Merck KGaA Posted October 23, 2026

Senior Scientist (w/m/d), befristet bis Dezember 2028

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.

Ihre Aufgabe: In dieser wissenschaftlich anspruchsvollen Rolle treiben Sie die Entwicklung von Chromatographie-Trägermaterialien der nächsten Generation voran, mit Fokus auf innovative Liganden-Immobilisierungstechnologien, Oberflächenfunktionalisierung und alternative Strategien zur Oberflächeninaktivierung. Sie verbinden eigenverantwortliche Laborforschung mit Prozessentwicklung und arbeiten eng mit Produktionsstandorten zusammen, um neue Technologien skalierbar, sicher, robust und industriell einsetzbar zu machen. Dabei konzipieren, führen und analysieren Sie komplexe Experimente selbstständig, identifizieren kritische Prozessparameter sowie technische Risiken und leiten fachliche Arbeitspakete. Sie koordinieren Laboraktivitäten, begleiten den Technologietransfer in die Fertigung und unterstützen Kolleginnen und Kollegen mit weniger Erfahrung in ihrer fachlichen Entwicklung. Darüber hinaus tragen Sie aktiv zur Entstehung von Schutzrechten und zur Erreichung von Projektmeilensteinen bei.

Ihr Profil:

Promotion in Chemie, Chemieingenieurwesen oder einem verwandten Fachgebiet; alternativ ein Masterabschluss mit umfangreicher einschlägiger Berufserfahrung.

Fundierte Kenntnisse in organischer Chemie, Oberflächenfunktionalisierung, Immobilisierungschemie oder Polymermodifikation.

Ausgeprägte praktische Laborerfahrung kombiniert mit starken analytischen Fähigkeiten und einer strukturierten Herangehensweise an komplexe Fragestellungen.

Erfahrung in der Entwicklung von Chromatographiematerialien, Prozessentwicklung oder der Skalierung von Prozessen in die Fertigung ist von Vorteil.

Fähigkeit, wissenschaftliche Aktivitäten eigenverantwortlich zu leiten und bereichsübergreifend mit F&E- und Produktionsteams zusammenzuarbeiten.

Sehr gute Englischkenntnisse in Wort und Schrift; Deutschkenntnisse sind von Vorteil.

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
Senior
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 448 comparable Senior Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 53 biopharma companies.

448Comparable roles tracked
406Currently active
53Companies hiring similar roles
18Countries represented

Salary context

225 of 448 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 Animal Behaviorist - Primate · Labcorp $70,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Highest disclosed · Toxicology Senior Research Fellow · Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (US) $232,000/yr – $348,000/yr
Peer group range $75,000 – $290,000 (median $165,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 448 comparable roles

United States339
China15
India14
United Kingdom14
Belgium10
Switzerland10

+ 12 more countries

Seniority mix

448 of 448 peers have a known seniority level

Senior234
Principal171
Associate Director43

Therapeutic area mix

49 of 448 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Immunology17
Oncology14
Neuroscience13
Cardiovascular / CVRM3
Gastroenterology1
Dermatology & Aesthetics1

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
Lilly Alzey, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Principal
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany Principal
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim Biberach, Germany Principal
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Bayer Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Germany Principal
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Bayer Wuppertal-Aprath, Germany Principal
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Bayer Wuppertal-Aprath, Germany Principal
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 Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research job in Germany, 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%
Principal Scientist Visual Inspection Steward
Lilly · Alzey, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Senior or Principal Scientist of Human Genetics (Biberach, Germany, Baden-Württemberg)
Boehringer Ingelheim · Biberach, Germany · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Principal Scientist (all geneders) - Antibody Lead Discovery (Wuppertal-Aprath, North Rhine Westfalia, DE)
Bayer · Wuppertal-Aprath, Germany · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
45%
Senior Scientist Mass Spectrometrist
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company · Groton, United States · Senior
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.