensuring program-level consistency and delivery of program objectives.
• Developing and maintaining the Clinical Operations Project Schedule, defining timelines for key trial milestones (e.g., DBL), and providing ongoing operational oversight of trial plan deliverables (e.g., Central Lab plan, Specimen Management Plan).
• Providing program-, disease-area, or asset-level oversight & context to inform trial-level enrollment, site feasibility & selection, and leading patient and site engagement strategies with Patient Advocacy Groups and Key Opinion Leaders across trials.
• Conducting resource planning and staffing across a program, disease area, or asset (hiring and/or project onboarding; management of Trial Managers; may include management of other Program Leads).
• Holding overarching responsibility and oversight of program, disease-area, or asset-level execution, providing innovative ideas to achieve organizational objectives, tracking key trial milestones and metrics across the program, proactively managing delays, and surfacing execution risks.
• Leading efforts and applying expertise to maximize operational feasibility and efficiency, and ensuring consistency and quality across the assigned portfolio.
• Serving as the primary escalation point for trial teams on operational issues, fielding and resolving cross-functional issues, promoting cross-functional solutions, and escalating to management as needed.
• Partnering with Portfolio Sourcing & Relationship Management (PSRM) on program-level service provider strategy (e.g., selection, qualification, contracting, oversight), resolving escalated issues and promoting consistent standards across studies.
• Reviewing and providing expert operational input on trial-level regulatory submissions (e.g., IND, CTA, Article 46), Health Authority responses and meeting material, Risk Language, and the Clinical Study Report.
• Reviewing trial-level ADI/RAID logs, Quality Plans, and readouts from quality metric dashboards (e.g., protocol deviations, temperature excursions), and proactively identifying and minimizing operational risks across the program/disease area/asset. -(e.g., clinical supply disruptions, service provider performance issues), escalating issues to CST and PDT as needed.
• Collaborating with CQRM, CQOM, and CST to develop, maintain, and review the program-level RACT (including program-specific metrics and thresholds, e.g., KRIs, QTLs), and reviewing and approving the Program Quality Plan.
• Reviewing protocol-level CTQ factors and key trial plans to ensure program-/disease-area/asset-level consistency as appropriate and quality control (e.g., reduction of manual data tracking/review efforts, appropriate balance between site & central monitoring).
• Owning proactive inspection readiness across the trial/program lifecycle, including supporting the authoring of post-inspection observation responses and CAPA/SQI management, in close collaboration with Clinical Quality Operations.
• Serving as the operational representative on the Product Development's Clinical Subteam to elevate trial-/program-/disease-area-/asset-level risks, quality issues, and timeline/cost challenges, integrating solutions into program-level planning.
• Collaborating and facilitating interactions with key internal and external stakeholders (e.g., KOLs, vendors) in support of clinical program/disease-area/asset objectives.
• Leading and implementing process improvement and strategic initiatives (e.g., digital transformation).
• Potentially leading operational components of mergers and acquisitions (e.g., due diligence activities, portfolio integrations).
• Training, upskilling, and supervising direct and indirect reports, and managing the professional development and performance of direct reports, which may include Trial Managers and other Program Leaders.
• Supporting CTT onboarding and developing Trial Manager role-specific training.
• Championing and driving initiatives for digital proficiency/AI fluency to enhance efficiency and data-driven decision-making in clinical operations Division/Area Clinical Development

Job Level/ Grade 500/R6 Reports to TBD Location UG/RY/Other Extent of Travel ~15%

Qualifications, Skills & Experience Core Skills.

• Expert knowledge of GCP and ICH regulations.
• Expert understanding of end-to-end clinical research process, TA, and competitive landscape.
• Drives strategic adoption of scalable digital and AI-enabled approaches; experience in reviewing AI output, understanding limitations and constraints.
• Advanced knowledge of clinical database platforms, central monitoring/RBQM platforms & data review tools.
• Demonstrate advanced delegation, project-management, and program-wide decision-making skills to meet business needs and drive changes that shape the support, resourcing, and implementation of projects, programs, and/or technologies according to a budget/project plan.
• Ability to interact collaboratively and navigate high-stake conflicts with key internal/external stakeholders, leading through deep expertise and strategic influence.
• Demonstrate advanced problem solving, critical thinking, and scenario-planning Skills (i.e. resolving complex technical, operational, and financial problems by weighing resource availability against department objectives), keeping an enterprise vision/view.
• Demonstrate advanced verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrate strong leadership by influencing internal & external stakeholders, and building talent through oversight, coaching, and mentoring.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor's degree + 15 years OR
• Master's + 12 years OR
• PhD/PharmD + 8 years Pharmaceutical and/or clinical drug development experience.

Preferred Experience:

• Degree in life sciences, preferred.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification preferred.

Required Skills:

• Clinical Trials Monitoring, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Data Management, Ethical Standards, Exercises Judgment, Global Clinical Studies, Patient Safety, Regulatory Submissions, Scientific Writing, Therapeutic Knowledge

Preferred Skills:

• Adaptability, Innovation, Strategic Thinking

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:

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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.

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The primary location for this posting is:

USA - New Jersey - Rahway

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

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:

$210,400.00 - $331,100.00

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):

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:

Not Applicable

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

No

Job Posting End Date:

11/18/2026

*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.

Requisition ID:

R425375