Senior Specialist, Data Engineering and Analytics
About this opportunity
Job Description
We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. We're at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. Join our company and be part of a team that uses the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world.
Within Small Molecule Science & Technology (SM S&T), we are strengthening the use of data and analytics to improve technical operations, process understanding, and business performance. The Senior Specialist, Data Engineering and Analytics will support the execution of SM S&T data and analytics priorities through delivery of high-quality data engineering, data preparation, and analytics solutions.
Reporting to the Director of Data Engineering and analytics, this individual contributor role will work across SM S&T, Digital Manufacturing Division, Digital CMC, MPI, IT, and Global Pharmaceutical Operations teams to improve access to manufacturing and process data, support analytics deployment, and enable broader use of digital and analytical capabilities. The role is well suited to a technically strong contributor who can execute independently, solve complex problems within defined priorities, and collaborate effectively across business and technical teams.
This role requires a strong technical foundation, attention to detail, and the ability to translate defined business needs into reliable, scalable, and compliant data and analytics outputs.
Responsibilities
Execute data engineering and analytics deliverables in support of SM S&T priorities and business needs
Build, maintain, and enhance data pipelines, data transformations, curated datasets, and analytical outputs
Support delivery of dashboards, reporting, and analytical tools that improve visibility, monitoring, and decision support
Investigate data issues and partner with relevant teams to improve data quality, completeness, and usability
Partner with scientists, engineers, manufacturing users, and digital teams to clarify requirements and support solution delivery
Translate defined business questions into data requirements, logic, and fit-for-purpose outputs
Support testing, implementation, and refinement of analytics and data solutions based on user needs and feedback
Contribute to effective communication and coordination across matrixed teams
Improve accessibility and usability of manufacturing and process data through preparation, organization, and contextualization of datasets
Support efforts that enable end users to apply data more effectively in investigations, process monitoring, and routine decision-making
Document data structures, business logic, and technical approaches to improve sustainability and reuse
Support deployment and user adoption of analytics tools, data assets, and reporting capabilities
Provide technical support, user guidance, and knowledge sharing where appropriate
Identify opportunities to standardize analytical methods, data structures, and ways of working
Contribute to continuous improvement efforts that strengthen efficiency, scalability, and user experience
Manage assigned deliverables with attention to timelines, dependencies, and quality expectations
Escalate risks, issues, and blockers promptly and contribute to resolution planning
Ensure work is performed in a manner consistent with quality, compliance, and documentation expectations in a regulated environment
Qualifications
Required
Degree (BSc/BEng/Masters) or higher in Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Data Science, Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline with five (5) years of required experience (MS with 3).
Relevant experience in data engineering, analytics, manufacturing systems, technical operations, or related technical roles
Working knowledge of manufacturing, process, or operational data in pharmaceutical, biotech, or similarly regulated environments
Experience with data preparation, transformation, pipeline development, analytics tools, dashboards, or reporting solutions
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and collaboration skills
Ability to work effectively across business and technical teams in a matrixed environment
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple assignments and deliver high-quality work with appropriate guidance
Preferred
Experience with platforms such as DataLynx, SEEQ, MPI, MES, historians, or similar technologies
Travel to manufacturing sites may be required, estimated at
Required Skills:
Business Informatics, Business Informatics, Business Intelligence (BI), Business Process Improvements, Business Requirements Analysis, Collaboration, Dashboard Reporting, Data Aggregation, Database Administration, Data Engineering, Data Management, Data Modeling, Data Reporting, Data Visualization, Delivery Management, Design Applications, Information Management, Knowledge Sharing, Matrix Management, Process Analytics, Product Delivery, Software Development, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Solution Deployment, Solutions Delivery {+ 4 more}
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:
Hybrid
Shift:
1st - Day
Valid Driving License:
No
Hazardous Material(s):
n/a
Job Posting End Date:
10/30/2026 *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:R421442
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Data & Digital role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 228 comparable Senior Data & Digital roles across 42 biopharma companies.
Salary context
77 of 228 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.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 228 comparable roles
+ 20 more countries
Seniority mix
228 of 228 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
7 of 228 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
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.
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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.
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.