Merck Posted September 21, 2026

2027 Future Talent Program - Packaging Component Engineer

Wilson, North Carolina, United States of America FULL_TIME
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Merck 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

Job Description

Responsible for supporting packaging and component engineering capabilities for the Wilson site focused on effective component life cycle management, related quality investigations, lines projects, and packaging continuous improvement projects.

Responsible for process performance support and troubleshooting products packaged at our Wilson location and working closely with other site and above-site groups for the introduction of new products, network transfers and processes as well as external suppliers, packaging commercialization, and global support functions.

This position will report to the Associate Director of Packaging Technical Operations (PTO Component Engineering) and will have frequent interaction with other business units at the site as well as external suppliers, packaging commercialization, and global support functions.  The team will also support other engineering activities at the site as well as quality risk management.

Primary Responsibilities

Author new and revise specifications for components with cross-functional team and align performance requirements to maintain consistent performance.

Work with component vendors to develop new/test components to support equipment qualifications, stability, distribution studies, and product launches for various global markets.

Assist with design transfer process from packaging commercialization team and partner with above site Packaging Technical Operations team to provide input to upcoming changes and strategic initiatives.

Act as Change Initiator/Project Manager for component related changes and SME for impact assessments/tasks on all site changes for assigned area.

Initiate/maintain workflows in GLAMS (Global Artwork Management System) for printed component structural drawings for usage by Print Coordinators and global markets in product artwork development.

Troubleshoot line issues potentially related to component performance (including potential for weekend and off-shift work); Initiate/manage events in the supplier Incident Management System (IMS) for supplier investigations.

Technical support to set and improve run standards based on component capability and variability.

Partner with Procurement and Supplier Management teams for supplier performance monitoring, technical assessments, and new vendor introduction.

Facilitate machine trials and provide technical assessments for packaging component introduction and changes throughout product lifecycle.

Provide technical SME support for component related deviations and customer field complaints.

Author quality event investigations for site component related deviations to prevent deviation recurrence; includes determination of event scope, impact assessments, root cause, identifying corrective/preventative actions, and remediation steps/final dispositions.

Directly supports regulatory inspections and audits; Provide engineering support to packaging operation assuring technical site readiness and regulatory agency observations.

Participate in Design Requirements Specifications, Design Reviews, Review of Purchase Specs and Functional Spec.

Participate on FATs and execution of IQ/OQ/PQ with focus on component interaction and packaging system integrity.

Support quality risk management assessments related to packaging operations and components.

*This is a full-time position starting in the Summer of 2027

Education Minimum Requirements:

B.S. degree in Packaging Science preferred. Expected graduation date on or around May 2027. Other Engineering degrees to be considered with Co-op, Internship or 6 months experience in packaging operations, pharmaceutical unit operations, or process design.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

Prior Co-Op/Intern experience with comprehensive background in packaging process and components

Experience working in GMP environment

Effective analytical and decision-making ability

Knowledge of formal problem-solving techniques such as root cause analysis and/or Lean Six Sigma

Technical writing and document review experience (deviations, change requests, standard operating procedures, protocols, etc.)

Please note that this position may be closed before the posted end date or may remain open longer, at the discretion of the company.

FTP2027

MD2027

FTJobs

Required Skills:

Applied Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Cold Chain Management, Engineering Specifications, Engineering Standards, Engineering Support, Equipment Designing, Equipment Engineering, Legal Compliance, Life Cycle Planning, Maintenance Supervision, Manufacturing Quality Control, Manufacturing Scale-Up, Materials Science, Package Testing, Packaging Engineering, Packaging Equipment, Packaging Innovation, Packaging Operations, Packaging Processes, Packaging Science, Packaging Testing, Procedure Writing, Product Improvements, Product Packaging Design {+ 9 more}

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

EEOC GINA Supplement​

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

$71,900.00 - $113,200.00

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:

Not Applicable

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

NA

Job Posting End Date:

10/5/2026 *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:R416714

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Wilson, North Carolina, United States of America
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

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

We currently track 2556 comparable Manufacturing & CMC roles across 173 biopharma companies.

2556Comparable roles tracked
2343Currently active
173Companies hiring similar roles
56Countries represented

Salary context

662 of 2556 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 $71,900/yr – $113,200/yr
Lowest disclosed · Associate Director, Digital Scientific Workflows · Merck $0/hr – $0/hr (≈ $0–$0/yr)
Highest disclosed · VP, CMC Development Technical Strategy · ModernaTX, Inc. $272,200/yr – $490,100/yr
Peer group range $0 – $381,150 (median $122,400)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 2556 comparable roles

United States1232
India167
Germany134
France95
Ireland91
Netherlands77

+ 50 more countries

Seniority mix

1172 of 2556 peers have a known seniority level

Senior323
Manager265
Associate154
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc147
Principal88
Director79
Associate Director75
Senior Director34
Executive/VP7

Therapeutic area mix

12 of 2556 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease7
Rare Disease2
Oncology2
Dermatology & Aesthetics1

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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.

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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%
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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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.