Dir., MRL Strategy

Job Description

The Enterprise Strategy Office (ESO) develops, implements, and drives enterprise strategy in support of patients, our company, its customers, and other stakeholders. The scope of this group includes strategy development, strategy execution & value realization, enterprise strategic planning, risk management, and strategic venture investments in healthcare as part of our Global Health Innovation fund. Together, we identify business critical opportunities, frame and evaluate options, and ensure effective implementation and cross-functional engagement to realize impact.

Our Company's Research Labs is a critical focus area for our company. Our portfolio is large, and rapidly evolving. Within ESO, we provide deep strategic partnership to develop, assess and shape our Company's strategy at the portfolio, disease, indication, asset and modality level, as well as the capabilities required to continuously deliver transformative therapies to patients.

Position Description

The person in this role will support strategy development by leading the assessment and design of our Company's Research & Development division strategy priorities, tackling complex and often ambiguous questions that have significant upside for our company. They will work with senior leaders and our ESO team to identify and frame priority topics; conduct rigorous assessments to inform leadership decision-making; develop, refine and lead strategic initiatives across our Company's Research & Development division; and help evolve and establish capabilities to maximize the success of our company.

This individual will collaborate cross-functionally with leaders and colleagues across our Company and will be a critical partner in the areas they support. They will be charged with solving problems, driving value, and building a coalition of support that is needed for the creation and adoption of change. This individual will foster a psychologically safe, and inclusive environment by leading teams both directly and indirectly and mentoring special assignment partners.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Partner with ESO colleagues and our Company's Research & Development division leaders to identify high-value strategic imperatives

• Lead the framing, assessment, and recommendation of key initiatives, in collaboration with executive leaders across the company

• Develop fact-bases using internal and external datasets to support leadership decision-making

• Interrogate a deep and broad R&D portfolio to aid in resource allocation, prioritization and maximization of patient impact

• Bring to bear experience in R&D (discovery, translational sciences, development, regulatory), commercialization, data/digital, and other areas to identify capability gaps and ways to evolve

• Solicit external, outside-in perspectives by sourcing information and interacting with external partners (e.g., consultants, analysts, venture capital, other innovation-focused industries, etc.)

• Contribute new ideas and priorities, leveraging experience from other areas and/or companies

• Lead internal and external teams to drive ideas from conception to implementation

• Partner with cross-functional teams to support implementation and deliver on key objectives

• Drive cultural engagement with and inclusive teams

Position Qualifications:

Education and Industry Experience Requirement:

• PhD in a relevant scientific discipline or MD from a top ranked program

• 4+ years of strategy management consulting experience from a top-tier firm (e.g., BCG, McKinsey, LEK)

• Minimum of 7+ years of biopharmaceutical experience across roles, with deep experience in R&D, including strong innovation and/or data/digital/AI/tech focus

• Experience managing teams as well as external vendors

Required Skills:

• Advanced degree with demonstrated capability across roles and functions

• Problem solving and insight generation – ability to frame and conceptualize complex, ambiguous questions and drive towards clear, substantiated answers relevant to the questions at hand

• Strong analytical skills with ability to efficiently source and interrogate different types of data to deliver relevant, high-quality insights

• Strong communicator with excellent verbal and written skills; ability to communicate effectively with senior management and across all levels of the business

• Demonstrated leadership qualities with the ability to empathize, listen, and enable colleagues to thrive

• Ability to influence decision-making in a matrixed organization and lead without direct authority

• Strong business acumen, with ability to build consensus

• Ability to prioritize time and problem solve to focus on most impactful activities / initiatives

• High EQ. Growth mindset. Curious. Motivated. Team-oriented. Organized. Coachable.

Location: Rahway, NJ preferred with the potential opportunity for placement in Boston, MA.

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Analytical Tools, Biopharmaceutics, Data-Driven Decision Making, Decision Making, Developing Proposals, Inclusive Leadership, Influencing Skills, Market Research, Pharmaceutical Industry, Prioritization, Results-Oriented, Strategic Initiative, Strategic Management, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Strategy Development, Strategy Execution

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.  As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.  For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:

EEOC Know Your Rights

EEOC GINA Supplement​

We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

The salary range for this role is

$173,200.00 - $272,600.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits.  Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

San Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only: We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

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 in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. 

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

08/7/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.