Merck Posted November 4, 2026

Associate Technician, Operations

Durham, 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

This opening is for all shifts. 

Our Manufacturing Operations teams are the people that make our products. We work in the manufacturing plants with a “Safety First, Quality Always” mindset striving for continuous improvement. We work in the local plant connected to our global manufacturing network to ensure the highest quality of raw materials, intermediates and finished products.

The Maurice R. Hilleman Center for Vaccine Manufacturing is located in Durham, NC. This state-of-the-art facility established in 2004, manufactures our Company lifesaving vaccines in bulk and finished forms.

Responsibilities may include but are not limited to;

Support production activities in the manufacture of material.

Working in conjunction with all appropriate personnel, performs manual and automated operations, general maintenance and support functions necessary for production.

Provides and/or authors all documentation and clerical functions necessary to allow proper accountability and traceability of product.

Maintains, inventories, and transports all required equipment, materials, supplies and products.

Performs housekeeping in all work areas. Executes facility decontamination according to procedures. Maintains, cleans and prepares equipment used in production.

Performs sampling/in-process testing supporting the manufacturing and validation process for current process.

Provides timely delivery of sample and other materials as required to appropriate laboratories, coordinating with Quality and Logistics as required.

Self-motivated to maintain own training status

Attends and actively participates in HAZOPS, waste walkthroughs, 5S, kaizen events, or any other operations, lean six-sigma, quality, safety or environmental training/initiatives as required.

Education Minimum Requirement: 

High School Diploma/GED or higher

Required Experience and Skills: 

Demonstrated written and verbal communications skills

Proficiency with GMP gowning for required classifications as needed for role

Must be willing and able to lift 50 lbs

Must be willing to work shift schedules (2-2-3) which may include working every other weekend, night shift, and holidays

Preferred Experience and Skills:

Bioworks Certificate or Associates Degree in science or related field, in addition to minimum required experience and skills

Experience with on-the-floor cGMP manufacturing and familiarity with regulatory requirements

Demonstrated ability to work both independently and as a part of a team

Travel: 0%

#MSJR

The salary range for this role is: $43,100 - $67,800

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:

Accountability, Cleanroom Gowning, Computer Literacy, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Manufacturing, Production Support, Safety Procedures, Working Independently, Written Communication

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

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:

No Travel Required

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

11/20/2026 *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:R425432

Job details

Seniority
Associate
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Durham, 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 690 comparable Associate Manufacturing & CMC roles across 100 biopharma companies.

690Comparable roles tracked
639Currently active
100Companies hiring similar roles
39Countries represented

Salary context

156 of 690 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 · Warehouse Associate I (M-F 11am-7:30pm) · AbbVie $16/hr – $29/hr (≈ $33,280–$60,320/yr)
Highest disclosed · Advisor, Bioanalytical Chemistry · Lilly $168,000/yr – $268,400/yr
Peer group range $46,800 – $218,200 (median $143,350)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 690 comparable roles

United States332
France57
India47
Germany39
Ireland25
Japan22

+ 33 more countries

Seniority mix

690 of 690 peers have a known seniority level

Manager351
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc198
Associate141

Therapeutic area mix

11 of 690 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease7
Rare Disease3
Immunology1

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 Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Devens Devens, United States Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Biogen Research Triangle Park, United States Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country

Open in 3 locations

North Chicago, United StatesWorcester, United StatesWaltham, United States
60%similar
Biogen Research Triangle Park, United States Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America Associate
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.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Manufacturing & CMC job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

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%
Research Advisor, Drug Product - SMDD
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Associate Scientific Technical Engineer II, PDS&T CMC
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Manufacturing Associate IV, OSM/OPM (ASO) (Days)
Biogen · Research Triangle Park, United States · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Manufacturing Associate I - Nights (Covington, OH, US, 45318)
Perrigo · Covington, United States · Associate
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.