Head of Project Management R&D, Innovation, NPI & Master Data (all genders)

Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany Full time
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Merck KGaA 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

Work Your Magic with us!

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.

Your role

As Head of Project Management for R&D, Innovation, NPI and Master Data, you will lead the end-to-end project and portfolio management function within the Life Science DDIT organization in Darmstadt, Germany. You will shape and continuously improve portfolio governance, frameworks and ways of working across four strategically important domains. Working closely with senior leadership, you will create transparency across initiatives, priorities, dependencies, risks and decisions. You will steer portfolio prioritization and support strategic execution through the R&D and Innovation Domain Forum. You will oversee project delivery across the portfolio, ensuring that initiatives remain on track, within scope and aligned with business objectives.

By setting clear delivery standards, escalation paths and accountability mechanisms, you will enable consistent execution across internal and external project teams. You will partner closely with the LS DDIT Portfolio Manager to align project execution with integrated portfolio reporting and cross-domain priorities. You will use digital tools, AI and automation to simplify project management, improve decision support and create capacity for higher-value work. As a trusted leadership partner, you will build and develop a high-performing project management function and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.

Who you are

You hold a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Informatics, Life Sciences or a related field.

You have significant senior-level experience in project and portfolio management, with a proven track record of leading complex, multi-domain portfolios at scale.

You have established portfolio governance frameworks and successfully driven strategic execution in large, complex organizations.

You bring a strong leadership presence and can influence, align and inspire senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams in a matrix environment.

You have a deep understanding of portfolio management frameworks, governance models and decision-support methodologies.

You communicate confidently in English and German and can present complex topics clearly to executive audiences.

You have experience with agile, hybrid and traditional delivery methods, such as Scrum, SAFe or PRINCE2, and with leading internal and external project managers.

Experience in Life Sciences, pharmaceuticals, R&D or healthcare, as well as knowledge of PPM tools and AI-enabled automation, is an advantage.

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!

Apply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity!

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Information Technology
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

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

We currently track 1376 comparable Information Technology roles across 76 biopharma companies.

1376Comparable roles tracked
1216Currently active
76Companies hiring similar roles
35Countries represented

Salary context

183 of 1376 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 Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · 2027 Business Technology Solutions Intern - Data & Software Engineering (Undergraduate) · AbbVie $21/hr – $37/hr (≈ $43,680–$76,960/yr)
Peer group range $60,320 – $400,000 (median $174,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 1376 comparable roles

India604
United States319
Spain132
Poland95
Portugal27
China21

+ 29 more countries

Seniority mix

693 of 1376 peers have a known seniority level

Senior293
Manager173
Principal59
Associate Director51
Associate48
Director38
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc14
Senior Director14
Executive/VP3

Therapeutic area mix

1 of 1376 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease1

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.

40%similar
Lilly BAD HOMBURG, Hesse, Germany
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Alzey, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Senior
Same function Same country
40%similar
Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany
Same function Same country
40%similar
Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany
Same function Same country
40%similar
AstraZeneca Munich, Germany Director
Same function Same country
40%similar
Merck KGaA Weiterstadt, Hessen, Germany Senior
Same function 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.

40%
Business Integrator – Medical Capabilities & Innovation
Lilly · BAD HOMBURG, Hesse, Germany · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Design & Build Lead (all genders)
Merck KGaA · Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Lead Security Engineer (Full-/Part-time) (all genders)
Merck KGaA · Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Principal Software Development Engineer
Roche · Santa Clara, California, United States of America · 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.