Senior Director of Clinical Science, Lung, Head & Neck (Hybrid)

MSD•Rahway, NJ

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director of Clinical Science provides strategic clinical and scientific leadership across multiple programs and assets within the lung and head and neck portfolio. Serving as a strategic peer to Clinical Directors and Program Leads and partnering with senior cross-functional leaders, this role shapes development strategy and integrates scientific insights across studies and programs. The position applies deep clinical, scientific, and therapeutic-area expertise to guide clinical development planning, study and evidence-generation strategies, interpretation of clinical evidence, and complex development decisions. It also shapes Clinical Science standards and ways of working, and provides scientific leadership, coaching, and mentorship across the organization. The role may lead a large Clinical Science team. The position is hybrid, with the primary location in Rahway, New Jersey. Travel requirements are 10%.

Requirements

Advanced healthcare or scientific degree (e.g., PhD, PharmD), or equivalent, with 8 or more years of pharmaceutical, clinical drug development, and/or medical field experience preferred; alternatively, a master's degree, preferably in life sciences, with 12 or more years of such experience; or a bachelor's degree, preferably in life sciences, with 15 or more years of such experience.
Ability to leverage deep clinical development expertise and knowledge of the regulatory and competitive landscape to shape clinical development strategy across programs, assets, or disease areas.
Ability to leverage deep therapeutic-area expertise and emerging science to shape scientific direction across programs, assets, or disease areas.
Demonstrated ability to provide clinical/scientific leadership across programs, assets, or disease areas.
Ability to synthesize complex clinical evidence, emerging science, competitive insights, and clinical practice to drive strategic development decisions.
Ability to leverage expertise in clinical development planning, evidence-generation strategy, and clinical data interpretation to establish development priorities.
Ability to set execution direction across programs, assets, or disease areas and align priorities, stakeholders, and cross-functional activities.
Exceptional scientific and strategic judgment in highly complex and ambiguous situations, including the ability to evaluate trade-offs and drive strategic decisions.
Ability to drive alignment across senior stakeholders, functions, and governance bodies to advance priorities.
Strong clinical/scientific communication and ability to shape perspectives and decisions across senior internal and external audiences.
Ability to establish Clinical Science standards, leading practices, and innovative ways of working across programs, assets, or disease areas.
Ability to leverage clinical data and monitoring insights and oversee adoption of digital and AI-enabled approaches to improve decision-making.
Demonstrated ability to shape Clinical Science capabilities, develop talent, mentor colleagues, and build organizational capabilities.
Required skills include Clinical Development, Clinical Leadership, Clinical Product Development, Clinical Research, Clinical Research Management, Clinical Sciences, Clinical Trial Development, Clinical Trial Management, and Decision Making.

Nice To Haves

Preferred skills include Scientific Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Team Leadership.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic scientific leadership across programs, assets, or disease areas, ensuring quality and consistency of Clinical Science approaches.
Shape the development and evolution of Clinical Development Plans and set strategic direction for study design.
Oversee medical monitoring and medical data review approaches and guide interpretation of complex clinical data across programs.
Integrate clinical evidence, therapeutic-area science, emerging external data, and competitive insights to shape development strategy.
Provide strategic oversight and clinical guidance for key regulatory documents, Health Authority interactions, and other major development activities.
Shape governance strategy and communicate scientific development opportunities to senior leaders.
Shape scientific publication and external engagement strategies and develop strategic relationships with investigators and key opinion leaders.
Provide strategic oversight of clinical/scientific quality, risk management, and audit and inspection readiness across areas of responsibility.
Shape digital and AI-enabled Clinical Science approaches, identify high-value use cases, and drive scalable adoption across programs.
Shape Clinical Science standards, leading practices, and ways of working across programs or disease areas.
Develop Clinical Science talent and organizational capabilities through scientific leadership, coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship.
May lead a large Clinical Science team.