Associate Director, Data Stewardship

Job Description

Associate Director, Data Stewardship

The Opportunity

• Based in Hyderabad, join a global healthcare biopharma company and be part of a 130- year legacy of success backed by ethical integrity, forward momentum, and an inspiring mission to achieve new milestones in global healthcare.
• Be part of an organisation driven by digital technology and data-backed approaches that support a diversified portfolio of prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products.
• Drive innovation and execution excellence. Be a part of a team with passion for using data, analytics, and insights to drive decision-making, and which creates custom software, allowing us to tackle some of the world's greatest health threats.

Our Technology Centers focus on creating a space where teams can come together to deliver business solutions that save and improve lives. An integral part of our company's’ IT operating model, Tech Centers are globally distributed locations where each IT division has employees to enable our digital transformation journey and drive business outcomes. These locations, in addition to the other sites, are essential to supporting our business and strategy.

A focused group of leaders in each Tech Center helps to ensure we can manage and improve each location, from investing in growth, success, and well-being of our people, to making sure colleagues from each IT division feel a sense of belonging to managing critical emergencies. And together, we must leverage the strength of our team to collaborate globally to optimize connections and share best practices across the Tech Centres.

Role Overview

The Data Operations & Sustainment Lead is responsible for leading end-to-end sustainment operations for product and item master data processes supporting the Identification and Electronic Monitoring business.

This role oversees daily intake, prioritization, and execution of sustainment requests, ensures SLA adherence, and drives resolution of delays through structured root cause analysis and process improvements.

The Lead works closely with item data teams, business stakeholders, and IT to ensure operational efficiency, high data quality, and continuous improvement, including the introduction of automation and optimized workflows

What will you do in this role

Operational Leadership & Delivery

• Lead daily stand-ups / scrum calls to review sustainment request pipeline
• Prioritize and assign tasks based on business urgency and impact
• Oversee end-to-end execution of sustainment requests
• Monitor SLA performance and aging queues
• Perform root cause analysis for delays and drive corrective actions

Resource & Capacity Planning

• Plan and align resource allocation across item data team and supporting teams
• Ensure adequate capacity to support high-priority business demands such as:
  • Tenders
  • Market geo-expansions
• Balance workload to optimize throughput and delivery timelines

Stakeholder Management & Coordination

• Act as primary point of contact for:
  • Local commercial users
  • Master data owners
• Provide guidance on correct workflows and request submission processes
• Coordinate with business teams in case of exceptions or deviations
• Escalate SLA risks and delays to Global IT Data Owner where required
• Ensure alignment across global and local stakeholders

Process Optimization & Automation

• Identify and implement automation opportunities in sustainment processes, such as:
  • Automated approval workflows
  • SLA tracking
  • Notification mechanisms
• Drive continuous process improvements to increase efficiency and reduce manual effort
• Standardize workflows and improve end-to-end process transparency

Data Quality & Governance

• Collaborate with global product data stewards on recurring data issues
• Ensure adherence to data governance standards and data quality rules
• Translate recurring issues into process or data model improvements
• Communicate changes effectively to business users and stakeholders

Reporting & Performance Management

• Track and report key KPIs, including:
  • SLA adherence
  • Request backlog
  • Cycle time
  • Volume trends
• Provide regular updates to leadership and stakeholders
• Use insights to drive performance improvements and operational decisions

Profile

• Strong operational leader with ownership mindset
• Highly structured and analytical, with strong problem-solving skills
• Stakeholder-focused, able to manage multiple interfaces effectively
• Strong process-driven mindset, focused on efficiency and governance
• High attention to data quality and compliance
• Excellent communication and prioritization skills.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, IT, Supply Chain, or related field — or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of experience in master data, sustainment operations, or data operations
• Experience working in global, cross-functional environments

What should you have

• Proven experience in master data sustainment or item master data operations
• Experience leading operations team and workflows (scrum / ticket-driven environments)
• Strong experience in SLA management and performance tracking
• Strong analytical and root cause analysis skills
• Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders (business, IT, data teams)
• Hands-on experience with SAP master data processes (MDG, SAP Atlas or similar)
• Experience with ticketing tools (e.g., JIRA, ServiceNow)
• Strong prioritization and communication skills (English)
• Ability to manage high-volume requests and competing priorities

 Preferred Skills

• Experience with automation and AI-driven data operations
• Knowledge of data governance frameworks and operating models
• Experience within Identification / Electronic Monitoring domain
• Familiarity with Lean / Six Sigma methodologies
• Experience with KPI reporting and dashboards (Power BI)
• Experience with SAP S/4HANA environments

Who we are

We are known as well-known org Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA in the United States and Canada and MSD everywhere else. For more than a century, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases. Today, our company continues to be at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions and advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and animals around the world.

What we look for

Imagine getting up in the morning for a job as important as helping to save and improve lives around the world. Here, you have that opportunity. You can put your empathy, creativity, digital mastery, or scientific genius to work in collaboration with a diverse group of colleagues who pursue and bring hope to countless people who are battling some of the most challenging diseases of our time. Our team is constantly evolving, so if you are among the intellectually curious, join us—and start making your impact today.

Required Skills:

Data Governance, Data Management, Data Modeling, Data Quality, Global Product Management, Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M), Prioritization, Quality Management, SAP BW/4HANA, SAP HANA Administration, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Service Management, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Management, Workflow Optimization

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

Secondary Language(s) Job Description:

#MSDHYDIT

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:

Domestic

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

No Travel Required

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

08/20/2026

*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.