Merck Posted October 30, 2026

Regional Medical Scientific Director (US Medical Affairs) Gastrointestinal Immunology - Great Lakes Territory

Detroit, Michigan, United States of America FULL_TIME
Medical Affairs Gastroenterology Director
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About this opportunity

Job Description

The Regional Medical Scientific Director is a credentialed (i.e., PhD, PharmD, DNP, MD) therapeutic and disease expert who engages in bidirectional exchange of scientific or medical information with Scientific Leaders. The role provides balanced, factual, scientific information about non-product areas of interest to the Company and replies to scientific questions from SLs, including questions about Company products. The work of a Regional Medical Scientific Director is aligned to: Scientific Exchange, Research, Scientific Congress Support, and Scientific Insights. Regional Medical Scientific Director liaise between the scientific community and the Company to enhance the comprehension of scientific foundations and goals for approved, in-development, and active Company-sponsored trials and/or investigator-sponsored research studies. The Regional Medical Scientific Director serves as a role model for other field medical team members in ways that include on-boarding and/or sharing of therapeutic expertise.

This position will support our company's Gastrointestinal Immunology program

The position covers the following exemplar states: MI, IN and KY and must reside in the territory.

Responsibilities and Primary Activities:

Scientific Exchange:

Develops professional relationships and engages with national and regional Scientific Leaders (SLs) to ensure access to company-approved medical and scientific information on areas of therapeutic interest and Company products

Conducts peer-to-peer scientific discussions and maintains a reliable presence with those SLs to ensure they have a medical contact within the company

Addresses scientific questions and directs SL inquiries on issues outside of Regional Medical Scientific Director scope (e.g., grants) to appropriate company resources consistent with applicable policies

Maintains current knowledge and comprehension of dynamic scientific and clinical environment in the Company's Areas of Interest (AOI) for the Regional Medical Scientific Director specific therapeutic area.

Research:

Upon request from Global Center for Scientific Affairs

Initiates discussions with SLs and/or potential investigators that include scientific/data exchange within our AOI to determine the alignment with our research strategies, studies concepts, scientific merit, and qualifications for a specific compound or trial

Enhances the comprehension of the scientific foundations and goals of investigator-sponsored research

Identifies barriers to patient enrollment and retention efforts to achieve study milestones

Upon request from Global Clinical Trial Operations

Recommends study sites and identifies potential investigators to participate in phase II-IV clinical development programs, conducts Site Initiation Visits (SIVs), and detects barriers to patient enrollment and retention efforts to achieve study milestones.

Protocol lead responsibilities in collaboration with Global Clinical Trial Operations

Addresses questions from investigators and provides information regarding participation in Company-sponsored clinical studies

Scientific Congress Support:

Engages in scientific congresses and medical meetings, facilitates scientific and data exchange for both Company and competitor data.

Scientific Insights

Gathers feedback, data, or information during routine activities that can help the company better comprehend medical or scientific needs, priorities, or concerns of SLs and/or patients

Inclusive Mindset and Behavior:

Demonstrates eagerness to contribute to an environment of belonging, inclusion, and empowerment

Leads by example and serves as a role model for creating, leading, and retaining and inclusive workforce

Required Qualifications, Skills, & Experience:

Minimum:

PhD, PharmD, DNP, DO, or MD

Proven competence and a minimum of 3 years of relevant therapeutic area experience beyond that obtained in the terminal degree program

Ability to conduct doctoral-level discussions with key external stakeholders

Dedication to scientific excellence with a strong focus on scientific education and dialogue

Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and networking skills

A thorough comprehension of FDA, OIG, HIPAA, and other ethical guidelines, laws, and regulations relevant to the pharmaceutical industry and its customers

Ability to organize, prioritize, and work effectively in a constantly changing environment

Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, OneNote)

Familiarity with virtual meeting platforms

Desire to contribute to an environment of belonging, engagement, and empowerment by Working to transform the environment, culture, and business landscape

Leveraging inclusion to ensure business value, per global inclusion strategy

Ensuring accountability to drive an inclusive culture

Strengthening the foundational elements

Consistent adherence to field and corporate policies and Global Medical Scientific Affairs strategy, including field standard operating procedures (SOPs), Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines, and administrative/operational responsibilities

Preferred:

MSL field experience in the gastrointestinal setting.

Established relationships with GI SLs within geographic region.

Research Experience

Demonstrated record of scientific/medical publication

#eligibleforERP

Required Skills:

Clinical Practice, Clinical Research, External Stakeholder Engagement, Gastrointestinal Disease, Immunology, Medical Affairs, Medical Communications, Pharmaceutical Medical Affairs, Territory Management

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

The primary location for this posting is:

USA - Michigan - Detroit

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:

$190,800.00 - $300,300.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits .

Additional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information:

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:

50%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Remote

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

Yes

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

11/14/2026 *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:R423424

Job details

Seniority
Director
Function
Medical Affairs
Therapeutic area
Gastroenterology
Location
Detroit, Michigan, United States of America
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

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

We currently track 306 comparable Director Medical Affairs roles across 55 biopharma companies.

306Comparable roles tracked
291Currently active
55Companies hiring similar roles
31Countries represented

Salary context

120 of 306 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 · Principal Strategic Medical Writer · AbbVie $109,500/yr – $208,500/yr
Peer group range $159,000 – $392,100 (median $264,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 306 comparable roles

United States207
United Kingdom26
Canada9
China8
Germany6
France6

+ 25 more countries

Seniority mix

306 of 306 peers have a known seniority level

Director254
Senior Director36
Principal16

Therapeutic area mix

128 of 306 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology61
Neuroscience17
Immunology14
Cardiovascular / CVRM8
Dermatology & Aesthetics8
Rare Disease7
Gastroenterology5
Respiratory5
Ophthalmology2
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1

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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.

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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 Medical Affairs 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.

100%
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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.