Associate Director

Job Description

The Clinical and Regulatory Strategic Communications (CRSC) department within Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO) creates and delivers high-quality regulated content in support of our development pipeline and enables data sharing for our customers. We are a strategic partner that ensures excellence and compliance with applicable laws while incorporating health literacy principles in the development of public-facing materials.

The Associate Director of Disclosure Quality and Operations overseas and leads the preparation, quality control, tracking, and submission of clinical and regulatory documents and transparency deliverables, while coordinating with stakeholders to ensure compliance, accuracy, and timely completion of regulated content.

Key responsibilities may include:

• Supervision of the creation, review, quality control (QC), and/or redaction of clinical documents across multiple therapeutic areas and development stages, verifying accuracy, consistency, and proper formatting consistent with company and regulatory guidance and privacy/transparency regulations.
• Oversight of project timelines and tracking to drive timely completion of deliverables to ensure compliance with global requirements and voluntary policies, and to maintain inspection readiness.
• Lead the collection and analysis of metrics to identify trends, diagnose root causes, and drive corrective actions through targeted process improvements, enhanced training programs, and other strategic measures to ensure sustained quality and compliance.
• Build and maintain effective cooperative relationships with internal stakeholders relevant to role, policies, and regulations. 
• Forecast and allocate resources for deliverables using associated tracking of milestones, documents, and submission management systems to identify trials and submissions in scope of the transparency regulations.
• Coordinate and/or support collaborative review with authors and product development team members to confirm the information and documentation is reviewed and approved for accuracy, and, as applicable, for confidential and privacy protection.
• Lead and provide support for clinical trial disclosures, document redactions, and other key departmental initiatives to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements, organizational standards and public registries.
• Collaborate in the development, maintenance, and continuous update of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), job aids, and guidance documents for clarity, compliance, and alignment with evolving regulatory and organizational requirements.
• Support regulatory audits and inspections by ensuring documentation readiness, facilitating responses, and coordinating with cross-functional teams to maintain compliance standards.
• Strategize, design, and implement innovative, efficient processes, technology and tools to enhance business operations, document organization, authoring workflows, and metrics collection.
• Lead the development and execution of training programs to enhance team proficiency in processes, including designing cross-training initiatives for medical writers and other cross-functional teams, creating standardized learning materials, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement to ensure accuracy and compliance across deliverables.
• Mentor and/or manage team members, including hiring, workload, professional development, and performance management.
• Drive administration and business objectives for their group.

Education Requirement:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher preferably in a health, scientific, or relevant discipline (e.g., life sciences, pharmacy, medicine, public health) and at least 5 years of relevant industry experience.

Required skills & experience

• Fluent in American English.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Adobe Acrobat, SharePoint, and electronic document management systems.
• Strong teamwork and leadership skills across organizational levels, including conflict resolution expertise and discretion.
• Strong project management, organizational, and multitasking abilities
• Demonstrated ability to influence and lead in driving change in the organization.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and collaboration skills with the ability to work independently and in cross-functional teams
• Analytical mindset with problem-solving skills and ability to manage complex, ambiguous situations.
• Strong commitment to quality, attention to detail, and ability to meet deadlines under pressure.
• Adaptability to evolving technologies and processes within CRSC and regulatory environments.
• Able to maintain confidentiality and adhere to regulatory and company standards.
• Experience writing or able to critically analyze and interpret the content of drug and/or device clinical submission documents.
• Ability to execute responsibilities with minimal oversight.
• Ability to think strategically and objectively, and with creativity and innovation. 

Preferred skills & experience

Clinical Transparency (CT) / Document Disclosure (DD):

• Expert-level proficiency in the US Food & Drug Administration trial disclosure or the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) and/or Health Canada publication of clinical information requirements.
• Expert knowledge of regulatory disclosure intelligence and industry trends with the ability to assess the impact on business operations and shape effective strategies for new or modified requirements
• Ability to track metrics, analyze data, and establish automation tools.
• Proven development, testing, implementation, and support of tools and systems.

Quality & Process Improvement:

• Demonstrated experience identifying, designing, and implementing process improvements that increase efficiency, reduce cycle times, and strengthen operational effectiveness.
• Strong quality mindset with experience applying quality principles, root cause analysis, and corrective actions to support compliant, inspection-ready deliverables.
• Ability to influence stakeholders across functions to align on priorities, drive adoption of process improvements, and support sustained quality outcomes.

clinicaltrialjobs

Required Skills:

Critical Thinking, Cross-Cultural Awareness, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Independent Thinking, Medical Writing, New Technology Integration, People Leadership, Process Improvements, Regulatory Compliance, Stakeholder Management

Preferred Skills:

Continuous Improvement, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

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. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

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.

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

The salary range for this role is

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this 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.

You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

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

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully 
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.  No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. 

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

08/24/2026

*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.