Merck Posted November 9, 2026

Associate Director, Bioanalytics - Global Preclinical Development

Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America FULL_TIME
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About this opportunity

Job Description

We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. At our company, we are at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. Join us in our mission to make a difference.

The Associate Director, Bioanalytics leads the Rahway Bioanalytical Laboratory within Global Preclinical Development, providing scientific, operational, regulatory, and people leadership for bioanalytical activities supporting research, business, preclinical, and clinical development programs for veterinary pharmaceuticals.

The role is accountable for the timely delivery of high-quality, scientifically sound, and regulatory-compliant bioanalytical data and documentation, while developing the Rahway Bioanalytics team and collaborating with internal and external partners.

Responsibilities

Lead the Rahway Bioanalytical Laboratory, including scientific and operational oversight, prioritization, resource planning, and delivery of project commitments.

Drive laboratory automation, digital technologies, and integrated data workflows to increase efficiency, data integrity, compliance, and scientific capabilities.

Lead and develop the Bioanalytics team through performance management, coaching, and capability building.

Oversee bioanalytical method development, qualification, validation, and sample analysis, with particular emphasis on mass spectrometry.

Ensure scientific quality, data integrity, documentation, and compliance with GLP, internal procedures, and regulatory requirements.

Review bioanalytical data, methods, protocols, and reports to ensure scientific rigor and suitability for regulatory submissions.

Provide scientific guidance, resolve complex bioanalytical issues, and drive continuous improvement of technologies, processes, and capabilities.

Partner across functions to define and execute bioanalytical strategies and provide expertise to development programs and regulatory interactions.

Oversee external bioanalytical activities performed by contract research organizations and other laboratories.

Evaluate emerging scientific, technological, and regulatory developments to advance laboratory capabilities.

Qualifications

Required

Ph.D. in analytical chemistry, bioanalytical chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, biochemistry or a related scientific discipline with a minimum of six (6) years of relevant industry experience; OR Master's degree in a relevant scientific discipline with a minimum of ten (10) years of relevant industry experience.

Demonstrated experience in bioanalytical method development, validation and biological sample analysis in a regulated pharmaceutical, animal health or comparable environment.

Experience working in a GLP-regulated environment and a strong understanding of data integrity and regulatory documentation expectations.

Demonstrated experience leading scientists and/or laboratory teams, including scientific direction, prioritization, coaching and development.

Strong scientific expertise in quantitative bioanalysis, particularly mass spectrometry.

Preferred

Experience supporting regulatory submissions for veterinary or human pharmaceuticals and interacting with regulatory, quality, or compliance organizations.

Experience managing bioanalytical activities performed by CROs or external laboratories.

Experience with additional bioanalytical technologies, such as immunoassays or ligand-binding assays.

Knowledge of pharmacokinetics and/or drug metabolism.

Experience implementing laboratory automation, computerized laboratory systems, and regulated digital data workflows.

Project-management experience.

Required Skills:

Automated Cell Culture, Bioanalytical Method Development, Bioreactor Operation, Data Science, Financial Research, Interpersonal Relationships, In Vivo Studies, Membrane Filtration Systems, Product Development, Results-Oriented, Stakeholder Communications, Technical Mentoring, Technical Transfer, Transcriptome Analysis, Trend Knowledge

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 primary location for this posting is:

USA - New Jersey - Rahway

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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 .

Additional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

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):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

11/17/2026 *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:R425925

Job details

Seniority
Associate Director
Function
Clinical Development
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

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

We currently track 538 comparable Associate Director Clinical Development roles across 72 biopharma companies.

538Comparable roles tracked
498Currently active
72Companies hiring similar roles
41Countries represented

Salary context

161 of 538 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 · Senior Shipping Specialist, Clinical Supply · AbbVie $21/hr – $37/hr (≈ $43,680–$76,960/yr)
Highest disclosed · Sr Statistical Advisor · Gilead Sciences, Inc. $261,375/yr – $338,250/yr
Peer group range $60,320 – $299,813 (median $174,500)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 538 comparable roles

United States238
India69
United Kingdom30
China26
Poland16
Spain16

+ 35 more countries

Seniority mix

538 of 538 peers have a known seniority level

Manager271
Senior150
Associate Director117

Therapeutic area mix

49 of 538 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology27
Immunology8
Neuroscience5
Respiratory3
Dermatology & Aesthetics2
Ophthalmology2
Cardiovascular / CVRM2

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
AbbVie Irvine, CA Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie Irvine, CA Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) Remote, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) Tarrytown, United States Associate Director
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.

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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%
Associate Director, Aesthetics Clinical Development
AbbVie · Irvine, CA · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Clinical Pathologist
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) · Remote, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Biostatistics
RayzeBio, Inc · Remote, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Director, Clinical Science
RayzeBio, Inc · San Diego, United States · Associate Director
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.