Merck Posted September 23, 2026

Associate Principal Scientist, Statistical Programming

Rahway, New Jersey, 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

DUTIES:

Support statistical programming activities for multiple and/or late-stage drug/vaccine clinical development projects.

Develop and execute statistical analysis and report deliverables (e.g., safety and efficacy analysis datasets, tables, listings, figures), the span of which range from individual clinical trials to world-wide regulatory application submissions and post-marketing support.

Responsible for the design and maintenance of statistical datasets that support multiple stakeholder groups which include clinical development, outcomes research, and safety evaluation.

Collaborate with statistics and other project stakeholders in ensuring that project plans are executed efficiently with timely and high-quality deliverables.

Serve as the statistical programming point of contact and knowledge holder through the entire project life cycle.

Analyze and report programming development and validation utilizing global and TA standards and following departmental SOPs and good programming practices.

Maintain and manage a project plan including resource forecasting.

Coordinate the activities of a global programming team that includes outsourced provider staff.

Be a member of departmental strategic initiative teams.

10% domestic travel required.

Full-time telecommuting.

REQUIREMENTS:

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Life Sciences, Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, or a closely related field and 9 years of experience in the position offered or a related role; or a Master’s degree or equivalent in the aforementioned fields and 7 years of experience in the position offered or a related role.

Requires 7 years of experience in all of the following:

SAS and clinical trial programming including data steps, procedures, SAS/MACRO, SAS/GRAPH;

leading large and/or complex statistical programming projects that include coordinating the activities of a programming team;

designing and developing complex programming algorithms;

clinical data management concepts and ways of working with data management systems and processes;

CDISC and ADaM standards;

assuring deliverable quality and process compliance;

turning strategy into tactical activities;

anticipating stakeholder requirements;

U.S. and/or worldwide drug or vaccine regulatory application submission experience at the leadership level including the development of electronic submission deliverables;

comprehending analysis plans which may describe methodology to be programmed;

statistical terminology, models, and concepts;

and designing statistical databases with the end in mind that optimize analysis and reporting and leverage departmental standards and industry best-practices.

The salary range for this role is: $145,475.00 - $224,100.00 per year

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.

Required Skills:

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

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

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:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

12/7/2026 *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:R417154

Job details

Seniority
Principal
Function
Biostatistics & Data Science
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 Biostatistics & Data Science role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 99 comparable Principal Biostatistics & Data Science roles across 28 biopharma companies.

99Comparable roles tracked
94Currently active
28Companies hiring similar roles
12Countries represented

Salary context

45 of 99 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 $145,475/yr – $224,100/yr
Lowest disclosed · Principal Computational Statistician · Lilly $66,000/yr – $193,600/yr
Peer group range $129,800 – $288,000 (median $180,500)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 99 comparable roles

United States59
India7
United Kingdom6
China6
Belgium5
Japan4

+ 6 more countries

Seniority mix

99 of 99 peers have a known seniority level

Senior45
Principal32
Director22

Therapeutic area mix

13 of 99 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology8
Immunology3
Rare Disease2

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
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
ViiV Healthcare Company Durham Blackwell Street, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Biogen Cambridge, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Biogen Remote, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie Mettawa, IL Principal
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60%similar
Merck Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America Principal
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%
Principal Computational Statistician
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal Biostatistician
Biogen · Cambridge, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Principal Scientist, Statistical Programming
Merck · Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal Data Scientist - Immunology - (2 positions)
Johnson & Johnson · Titusville, United States · Principal
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.