Senior Specialist Safety & Environment

MSD; Upper Gwynedd Township (Montgomery County); Hybrid; USD 106,000 - 167,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking a Senior Specialist in Safety & Environment for our West Point site in Pennsylvania. You will provide technical leadership for High Risk Work and Machinery Safety across the West Point, North Wales, and Springhouse campuses, partnering with operations, engineering, and maintenance to prevent injuries and events.

You will translate regulatory and company requirements into practical risk-based solutions, strengthen critical controls, and drive sustainable improvements aligned with

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of safety program or technical safety experience in a complex environment.
• Strong knowledge of high-risk work controls and machinery safety.
• Ability to apply OSHA and company standards to field work and projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead HRW Steering Committee and Councils to align site programs.
• Serve as SME and procedure owner for high-risk work and safety.
• Develop and deliver training for employees and contractors.
• Manage HRW auditing tools and drive permit compliance improvements.
• Collaborate on P&ID reviews, commissioning, and equipment handover.
• Provide machinery safety leadership across lifecycle with risk reduction measures.
• Conduct field risk assessments, safety reviews, and critical-control verifications.
• Lead or support investigations of high-potential events and incidents.
• Support regulatory inspections and internal audits related to high-risk work.

Skills

Adaptability

Biosafety

EHS Auditing

EHS Compliance

EHS Program Mgmt

Environmental Compliance

Safety Legislation

Incident Investigations

Industrial Hygiene

Interpersonal Skills

Occupational Safety

Process Safety

Safety Programs

Self Motivation

Training & Development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Safety/Engineering

Tools

MS Office

Digital Systems

Job description

Job Description

Basic Functions and Responsibility:

Reporting to the Associate Director, Safety & Environment, the Senior Specialist provides technical and program leadership for High Risk Work and Machinery Safety across West Point, North Wales, and Springhouse Innovation Park, supporting Vaccines Manufacturing, Research & Development, and site support functions. The role serves as a trusted subject matter expert and partners with operations, engineering, maintenance and other various organizations to prevent serious injuries and operational events. This individual translates regulatory, consensus-standard, and company requirements into practical risk-based solutions; strengthens critical controls in design and field execution; and uses program data, event learning, and field insights to drive sustainable improvement aligned with site priorities and business needs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the West Point HRW Steering Committee and HRW Councils, aligning all site organizations to one site program, following GSE procedures and training.
• Serve as the site subject matter expert and procedure owner for high-risk work, including hazardous energy control, line breaking, confined space entry, work at height, hot work, and other critical-risk activities.
• Develop and deliver technical training and qualification support for employees, contractors, and program owners responsible for high-risk work and machinery safety.
• Manage HRW contractor, partnering to deploy the HRW Auditing Tool and drive timely, effective improvement to permit compliance.
• Partner with Facilities, Engineering, Operations, and project teams on P&ID reviews, commissioning, and equipment handover.
• Provide technical leadership for machinery safety, including machine risk assessments, safeguarding controls, and verification of risk‑reduction measures across the equipment lifecycle.
• Conduct and facilitate field risk assessments, machinery safety reviews, pre‑startup reviews, and critical‑control verifications; document gaps, establish risk‑based priorities, and drive actions to timely closure.
• Lead or support investigations of high‑potential events, near misses, and machinery‑related incidents; identify systemic causes, evaluate control failures, and ensure corrective and preventative actions are effective and sustained.
• Support regulatory inspections, internal audits, management reviews, and enterprise or divisional initiatives related to high‑risk work and machinery safety.

Position Qualifications:

Education Minimum Requirement:

• Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Safety, Engineering, or a related technical field.

Required Experience and Skills:

• At least 5 years of safety program or technical safety experience in a manufacturing, laboratory, engineering, or similarly complex environment.
• Strong knowledge of high‑risk work controls, including hazardous energy control and activities such as line breaking, confined space entry, work at height, excavation, lifting and rigging, or hot work.
• Working knowledge of machinery risk assessment, safeguarding, safety‑related controls, interlocks, emergency stops, and control verification.
• Ability to apply OSHA, consensus, and company standards to field work, work planning, equipment design, and capital projects.
• Strong investigation, risk assessment, problem‑solving, project management, and corrective‑action skills.
• Ability to influence cross‑functional teams and communicate technical requirements clearly, using Microsoft Office and relevant digital systems.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, or other highly regulated manufacturing or research environments.
• Experience applying recognized machinery safety standards and methodologies, such as ANSI, NFPA, ISO, or equivalent risk‑based frameworks.
• Professional certification or relevant credential such as CSP, CHST, CMSE, CFSE, or an equivalent qualification.

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Biosafety, EHS Auditing, EHS Compliance, EHS Program Management, Environmental Regulatory Compliance, Health and Safety Legislation, Incident Investigations, Industrial Hygiene, Interpersonal Relationships, Occupational Safety and Health Programs, Process Safety Management, Safety Programs, Self Motivation, Training and Development

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

The primary location for this posting is:

USA - Pennsylvania - West Point

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

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

$106,200.00 - $167,200.00

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.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

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:

No Travel Required

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

no

Job Posting End Date:

11/3/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFOREthe listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.