Associate Director, Software Engineering

Merck•Rahway, NJ

3d•$142,400 - $224,100•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, ServiceNow ITSM Transformation & AI Operations will lead the modernization of our Company's IT Service Management capabilities through AI-driven operations, automation, and process transformation. This role is responsible for advancing an intelligent operating model that connects ServiceNow, Ansible, BigPanda, observability platforms, and software development processes to improve service reliability, operational efficiency, and employee experience. This leadership role will be instrumental in transforming our Company's IT Operations into an AI-enabled, increasingly autonomous service management ecosystem.

Requirements

Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
12+ years of experience in ITSM, IT Operations, or ServiceNow leadership roles.
ServiceNow certifications (CSA, CAD, CIS, and AI-related modules)
Strong expertise in ServiceNow ITSM and process transformation.
Experience with ITOM, Event Management, AIOps, workflow automation, and enterprise integrations.
Proven ability to lead large-scale transformation initiatives and deliver measurable business outcomes.
Automation
Business Informatics
Business Transformation
Change Management
Computer Science
Data Engineering
Data Visualization
Design Applications
Design for Maintainability
Emotional Resilience
Information Technology (IT)
Information Technology Management
Orchestration (Computing)
Red Hat Ansible
Service Operations
Software Configurations
Software Development
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
Solution Architecture
System Designs
System Integration
Systems Automation
Testing
Use Cases
Workflow Automation

Nice To Haves

Experience with ServiceNow ITOM, CMDB, Service Mapping, AI Control Tower, and AI Agents.
Experience integrating with BigPanda or similar AIOps platforms.
Knowledge of Agentic AI, Generative AI, intelligent automation, and autonomous workflows.
Experience integrating ServiceNow with DevOps and SDLC platforms.
Experience in a regulated industry such as pharmaceuticals or healthcare.
Current Employees apply HERE
Current Contingent Workers apply HERE
US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:
Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully
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 place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.

Responsibilities

Lead the strategy, transformation, and continuous improvement of ITSM processes, including Incident, Problem, Change, Request, and Major Incident Management.
Drive adoption of AI-powered and Agentic AI solutions to automate service operations, incident resolution, and workflow orchestration.
Define and implement end-to-end workflows across ServiceNow, BigPanda, observability platforms, and SDLC tools such as Jira, GitHub, and Azure DevOps.
Partner with Infrastructure, Engineering, Security, Architecture, and Product teams to improve operational resilience and service quality.
Identify and deliver high-value AI, automation, and AIOps use cases that reduce manual effort and accelerate issue resolution.
Establish governance, KPIs, and value realization of metrics for AI-enabled service operations.
Lead cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders to drive adoption of future-state operating models.