Merck KGaA Posted August 12, 2026

Senior Manager, Group Portfolio Execution

Burlington, Massachusetts, United States FULL_TIME
BD&L & Strategic Planning Manager

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:  Burlington, Massachusetts

Shift:  No

Department:  EF-MA Group Strategy, M&A and Venturing

Recruiter:  Martin Baltes

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

Your Role:

As Senior Manager, Group Portfolio Execution, you will drive post-deal execution for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s strategic integrations and carve-outs across our three business sectors. Working closely with program leads, you'll own complex deal work while building expertise across both disciplines. Reporting to the Head of Portfolio Execution, you will join a highly energetic, mission-driven team of experienced integration and carve-out experts.

Key Responsibilities:

Support the development and execution of integration and carve-out strategies, including operating model considerations, aligned with business objectives.

Contribute to comprehensive transaction plans covering timelines, resource allocation, and roadmaps to drive alignment and transparency across stakeholders.

Lead selected workstreams and coordinate cross-functional activities, ensuring all teams remain aligned on priorities throughout post-deal execution.

Establish governance frameworks, including decision-making responsibilities, escalation paths, mechanisms for collecting feedback, and cadence for SteerCo and team meetings.

Proactively identify and resolve risks and issues, escalating where necessary to ensure timely resolution.

Ensure compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements throughout the transaction lifecycle.

Build and maintain strong relationships with senior leaders and key decision-makers across business units and functions to gather requirements, provide updates, and address concerns.

Ensure the needs of the acquired or carved-out business are considered and effectively communicated to relevant stakeholders to secure timely decisions and actions.

Track and report progress against established KPIs, maintaining transparency with senior management.

Develop and maintain internal integration / carve-out execution playbooks with templates, tools, governance frameworks, and standardized KPIs to drive consistency across transactions.

Capture lessons learned, benchmark against industry standards, and translate insights into continuous improvements to execution methodologies.

Build organizational capability through training, coaching, and playbook walkthroughs for business unit and functional leaders.

Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance team environment.

Who You Are:

Minimum Qualifications

Master’s degree, e.g., in Business Administration, Economics, Finance or related fields.

Minimum 4 years of experience with global, matrixed organizations.

Minimum 4 years of experience as a consultant or similar position, coordinating different stakeholders and functions.

Solid understanding of operational post-merger integrations and / or carve-outs.

Knowledge of the industries (Life Science / Healthcare and / or Electronics) in which the company operates – with curiosity about the technologies shaping the company’s future.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with attention to detail.

Good balance of strategic and operational strength.

Exceptional organizational skills, with ability to work in an agile manner and change course as required; able to systematically work through ambiguity.

Skilled at managing external and internal stakeholders – from working teams to senior management.

Strong business acumen and understanding of business processes / operating models.

Continuous learning orientation and ability to quickly acquire new skills and domain knowledge in evolving business contexts.

Thriving in fast-paced, complex and high-pressure environments.

Ability to work under pressure, showing resilience and adaptability.

Proven ability to make sound, data-driven decisions with appropriate escalation where needed.

Cross-culturally and politically savvy, with knowledge in change management.

Preferred Qualifications

MBA degree.

Experience in post-merger integrations and / or carve-outs, particularly in chemistry industry, manufacturing environments, or healthcare is a plus.

Multi-year experience in strategy, business development, portfolio management, investment banking, or related field.

Financial literacy and experience in financial due diligence, valuation, and M&A lifecycle.

Strong AI literacy – including critical thinking and hands-on experience with AI tools, concepts and prompt engineering to accelerate project execution and knowledge management.

Location:  Burlington, MA (3 days per week)

Travel :

Pay range for this position: $123,500.00 - $185,300,00

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
Manager
Function
BD&L & Strategic Planning
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Burlington, Massachusetts, United States
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active BD&L & Strategic Planning role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 35 comparable Manager BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 15 biopharma companies.

35Comparable roles tracked
35Currently active
15Companies hiring similar roles
12Countries represented

Salary context

9 of 35 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Manager, Corporate Strategy · Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) $114,800/yr – $187,400/yr
Highest disclosed · Associate Dir, Search & Evaluation (Platforms & AI) · Novartis $160,300/yr – $297,700/yr
Peer group range $151,100 – $229,000 (median $157,300)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 35 comparable roles

United States12
China8
Germany6
Mexico1
Japan1
Poland1

+ 6 more countries

Seniority mix

35 of 35 peers have a known seniority level

Manager26
Associate Director5
Associate4

Therapeutic area mix

3 of 35 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease2
Oncology1

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.

60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) Tarrytown, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Sanofi Vaccines US Inc. Swiftwater, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck KGaA Burlington, Massachusetts, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck KGaA Burlington, Massachusetts, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority 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.

60%
Sr Manager, Corporate Development
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Business Development Senior Manager
Amgen Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Manager, Strategy Development
Merck KGaA · Burlington, Massachusetts, United States · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Business Project Manager - Acquisition Integration - Bio-Techne
Merck KGaA · Burlington, Massachusetts, 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.