Associate Director, RQS Business Excellence & Strategy

Merck•Billerica, MA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

In this role, you will lead cross-functional initiatives that turn our regulatory, quality, and patient safety priorities into clear plans with measurable outcomes. You will champion digital innovation and adoption, partner with functional leaders and human resources to close capability gaps and strengthen organizational agility, and prepare the insights, executive summaries, and governance support that guide senior leadership forums. The purpose of this role solves the challenge of fragmented strategy and slow digital adoption across a global organization by connecting leadership decisions to day-to-day execution, so our science reaches patients faster and more reliably. You will join our Digital Innovation and Organizational Effectiveness team — a lean, nimble organization that supports a large global department spanning regulatory affairs, research and development quality, and patient safety, which means your work carries visible, outsized impact.

Requirements

Bachelors degree with minimum 8 years of professional experience in strategy, business excellence, or operational excellence within a regulated biopharmaceutical or life sciences environment OR Graduate degree with Minimum 6 years of professional experience in strategy, business excellence, or operational excellence within a regulated biopharmaceutical or life sciences environment
External applicants must be eligible to work in the US.
Must be comfortable with ambiguity, work independently, and be motivated by driving meaningful change in a global, purpose-driven organization.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading cross-functional programs across functions and geographies, translating enterprise strategy into actionable plans and measurable results.
Understanding of regulatory affairs, research and development quality, or patient safety operations well enough to be a credible thought partner to senior leaders.
Energized by digital transformation and bring a mindset of continuous learning and experimentation with new technologies and ways of working.
Demonstrate that you can partner naturally with functional leaders and human resources colleagues to identify capability gaps and build organizational agility and resilience.

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional initiatives that turn regulatory, quality, and patient safety priorities into clear plans with measurable outcomes.
Champion digital innovation and adoption.
Partner with functional leaders and human resources to close capability gaps and strengthen organizational agility.
Prepare insights, executive summaries, and governance support for senior leadership forums.
Connect leadership decisions to day-to-day execution.
Communicate with clarity, creating executive summaries, briefings, and visualizations that turn complex information into confident decisions.
Build trusted relationships across diverse teams and act as a connector between senior leadership and operational teams, promoting shared ownership of strategic goals.