Associate Director, Scientific Insights Steward, Medical Operations

Merck•North Wales, PA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Medical Operations, (AD, MO) is a role within Value and Implementation Global Medical and Value Capabilities (V&I GMVC) in Value and Implementation (V&I) that reports directly to the Director, Medical Operations Lead. The AD, MO is an integral member of the GMVC Medical Operations team serving as a subject matter expert around Scientific Insights and is held accountable for assisting and driving execution of the Medical Operations vision. The AD, MO participates in several of the following core V&I global initiatives and assumes varying degrees of project leadership: 1) accountable for the end-to-end stewardship of key Medical Affairs (MA) processes that promote operational efficiencies and achievement of MA priorities and objectives 2) partners with business stakeholders, process owners, other Value and Implementation Capabilities (V&I) functions, Our Company Information Technology (IT), and external vendors/partners to enable effective and innovative business processes that are supported by quality systems, and 3) accountable for overall global process and system oversight and ensuring that processes, metadata, and systems are consistently defined and deployed across all colleagues in medical affairs for all therapeutic areas, including tight collaboration with or direct management of Medical Operations Coordinators to accomplish the end-to-end objectives The AD, MO possesses strong communication and collaboration skills and the ability to implement and execute innovative ways of working within a complex matrix environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, business, or healthcare + 5 years of relevant Medical Affairs experience (e.g., Process and Systems, Medical Operations)
Experience partnering with business stakeholders across geographies, therapy areas, and functions to inform global process design and execution
Expertise leading process and systems workshops, interviews, and other methodologies to inform effective, efficient, new, and updated processes and systems
Attention to detail, excellent communication skills, and the ability to work independently, escalating risks and issues as appropriate
Demonstrated success in a fast-paced environment, with the ability to learn on the fly while understanding and solving new problems that require a high level of independent judgement and initiative
Ability to identify the most efficient and effective way to implement new services
Proven ability to innovate and think non-traditionally
Strong business acumen with the ability to judge whether ideas are likely to lead to compliant and value-adding customer solutions
Deep understanding of the environment, evolution, and global nature of Medical Affairs
Strong personal integrity and high ethical standards
Ability to organize, prioritize, and work effectively in a constantly changing, ambiguous environment
Detail-oriented nature
Experience as a member in cross-functional, global initiatives in a complex matrix
Strong decision-making, problem-solving, and analytical skills, with ability to innovate with practical solutions for complex issues
Ability to work independently while escalating risks and issues as appropriate
Experience working within regulations and compliance requirements
Excellent interpersonal communication (written/oral) and presentation skills
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio)

Nice To Haves

Work experience at affiliate, regional, and/or global level
Certification in Change Management, Sigma, and Project Management

Responsibilities

Understands the mission and vision of V&I as a science-driven and patient-committed organization
Attends GMVC Medical Operations Leadership Team and other meetings, as appropriate, as delegate for the Director, Medical Operations
Stays current with key initiatives across V&I Medical Operations and exhibits a high degree of collaboration with colleagues to ensure alignment across the broader organization
Exhibits deep subject matter expertise and strong business acumen
Serves as Medical Operations Steward for multiple processes and systems leveraged by V&I as assigned
Successfully partners within MA and across business functions and therapy areas to make effective business process decisions
Solves complex problems with efficient solutions and escalates risks and issues as appropriate
Collaborates and leads workshops with global stakeholders to effectively design business processes and translate them into high-level systems objectives
Is a key partner in the evaluation and selection of systems technology, partnering with MA IT
Fosters effective cross-functional collaboration and learns on the fly while understanding and solving new problems
Maintains up-to-date process and system documentation that is easily consumable per team standards
Participates in cross-divisional governance meetings (as needed) to ensure alignment across system users for configuration changes and release management
Plays a key role in process and systems governance to inform MA priorities and maintain the Road Map of Initiatives to inform process and system-related activities and timing
Partners with other MA Operations teams to drive global process improvement projects and develop implementation plans for global rollout of process and systems
Ensures appropriate creation and updating of training and maintenance reference guides and/or training documents on both the process and the applicable system
Adheres to the compliance and regulatory procedures, working closely with Global Compliance and Legal
Responds and complies with any program investigations, audits, or assessments working closely with V&I Standards Director on the control plan and any audits of the process
Ensures efforts and priorities align to overall V&I Strategic Initiatives while focusing on efficient, effective process execution
Monitors and evaluates process changes to ensure benefits/objectives are being met and are measurable