Merck KGaA Posted August 14, 2026

Lead Data Engineer / Architect (all genders) 1

Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia FULL_TIME
Notify me about similar jobs

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:

We are seeking a highly skilled Lead Data Engineer / Data Architect with a strong developer background to design, build, and operate our Security Data Platform. This role will focus on end-to-end data management, design and architect analyzation, ingestion, normalization, storage, processing, and serving the solutions. The primary emphasis will be on Security Data and Observability Data, serving as the foundation for fraud and threat detection, detection engineering, and response through different types algorithms and machine learning approaches. Additionally, the platform will provide observability for the entire application landscape, facilitating troubleshooting and reporting.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead a team of engineers and developers in the implementation of the Data Platform.

Design and architect data ingestion, normalization, storage, processing, and serving solutions.

Ensure the Data Platform supports observability across the application landscape.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and deliver effective data solutions.

Monitor and optimize platform performance, scalability, and security.

 

Who you are:

Bachelor's or master’s degree in computer science, Data Engineering, or a related field.

Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing large-scale data platforms. (Expertise in programming languages such as Java and Python is a plus)

Proven experience with Kubernetes for container orchestration.

Strong knowledge of Apache Kafka for real-time data streaming and experience with Apache Flink for stream processing.

Experience with analytical databases (e.g. OLAP) and Massively Parallel Processing MPP architectures, especially in the context of optimization and performance tuning

Familiarity with lakehouse architectures (e.g. Apache Iceberg)  - Experience with MLOps and ML model delivery pipelines

Knowledge of Elasticsearch to support migration to alternative solutions

Excellent leadership and team management skills, Project Management skills is a plus

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.

Hands-on experience in projects using or applying machine learning

Our Tech Stack

Kubernetes, Apache Kafka, Apache Flink, Java, Python, TypeScript, Postgres, Apache Doris, Grafana.

Salary starts at 3.000 EUR and is dependent upon relevant experience.

The initial interviews will be conducted remotely, the final interview will be held in person.

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
Data & Digital
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Data & Digital role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 894 comparable Data & Digital roles across 82 biopharma companies.

894Comparable roles tracked
796Currently active
82Companies hiring similar roles
41Countries represented

Salary context

280 of 894 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
Peer group range $75,510 – $339,950 (median $181,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 894 comparable roles

United States387
India155
Spain42
United Kingdom38
Germany34
France30

+ 35 more countries

Seniority mix

580 of 894 peers have a known seniority level

Manager162
Senior125
Director77
Associate Director73
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc55
Principal37
Associate23
Senior Director18
Executive/VP10

Therapeutic area mix

31 of 894 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology10
Immunology9
Neuroscience6
Rare Disease2
Cardiovascular / CVRM1
Dermatology & Aesthetics1
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Ophthalmology1

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.

25%similar
Pfizer Groton, United States Principal
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

25%similar
Pfizer Groton, United States Senior
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

25%similar
Roche Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

25%similar
AbbVie
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

Open in 4 locations

North Chicago, United StatesFlorham Park, United StatesSouth San Francisco, United StatesIrvine, United States
25%similar
AbbVie Ludwigshafen, RP Senior
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

25%similar
Novartis Cambridge (USA), United States Executive/VP
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

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 Data & Digital job in Slovakia, 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.

25%
Principal ML/AI Cheminformatics Scientist
Pfizer · Groton, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Data Strategy Lead - Hybrid
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Data Strategy Lead - Hybrid
AbbVie · Irvine, CA · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Director / Executive Director, Modeling & Simulation (Dual Level Posting)
Novartis · Cambridge (USA), United States · Executive/VP
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.