Director – Data Science

Job Description

The Director, Data Science (R-track) provides strategic leadership and governance for analytics and data enablement across multiple therapeutic areas. This individual defines and oversees the implementation of enterprise-wide data and analytics strategies, ensuring high-quality automation, methodological consistency, and alignment with clinical and digital health objectives. The Director, Data Science establishes governance frameworks, drive cross-functional collaboration, and advance innovation in analytical methodologies, tools, and automation.

Responsibilities

Data analysis, insights, and visualization

• Lead the development and execution of therapeutic-area data enablement and analytics strategies aligned with organizational goals.
• Guide the creation of analytics KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and dashboards to monitor data performance, quality, and operational efficiency across therapeutic areas.
• Serve as a key advisor to executive leadership, governance boards, and cross-functional leaders by translating analytical insights into strategic business decisions.

Technical delivery, automation, ML/AI enablement

• Maintain accountability for the design, performance, and integrity of automated data and analytics pipelines, ensuring scalability and compliance with regulatory standards.
• Oversee analytics governance to ensure consistent application of standards, metrics, and quality controls across programs and platforms.
• Drive adoption of emerging technologies (e.g., AI/ML, advanced data visualization, predictive analytics) and promote continuous improvement in analytical efficiency and value generation.
• Define and enforce best practices for dataset design, feature engineering, and analytical evaluation to ensure comparability and reproducibility across studies.
• Lead and mentor analytics team members, fostering an environment of innovation, accountability, and collaboration.
• Strengthen organizational analytics maturity through targeted capability development and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
• Partner with clinical, data management, and IT teams to ensure cohesive, interoperable analytics processes that drive meaningful business and scientific outcomes.
• Champion organizational change; drive adoption of new operating models and digital capabilities across global functions

Technical skills

• Expert knowledge of analytics governance frameworks, successful data strategy implementation, and cross-functional data integration techniques.
• Expert knowledge in advanced data analytics, automation, and AI/ML evaluation applied to clinical and digital health data.
• Expert experience in designing and overseeing automated analytics pipelines, data architectures, and metadata-driven workflows.
• Expert command of programming languages and analytics tools (e.g., Python, R, SQL) as well as data visualization and monitoring platforms (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, Spotfire).
• Expert knowledge of clinical and real-world data standards (e.g., CDISC, SDTM) and of regulatory compliance requirements (e.g., GxP, 21 CFR Part 11).
• Expert experience driving enterprise-scale data transformation initiatives and enabling scalable, technology-driven analytics ecosystems.

Non-technical skills

• Ability to distill complex issues into decision-ready narratives; frames options, risks, and recommendations to influence senior decisions.
• Strong proficiency in driving adoption of standardized methods/ways of working; mobilizes cross-functional champions and measures uptake.
• Capable of aligning senior stakeholders on objectives, interfaces, and responsibilities, while ensuring clean handoffs and conflict resolution
• Coordinates decisions across regions/time zones; uses asynchronous mechanisms to maintain momentum.
• Engages vendor forums; represents team professionally and credibly under pressure; maintains resilience and composure.
• Resilient and adaptable, with a balance of strategic vision and operational execution.
• Ability to integrate business, operational, and people dimensions into decision-making.

Enterprise Leadership Skills

• Business Savviness​ | Anticipates business and regulatory issues and shapes strategy accordingly; connects technical expertise to organizational and industry context to make strategic recommendations​
• Influence | Leads large teams / projects, helps shape departmental strategy influences leaders, peers, and cross-functional partners to align on decisions and strategic direction​
• Change Catalyst​ | Drives improvements (e.g., organizational and cultural changes) with broader impact; demonstrates adaptability and ability to collaborate with others to make change successful; helps others overcome resistance to change​

Qualifications & experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Pharmacy, Nursing, Biological Sciences, or health care related discipline with a minimum of 10 years of experience in relevant field for job description, including:
• Demonstrated aptitude of working with large datasets to transform into actionable insights, deep subject matter expertise in relevant discipline
• People management skills
• Programming and/or analysis experience may include SQL, Python, R, Databricks and the like.
• Expert knowledge of statistics, data visualization, organizational skills, time management, and database concepts.

OR

• Advanced Degree (Masters or Doctorate) in Computer Science, Statistics, Pharmacy, Nursing, Biological Sciences, or health care related discipline with a minimum of 8 years of experience in relevant field for job description, including:
• Demonstrated aptitude of working with large datasets to transform into actionable insights, deep subject matter expertise in relevant discipline
• People management skills
• Programming and/or analysis experience may include SQL, Python, R, Databricks and the like.
• Expert knowledge of statistics, data visualization, organizational skills, time management, and database concepts.

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EligibleforERP

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Required Skills:

Business Agility, Business Decisions, Database Design, Data Literacy, Data Modeling, Data Organization, Data Science, Data Visualization, Project Management, Stakeholder Relationship Management

Preferred Skills:

Clinical Operations, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Machine Learning

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.

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The primary location for this posting is:

USA - Pennsylvania - North Wales (Upper Gwynedd)

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

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

$190,800.00 - $300,300.00

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

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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:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

25%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

Yes

Hazardous Material(s):

No

Job Posting End Date:

11/12/2026

*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.