Merck KGaA Posted November 19, 2025

Senior Project Manager M&A (all genders) part-/full-time

Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany OTHER,FULL_TIME,PART_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

Your role:

As Senior Project Manager (all genders) you will be responsible for planning, coordinating and implementing M&A projects (acquisition and sale processes, joint ventures and strategic investments).

You will use your expertise to support the divisions and companies of our Group at all stages of the M&A process. You will manage interdisciplinary project groups comprising experts from both the divisions and central functions and external consultants. You will develop project plans, organize project meetings and will report on the progress of these projects on a regular basis. Your tasks will include analyzing and evaluating companies and transactions according to quantitative and qualitative criteria. You will work closely with the Business Development units within the divisions. You will support Controlling in producing company valuation models (DCF models) and will back the results with other valuation approaches. You will also organize and manage due diligence processes and will summarize the results. You will conduct negotiations and will work closely with both the legal department and external legal advisors to create the relevant legal documentation, taking into account the input from all the relevant specialist departments. Last but not least, you will prepare decision papers, present these to top management and coordinate key activities following the successful completion of transactions.

Who you are:

Degree in business administration with specialization in finance or a university degree in another subject with an additional business qualification (e.g. MBA)

At least five years of professional experience working in M&A at a company, at a Private Equity firm, in investment banking or in relevant fields within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology or chemical industries

Experience in project management and ideally in an international environment

Highly structured working style and analytical mindset

Team-oriented and strong communication skills

Ability to motivate teams

Strong organizational skills and ability to cope with pressure

Reliability and flexibility

Willingness to travel on business

Ability to conduct negotiations in English

Role level: Expert 4

Department: EF-MA-Y Mergers & Acquisitions Team 2

Job details

Seniority
Manager
Function
BD&L & Strategic Planning
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany
Employment type
OTHER,FULL_TIME,PART_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 States13
China8
Germany5
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
Sandoz Holzkirchen (Sandoz International GmbH), Germany Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
50%similar
Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany Associate
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
45%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority

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%
Senior Manager Strategy – Chief Commercial Office (d/f/m)
Sandoz · Holzkirchen (Sandoz International GmbH), Germany · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Manager / Senior Manager Inhouse Consulting - Data & AI Strategy (all genders, full-/part-time)
Merck KGaA · Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
45%
Trade Business Manager (Out-Licensing), Mexico
Viatris Healthcare México S. de R.L. de C.V · Mexico City, Mexico · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
45%
[Pfizer] Senior Manager, Business Development
Pfizer Japan Inc. · Tokyo, Japan · 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.