Associate Fellow

The businesses of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany•Temecula, CA

About The Position

As an Associate Fellow for Biology, you will be instrumental in shaping the strategic direction and growth of the Next Gen Biology R&D projects, directly influencing success in the competitive life sciences market. Key responsibilities: Lead cross-functional core teams for next-generation biology programs, establishing objectives, milestones, governance, and decision-making processes. Develop and maintain program strategies and roadmaps, translating scientific opportunities into hypotheses, success criteria, stage gates, resourcing, and risk mitigation aligned with portfolio priorities. Provide guidance on lyophilization strategies for reagents and consumables. Offer deep technical leadership in next-gen biology areas (e.g., functional genomics, synthetic biology, cell engineering, multi-omics/spatial), linking emerging science to innovative product concepts. Ensure rigorous experimental planning, reproducible execution, high-quality documentation, and data-driven decision-making. Align stakeholders across R&D, operations, quality, marketing, and global partners; resolve conflicts and remove obstacles. Identify, evaluate, and integrate external technologies and partnerships to accelerate program progress.

Requirements

B.S. in Biology, Bioengineering, Biochemistry, or related discipline plus 5+ years of proven experience in Biotechnology or related fields
5+ years as team lead or similar roles
Thought leader in a scientific discipline; connects ideas across domains and drives project formation.
Capable of generating plans and mitigation actions within complex stakeholder environments; strong governance/influencing skills.
Able to generate communication plans and succinctly distill complex information for senior stakeholders.
Ability to drive high quality standards; models ethical behavior and strong data integrity practices.

Nice To Haves

M.S. plus 10+ years of experience; or PhD plus 5+ years of experience in Biology, Bioengineering, Biochemistry, or related discipline.
Experience in lyophilization and leading R&D roadmapping initiatives is preferred

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional core teams for next-generation biology programs, establishing objectives, milestones, governance, and decision-making processes.
Develop and maintain program strategies and roadmaps, translating scientific opportunities into hypotheses, success criteria, stage gates, resourcing, and risk mitigation aligned with portfolio priorities.
Provide guidance on lyophilization strategies for reagents and consumables.
Offer deep technical leadership in next-gen biology areas (e.g., functional genomics, synthetic biology, cell engineering, multi-omics/spatial), linking emerging science to innovative product concepts.
Ensure rigorous experimental planning, reproducible execution, high-quality documentation, and data-driven decision-making.
Align stakeholders across R&D, operations, quality, marketing, and global partners; resolve conflicts and remove obstacles.
Identify, evaluate, and integrate external technologies and partnerships to accelerate program progress.