Merck Posted October 20, 2026

Senior Scientist, Study Manager - Atherosclerosis and Metabolism Clinical Operations

Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America FULL_TIME
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Merck 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

Job Description

This position leads the operational planning and execution of one or more clinical trials or significant aspects thereof. In this position, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate your leadership and technical skills as part of a global, cross-functional team. You will apply project management, communication, and collaboration skills in support of our clinical trials.

Job Responsibilities:

Responsible for the operational planning, feasibility, and execution of a clinical trial.

May serve as the clinical trial team lead

May lead team in key study planning, development, and execution elements (e.g., data management deliverables, trial level plans/timelines, country/site selection, site materials, system updates, investigator meeting planning, communication plans, preparation of status update reports, study close out activities).

Leads team for timeline management, risk identification and mitigation, issue resolution.

May facilitate and collaborate with key internal/external stakeholders (e.g., study team, country/site teams, vendors, committees) in support of clinical study objectives.

Accountable for managing any study specific partners and/or vendors.

Core Skills:

Solid knowledge of clinical research regulatory requirements (e.g., Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and International Council for Harmonisation (ICH)).

Ability to manage multiple competing priorities with good planning, time management and prioritization skills.

Solid understanding of the principles of project planning & project management.

Good analytical skills to drive operational milestones.

Influence opinions and decisions of internal and external customers/vendors, across functional areas, and within the division.

Interact with key stakeholders across department, division, and company. Role requires a proactive approach and leadership driving toward study goals.

Applying leadership skills to processes, leading meetings, and influencing peers in a matrix environment.

Problem solving, prioritization, conflict resolution, and critical thinking skills.

Strong communication, writing, and presentation skills.

Intermediate knowledge in Microsoft office or similar (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, etc.).

Education/Experience:

Bachelor's Degree and 5+ years of pharmaceutical, clinical drug development, project management, and/or medical field experience

-OR- Master's Degree and 3+ years of pharmaceutical, clinical drug development, project management, and/or medical field experience

-OR- PhD/PharmD Degree

Degree in life sciences, preferred

clinicaltrialjobs

Required Skills:

Program 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 - New Jersey - Rahway

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

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

$117,000.00 - $184,200.00

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:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

10/25/2026 *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:R421913

Job details

Seniority
Manager
Function
Clinical Development
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

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

We currently track 457 comparable Manager Clinical Development roles across 67 biopharma companies.

457Comparable roles tracked
408Currently active
67Companies hiring similar roles
43Countries represented

Salary context

148 of 457 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
Highest disclosed · Statistical Advisor · Gilead Sciences, Inc. $226,185/yr – $292,710/yr
Peer group range $95,500 – $259,448 (median $180,500)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 457 comparable roles

United States207
India49
United Kingdom31
Spain21
China15
Poland15

+ 37 more countries

Seniority mix

457 of 457 peers have a known seniority level

Manager287
Associate Director131
Associate39

Therapeutic area mix

39 of 457 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology20
Immunology8
Neuroscience3
Respiratory2
Ophthalmology2
Gastroenterology2
Dermatology & Aesthetics2

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.

60%similar
AbbVie Irvine, CA Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
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60%similar
Amgen Inc. Remote, United States Manager
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Sanofi Vaccines US Inc. Swiftwater, United States Manager
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60%similar
Amgen Inc. Remote, United States Manager
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Amgen Inc. Remote, United States Manager
Same function Same 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 Clinical Development 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.

60%
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Manager
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.