Meeting Services Support Specialist - Japanese Speaker

Job Description

The Travel, Meetings, Events & Fleet (TME&F) Organization – Meeting Services Support operates across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and is responsible for delivering standardized, compliant, and efficient global processes that support business divisions and markets worldwide.

Through a centralized service delivery model, TME&F drives operational excellence, financial stewardship, process consistency, and a seamless stakeholder experience across regions.

Position Summary

The Specialist, Meeting Services Support - Japanese Speaker independently manages meeting administration and related financial activities for assigned markets or processes. This role applies company policies and procedures to standard and moderately complex cases, collaborates with cross-functional stakeholders, resolves operational issues, supports onboarding and training activities, and contributes to process standardization and continuous improvement initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

End-to-End Meeting Operations

• Manage assigned meeting cases from request intake through vendor/account setup, purchase order creation, event reconciliation, and payment processing.
• Review submitted information for completeness, accuracy, approvals, and readiness before processing.
• Ensure compliance with approved market requirements, meeting procedures, controls, and service standards.
• Manage multiple priorities effectively and communicate status updates, dependencies, risks, and required actions to stakeholders.

Operational Issue Resolution

• Investigate incomplete, rejected, aging, or unusual requests and coordinate required corrective actions.
• Conduct root-cause analysis for recurring operational issues, delays, duplicate activities, and rework.
• Resolve standard payment, vendor, purchase order, expense, and reconciliation issues with relevant support teams.
• Escalate policy-related concerns, control exceptions, stakeholder-sensitive matters, or high-impact cases to management when required.

Stakeholder & Service Management

• Partner closely with internal TME&F teams, Finance stakeholders, Compliance, Procurement, Source-to-Settle teams, Employee Expense teams, and Meeting Planning Agencies.
• Provide guidance on operational requirements, documentation, and process expectations.
• Respond to stakeholder inquiries professionally and provide timely, accurate updates.
• Monitor open items, outstanding documentation, aging cases, and critical deadlines.

Documentation, Training & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain work instructions, standard operating procedures (SOPs), checklists, templates, training materials, and operational trackers.
• Support onboarding, knowledge transfer, shadowing, refresher training, and case coaching for new team members.
• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, automate, or eliminate duplicate activities.
• Support process transitions, testing, go-live activities, hypercare, stabilization efforts, and post-implementation reviews.
• Contribute operational insights and data for service reviews and continuous improvement initiatives.

Key Stakeholders

• Meeting Owners, Event Owners, Product Managers, Coordinators, and Business Stakeholders across supported markets.
• Associate Specialists, Specialists, Senior Specialists, and the Meeting Services Support Manager.
• TME&F colleagues across Business Partner, Process Excellence, Strategy, Program, and Regional Operations teams.
• Compliance, Legal, Finance, Procurement, Source-to-Settle, and Employee Expense teams.
• Meeting Planning Agencies and other approved external service providers.

Education & Experience Required

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Economics, Science, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in: Meeting operations Finance operations Accounts payable Purchase-to-pay (P2P) Expense management Event administration Similar operational environments
• Experience managing cases independently and coordinating issue resolution across multiple stakeholder groups.

Language Requirement

• Business-level Japanese language proficiency is required.
• Additional language capabilities are considered an advantage.

Required Skills & Capabilities

• Strong understanding of operational controls, compliance requirements, finance processes, and documentation standards.
• Business-level Japanese communication skills (written and spoken).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Effective prioritization and follow-through skills.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating across countries, functions, and time zones.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain requirements clearly and professionally.
• Intermediate proficiency in Microsoft 365 applications, including: Excel Outlook PowerPoint Teams SharePoint
• Experience with systems such as: SAP Ariba Concur ServiceNow Cvent Salesforce Veeva (or similar platforms)
• Continuous improvement mindset with the ability to identify recurring issues and implement practical solutions.
• Ability to manage change, shifting priorities, and high-volume workloads while maintaining accuracy and timeliness.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in multinational, regional, or global operations environments.
• Exposure to audit, compliance, or highly controlled operating environments.
• Experience supporting a broad range of meeting types, congresses, sponsorships, travel, expense management, and payment processes.
• Knowledge of process improvement methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma.
• Exposure to automation and analytics tools, including: Power BI Power Apps Excel Macros UiPath Similar automation technologies
• Additional language capabilities relevant to supported markets.

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Consistent delivery of end-to-end processes within agreed service levels.
• Strong quality, accuracy, and Right-First-Time performance.
• Timely resolution of aging cases, rework, and stakeholder inquiries.
• Maintenance of accurate and up-to-date process documentation.
• Effective contribution to onboarding, process transitions, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Note:

Responsibilities may vary based on supported market requirements, meeting types, applicable policies, and evolving business needs. All activities must be performed in accordance with organizational policies, internal controls, privacy requirements, and approved operating procedures.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

Required Skills:

Account Collections, Account Collections, Action Item Management, Adaptability, Analytical Problem Solving, Balance Sheet Account Reconciliations, Business Informatics, Business Management, Business Support, Compliance SOX, Credit Management, Documentation Preparation, Financial Accounting Controls, Financial Operations, Government Regulation, Human Resources (HR) Shared Services Advisory, Interpersonal Relationships, Knowledge Sharing, Liaison Work, Management Support, Meeting Facilitation, Meeting Management, Meeting Organization, Preparation of Financial Reports, Procedure Adherence {+ 8 more}

Preferred Skills:

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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:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

Job Posting End Date:

12/31/2026

*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.