Assoc. Director, Development Project Management (Hybrid)

Merck • North Wales, PA

6d • Hybrid

About The Position

Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM) is part of the Research and Development organization at our Company, which is also referred to as our Company's Research Laboratories.
Position Description/Summary:
Development Project Managers in GPAM are enterprise leaders that leverage a strong Project Management foundation to enable pipeline progression through integrated planning, aligned project execution, and problem solving. The GPAM Associate Director, Project Manager, is a core member of Drug Development Teams (e.g. Discovery Teams, Early Development Teams and/or Late Product Development Teams), partnering with team leaders to develop strategies and execute our Company's drug and vaccine development efforts to progress the Research & Development pipeline and realize its full potential. The Associate Director is expected to provide project management leadership and drive cross-functional teams with sufficient influence and mastery of project management to take on challenging assignments with minimal guidance. Projects could span any therapeutic area in which our company is actively engaged. In addition to project work, the Associate Director is expected to contribute to ongoing business process improvement and talent development in Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM).
This position may be based in either Rahway, NJ or Upper Gwynedd, PA

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required; concentration in a scientific or applied discipline preferred.
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in project management or a related role required.
• Product development experience required; in a pharmaceutical/biotech industry preferred.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree (e.g., MS, MBA, Ph.D., PharmD) preferred.
• Product development experience strongly preferred (ideally in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry).
• Experience and knowledge of clinical drug development strongly preferred; including the different phases of development and how the various functional areas contribute to a comprehensive strategy.
• Project management certification (PMP) and/or formal coursework/training in project management strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Managing the end-to-end drug development process, including projects of significant complexity; driving cross-functional teams and leading by influence to develop comprehensive strategies and ensure successful execution.
• Act as enterprise leaders by guiding teams through the creation, approval, and execution of integrated project plans appropriate to the project's phase of development and complexity. This includes integrating strategic and tactical input from diverse disciplines (e.g., clinical, regulatory, market access, manufacturing, CMC, commercial, and other areas) as applicable to the project, and driving alignment with key stakeholders and partnerships with Project and Alliance Managers across the GPAM organization, including colleagues in Japan and China.
• Building and maintaining project schedules and critical project information in enterprise project management systems and databases. Using these tools to integrate activities across key team members, proactively identify risks, address uncertainty, escalate appropriately, assess program status, and ensure clear and effective communication with key team, management, and cross-departmental stakeholders.
• Leveraging relationships and networks to improve and enhance team dynamics; proactively identifying and removing obstacles to drive business results.
• Navigating our company's process and organizational norms to enable teams to understand corporate governance and business requirements, thereby enabling decision-making.
• Leading key team meetings including creating thoughtful agendas, ensuring appropriate participation, contributing project management insights, and following up to ensure the team continues to make progress while holding others accountable.
• Actively participating and completing ongoing training and personal development activities to increase leadership competency and to gain knowledge and skill in the discipline of project management and the business and science of pharmaceutical product discovery and development.
• Participating in Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM) departmental initiatives and workstreams aimed at improving the way that we work and the way that we interact with one another as well as other departments. Improving business processes to find new efficiencies and connect people to the information that they need.
• Providing mentoring, coaching, and oversight to partner project managers working on common projects. Sharing lessons learned and best practices to impact the Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM) community positively.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees