Associate Director, Engineering

Merck • Wilmington, DE

22h • $142,400 - $224,100 • Onsite

About The Position

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our cutting-edge Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) manufacturing facility in Wilmington, Delaware—a bold step forward in transforming cancer care through innovation, collaboration, and purpose-driven science. ADCs represent one of the most exciting frontiers in biopharmaceuticals today. By combining the targeting power of monoclonal antibodies with the potency of cytotoxic drugs, ADCs deliver cancer-killing agents directly to tumor cells, minimizing damage to healthy tissue. This precision has revolutionized treatment for hematologic malignancies and is rapidly expanding into other cancers. The global ADC market is booming, projected to surpass $16 billion in 2025 and grow steadily through 2035. Innovations in linker technology, payload design, and AI-driven antibody optimization are accelerating breakthroughs and expanding therapeutic possibilities. Our Wilmington facility is designed to meet the growing demand for high-potency manufacturing, ensure supply chain resilience, and support the next wave of ADC launches. Importantly, this site will support both drug substance conjugation and drug product. This is more than a job - it’s a chance to be part of the next wave of cancer care. Whether you're an engineer, scientist, operator, or quality expert, your work here will contribute to life-changing therapies for patients around the world. Together, we’ll build a facility that not only meets the highest standards of safety and innovation but also fosters a culture of excellence, inclusion, and impact. Join us in Wilmington and help shape the future of cancer treatment—one molecule at a time. We invite you to become a part of our journey as the Technical Operations Associate Director, Validation Lead. This role offers you the chance to contribute to the site's development and ensure successful GMP manufacturing. In this position the Technical Operations Associate Director will play a pivotal role in ensuring the site establishes and maintains all aspects of validation across drug substance and drug product. In partnership with quality, technical operations, engineering and maintenance and the site manufacturing team will provide comprehensive equipment and system validation leadership for the site supporting the continued build, commissioning and qualification. This position will continue within the role from design through operation of the facility.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science or related discipline.
• 10+ years of increasing responsibility in validation, engineering or technical operations within a cGMP biologics, sterile manufacturing or pharmaceutical environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and operate within a matrix team to execute on the floor activities such as FAT, SAT, IQ/OQ and Engineering batches.
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities as project demands change.
• Demonstrated skills in planning, communication (oral and written) and technical writing.

Nice To Haves

• Start-up experience in a large-scale commercial drug substance and/or drug product facility highly desirable
• Experience supporting highly potent compounds, containment systems, isolator technologies and antibody-drug conjugate manufacturing strongly preferred.
• Previous experience in validation of building systems (WFI, autoclaves, etc.) and production systems (chromatography skids, isolators, filtration skids, etc.) is desired.
• Experience with aseptic process simulation (APS)/media fills, aseptic qualification strategy, isolator qualification, visual inspection validation, container closure integrity, lyophilization and cleaning validation including VHP experience is highly desired.
• Previous experience of manufacturing and technical support of shakedown batches engineering batches, developmental batches and PPQ runs.
• Previous experience with CQV activities will be advantageous.
• Experience in data driven approach to root cause analysis and prioritization of continuous improvement initiatives e.g., Six Sigma.
• Experience in a risk-based approach to manufacturing through use of tools such as FMEA.

Responsibilities

• Build, develop and lead the site validation organization, establishing capability, governance, standards and succession plans to support startup and long-term commercial operations
• Partner with the global validation CoE and drive continuous improvements across the site and network to ensure the site maintains the highest level of regulatory compliance.
• Lead and engage with the engineering design firms in detailed design on all aspects of drug substance and drug product manufacturing.
• Clearly own and hold team accountable for Validation Master Plan, Continued Process Verification (CPV), Cleaning Validation, Computer System Validation / CSA strategy (if applicable), Lifecycle management of validated systems, Inspection readiness
• Active participation in factory acceptance testing (FAT) and site acceptance testing (SAT).
• Develop project appropriate guidance documents as necessary.
• Support equipment qualification deliverables including equipment Commissioning & Qualification, IOQ, etc.
• Creation, review and revision of technical documents including manufacturing batch records, SOPs and technical memos.
• Establish and maintain the standards to validate and maintain the validated state of all equipment across DS & DP.
• Oversee the Engineering Batches, Process Performance Qualifications and commercial manufacturing including authoring relevant filing sections.
• Provide technical leadership for new product introductions (Tech Transfer).
• Serve as the site validation SME during health authority inspections, partner audits and regulatory submissions.

Benefits

• medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family)
• retirement benefits, including 401(k)
• paid holidays
• vacation
• compassionate and sick days

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager