Merck KGaA Posted August 17, 2026

Head of Site Quality

Jaffrey, New Hampshire, United States FULL_TIME
Quality

Merck KGaA is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Work Location:  Jaffrey, New Hampshire

Shift:

Department:  LS-SC-UJ Jaffrey

Recruiter:  Michele Lee Stabinsky

This information is for internals only. Please do not share outside of the organization.

Your Role

Quality is not a checkpoint, it is the foundation on which scientific progress is built. As Head of Site Quality, you will own and shape the full quality agenda for a dynamic Life Science manufacturing site, driving both strategic direction and day-to-day execution across quality assurance and quality control. In this pivotal leadership role, you will set the quality vision, embed a proactive quality culture across the site, and serve as a senior member of the site leadership team. You will lead a team of quality professionals, oversee regulatory compliance, manage the quality budget, and champion digital initiatives that strengthen data integrity and operational efficiency. You will partner closely with production, technical services, and commercial functions to ensure that quality is integrated into every stage of operations, from supplier qualification and environmental monitoring through to product release and customer complaint resolution. Your leadership will directly influence site performance metrics, audit readiness, and the continuous improvement agenda, making a measurable impact on both compliance outcomes and customer satisfaction.

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Applied Engineering, Sciences, or related field

8 or more years of relevant experience in quality management within a regulated manufacturing environment

Preferred Qualifications:

Advanced degree in a relevant scientific or engineering discipline

Demonstrated leadership in quality management, including talent development and building high-performing teams

Professional certifications in quality or regulatory frameworks such as Six Sigma Black Belt, ASQ, GMP, GLP, or GxP

Proven track record with quality management systems including ISO 9001, ICH Q9, GMP, and experience with FDA and EMA inspections

Experience in risk management, deviation handling, CAPA processes, and continuous improvement methodologies

Expertise in audits, supplier quality management, and quality metrics analysis

Familiarity with material analysis tools such as FTIR, DSC, microscopy, particle counters, and integrity testing

Understanding of validation and qualification processes, FMEA, SPC, sampling plans, and change control in regulated environments

Experience with electronic quality management systems, ERP platforms, and audit management tools

Proficiency in Microsoft Office and collaboration tools including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint

US Base Pay Range for this position – $154,700 – $290,300

The offer range represents the anticipated low and high end of the base pay compensation for this position. The actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level of experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. Position may be eligible for sales or performance-based bonuses. Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites. For more information click here .

The Company is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. No employee or applicant for employment will be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, gender identity, transgender status, marital status, or any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.  This policy of Equal Employment Opportunity applies to all policies and programs relating to recruitment and hiring, promotion, compensation, benefits, discipline, termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment. Any applicant or employee who believes they have been discriminated against by the Company or anyone acting on behalf of the Company must report any concerns to their Human Resources Business Partner, Legal, or Compliance immediately. The Company will not retaliate against any individual because they made a good faith report of discrimination.

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Quality
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Jaffrey, New Hampshire, United States
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Quality role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 757 comparable Quality roles across 94 biopharma companies.

757Comparable roles tracked
725Currently active
94Companies hiring similar roles
48Countries represented

Salary context

144 of 757 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject $154,700/yr – $290,300/yr
Lowest disclosed · Technician - QC Laboratory · Lilly $13/hr – $29/hr (≈ $26,998–$60,507/yr)
Peer group range $43,753 – $306,000 (median $154,045)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 757 comparable roles

United States253
Ireland52
India45
China41
Singapore37
France30

+ 42 more countries

Seniority mix

350 of 757 peers have a known seniority level

Manager124
Senior108
Associate Director37
Director31
Associate21
Principal15
Senior Director10
Executive/VP2
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc2

Therapeutic area mix

1 of 757 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease1

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

40%similar
Lilly Lebanon, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Associate
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Lebanon, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same country
40%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Director
Same function Same country
40%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Manager
Same function Same country
40%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Director
Same function Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

40%
Principal Scientist GMP Environmental Monitoring Lilly Medicine Foundry
Lilly · Lebanon, Indiana, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Director, Clinical Quality Assurance
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Senior R&D Quality Officer, Product Development Quality Assurance
AbbVie · Irvine, CA · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Manager, QA Method Validation
Novartis · Carlsbad, United States · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.