Head of Science Operations

Merck•Billerica, MA

21h•Onsite

About The Position

Work Your Magic with us! Start your next chapter and join EMD Serono. Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us. United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe. About AIDD AI & Automation in Drug Discovery (AIDD) at EMD is building and scaling AI-driven and automated discovery capabilities. We connect machine learning, computational science, and lab automation to enable closed-loop chemistry and biology experimentation and faster, higher-quality scientific decisions. In our Boston-area autonomous make-and-test lab, automated synthesis, analytical characterization, and biological readout come together to accelerate discovery. Your Role We are hiring a Head of Science Operations to lead the Make and Test engine at the heart of AIDD. Reporting directly to the head of AIDD, this is a senior scientific leadership role with direct responsibility for a team of medicinal and synthetic chemists, biologists, and automation scientists. . You will oversee end-to-end experimental design and execution quality, R&D timelines and roadmaps, SOPs and data integrity in addition to scaling the team, and serving as the scientific voice of AIDD to customers, partners, and stakeholders.

Requirements

PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related field
At least 8 years of relevant industry experience in pharma, biotech, or CRO, with a demonstrated track record of scientific leadership in discovery programs.
Hands-on expertise in chemistry and/or biology assay development; proven ability to optimize complex workflows with data-driven decision making.
Experience leading and developing science teams; ability to recruit, mentor, and retain senior scientific talent.
Proven ability to communicate science clearly to customers, partners, and non-scientific stakeholders.
Experience with lab operations governance: SOPs, QC metrics, data lineage, safety, and compliance in a high-throughput setting.

Nice To Haves

Experience integrating Chemistry and Biology in an autonomous or closed-loop discovery setting.
Familiarity with retrosynthesis tools, high-throughput chemistry platforms, and automated bioassay systems.
Comfort with ELN/LIMS, data lineage, metadata schemas, and basic AI/ML data interfaces; ability to partner effectively with data and software teams.
Prior external-facing or partner-facing scientific leadership for platform-scale programs.
Experience with budget ownership, vendor management, and contract scoping in a scientific operations context.

Responsibilities

Scientific ownership of Make and Test workflow
Own experimental design and execution for autonomous chemical synthesis and biological testing, ensuring high-quality data, and timely results.
Lab operations governance
Develop and maintain SOPs, QC metrics, safe-lab practices, and data lineage; drive continuous improvement and compliance.
Throughput, capacity, and resource planning
Build and maintain capacity models; collaborate with Automation to scale workflows without compromising data integrity.
Platform collaboration and roadmap input
Prioritize scientifically impactful platform enhancements; translate lab needs into actionable requirements for software and automation teams.
Build and manage scientific roadmap, ensuring adherence to timelines for assay onboarding and capability enhancements.
External partnerships and vendor governance
Manage scientific alignment with CROs, vendors, and academic partners; define SLAs, knowledge transfer, and quality controls.
Talent, capability building, and culture
Hire, onboard, and develop senior scientists in Chemistry and Biology; establish performance rhythms and cross-functional teamwork norms; scale team from 5 to 10.