Merck KGaA Posted August 15, 2026

Operation Technology, Digital & Data Associate Director

Modugno, Bari, Italy FULL_TIME
Manufacturing & CMC Associate Director
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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.

United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe.

Your Role

You will lead the Operation Technology Digital & Data team to drive the site's digital transformation and boost overall performance. You are responsible for defining the digital roadmap and leading its execution while ensuring strict alignment with local and global stakeholders. You manage the department’s Opex and Capex budgets for all OT and digital projects. You must ensure all computerized systems remain compliant with Health Authority requirements and international guidelines, including EU and FDA standards. You will support the Quality Unit during inspections, acting as the primary subject matter expert for your area. By bridging the gap between strategy and shopfloor operations, you facilitate digital adoption. You will influence future ways of working through robust change management and a focus on quality.

Who You Are

Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.

5+ years of experience in specialized Digital or OT leadership roles.

Proven ability to manage teams and thrive in multicultural environments.

Expert in Industry 4.0, connectivity solutions, and IT infrastructure.

Strong knowledge of industrial automation and project management.

Fluent in Italian and English with impactful communication skills.

Goal-oriented mindset with a focus on HA compliance and quality.

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
Associate Director
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Modugno, Bari, Italy
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 895 comparable Associate Director Manufacturing & CMC roles across 106 biopharma companies.

895Comparable roles tracked
814Currently active
106Companies hiring similar roles
39Countries represented

Salary context

258 of 895 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 · Senior Technician Calibration - Maintenance · Mylan Technologies, Inc. $37,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Highest disclosed · Regional Manager - Megasys · Merck KGaA $220,000/yr – $250,000/yr
Peer group range $58,500 – $235,000 (median $151,700)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 895 comparable roles

United States483
India80
Ireland37
Switzerland28
Netherlands28
China25

+ 33 more countries

Seniority mix

895 of 895 peers have a known seniority level

Senior416
Manager368
Associate Director111

Therapeutic area mix

11 of 895 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease4
Rare Disease3
Oncology2
Dermatology & Aesthetics1
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.

50%similar
Chiesi Farmaceutici Parma, Italy Senior
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Chiesi Farmaceutici Parma, Italy Senior
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Chiesi Farmaceutici Parma, Italy Senior
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Chiesi Farmaceutici Europe, Italy Senior
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Chiesi Farmaceutici Parma or any Chiesi affiliate, Italy Manager
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
AbbVie Campoverde, Lazio Manager
Same function Adjacent 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 Italy, 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.

50%
Senior Technical Leader, Protein Biologics Development, GRD CMC (Parma, IT)
Chiesi Farmaceutici · Parma, Italy · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Senior Process Scientist - LNP process development (Europe, remote, IT)
Chiesi Farmaceutici · Europe, Italy · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Senior Manager, CMC Regulatory Affairs, Global Rare Diseases (Parma or Chiesi Affiliates in , IT)
Chiesi Farmaceutici · Parma or Chiesi Affiliates in, Italy · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Global Project Engineering Manager (Parma, IT)
Chiesi Farmaceutici · Parma, Italy · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent 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.