Merck Posted October 9, 2026

Associate Technician, Operations (Night Shift)

Durham, North Carolina, United States of America FULL_TIME
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About this opportunity

Job Description

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.

Position Description

This is a night shift position, 12.5 hour (6:00PM – 6:30 AM) rotation (2-2-3).  

The VMF (Vaccine Manufacturing Facility) Associate Production Technician is an excellent entry-level opportunity for recent university graduates or experienced individuals that are interested in working in vaccine production and manufacturing operations. The individual in this position will support the vaccine manufacturing process through hands on processing activities.  Key responsibilities for the Associate Production Technician include the execution of aseptic processing requirements, adherence to GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), and working in a self-directed team environment to accomplish shift and departmental goals.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Works collaboratively with all operations and support personnel, performing manual and automated processing of vaccine manufacturing equipment, performing general troubleshooting tasks, and supporting functions necessary for the production of vaccines.

Executes all documentation and clerical functions necessary for proper accountability and traceability of product.

Maintains, inventories, and transports all required processing equipment, materials, supplies and products needed to support manufacturing.

Operates various computer-controlled process support/process equipment (i.e. washer, autoclave, vial filler, lyophilizer, capping/inspect machines, etc.).

Assists in troubleshooting of equipment.

Performs housekeeping in all work areas.  Executes facility sanitization and decontamination according to approved procedures.

Completes in-process testing and inspections supporting the vaccine manufacturing, validation, and development processes as required.

Identifies and addresses compliance, environmental, safety, and process deviations as appropriate and escalates to appropriate personnel.

Maintains, cleans and prepares equipment used in vaccine manufacturing process.

Schedules and performs environmental monitoring during processing and records results in the computerized database system. Provides timely delivery of samples and other materials as required to appropriate laboratories, coordinating with Quality and Logistics as required.

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

Serves on safety, quality and other committees as required.

Education Minimum Requirement: 

A minimum High School Diploma or equivalent is required for this position.

Required Experience and Skills: 

Must be willing to work 12-hour night shift (6:00PM to 630AM) on a rotating 2-2-3 schedule.  Note that this schedule does include working alternating weekends and holidays

Must be able to successfully pass Aseptic gowning qualification.  Aseptic gowning requires that all skin and hair be covered through wearing the following: Beard/moustache cover, hair net, hood and facemask, goggles, jumpsuit, gloves and boots.

Must be willing and able to lift 50 lbs.

Must be willing to be vaccinated/blood tested for titer for products manufactured within the facility if needed.

Must be willing to work various shifts

Must be able to demonstrate basic computer literacy (internet browsers, e-mail, word processing).

This position will require the occasional use of a respirator/Power Air Purifying Respirator to complete specific tasks.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

BioWorks Certificate (working in an FDA regulated industry).

#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:

Aseptic Handling, Aseptic Handling, Autoclaves, Chemical Plant Operations, Cleaning Equipment, Computer Literacy, Customer Communications, Decontamination, Deviation Reporting, Disinfecting, Environmental Controls, Equipment Set Up, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Information Technology (IT), Manufacturing Operations, Operational Activities, Operations Support, Pharmaceutical Production, Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance, Process Equipment, Process Improvements, Process Testing, Production Scheduling, Protective Clothing, Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) {+ 1 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

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:

3rd - Night

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N-A

Job Posting End Date:

10/10/2026 *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:R419788

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

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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.

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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.