Associate Director, Engineering

Job Description

The West Point Technical Operations Process Support Laboratories within our Manufacturing Division is responsible for supporting all company commercial vaccines with best in class laboratory support for technical investigations, life-cycle-management driven process enhancements and commercial vaccine expansions. We seek an energetic, people-oriented leader with strong scientific and technical skills to lead laboratory activities supporting multiple vaccine programs.

The Associate Director will be responsible for management and oversight of business-critical cell culture and live virus vaccine objectives for one or more vaccine franchises.  This individual will lead a team of scientists and engineers to develop and transfer lab-scale models, drive continuous improvement and deep-dive investigations, and develop novel methods to enable process understanding.

Responsibilities Include but are not limited to:

Process subject matter expert (SME) for processing of live-virus vaccines.

Manages one or more vaccine cell culture based projects and prioritizes resources to align with business objectives

Manages a team of scientists and engineers

Builds talent by coaching, managing, and developing a team of scientist/engineers through both direct and indirect reporting relationships.

Designs and leads execution of experimental protocols using lab facilities and/or production equipment at full scale. Communicating data driven results to all levels within and across organizations.

Examines an issue from diverse perspectives (safety, compliance, automation, equipment, process, and people) in order to best understand and resolve the root cause.

Authors and approves technical documentation to support manufacturing investigations and process enhancements.

Collaborates and engages with counterparts within technical operations, site manufacturing, commercialization, our Research Division, and other process support labs within our global network.

Education Minimum Requirement: 

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Pharmaceuticals, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or related field with 8 years of relevant experience; or Master's degree with 6 years of relevant experience; or Ph.D. with 4 years of relevant experience.

Required Experience and Skills**: 

Minimum 2 years direct experience in vaccine or biologics process development, commercialization, manufacturing, or lab operations

Expertise in lab-scale experimental execution and experience with Design of Experiments (DOE), statistical data analysis and presentation of results/conclusions

Demonstrated leadership and ability to drive results

Strong communication, collaboration skills and ability to drive accountability

Preferred Experience and Skills:

Minimum 2 years direct live virus vaccine processing experience (laboratory scale or manufacturing scale)

Minimum of 1 year people management experience

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Biochemistry, Biodesign, Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biopharmaceuticals, Capital Project Management, Change Management, Chemical Engineering, Clinical Manufacturing, Commercialization, Data Analysis, Decision Making, Drug Product Manufacturing, Interpersonal Relationships, Lean Manufacturing, Manufacturing Scale-Up, Project Prioritization, Regulatory Compliance, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Strategic Thinking, Technical Transfer, Technical Writing Documentation

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

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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

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

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:

Domestic

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

08/12/2026 *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.

Requisition ID:R409463