Merck Posted November 9, 2026

Specialist, Operations (Night Shift)

Durham, North Carolina, United States of America FULL_TIME
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About this opportunity

Job Description

The role as an Operations Specialist will be an energetic individual with strong interpersonal, leadership, and collaboration skills responsible for supporting shop floor execution, batch closeout, and general troubleshooting. This role will contribute directly to the overall performance and results of the VMF 102 department.

This position is on-site and is a rotating 12-hour shift on night shift following the 2-2-3 schedule.

Responsibilities may include but are not limited to;

Partnering with the Operations management team to create and execute strategies that support design, development, delivery and evaluation of projects related to steady-state production and/or continual process improvement.

Authoring and reviewing documents and SOPs.

Batch Record Review

eLog Review

Lead safety investigations

Lead Problem Solving initiatives

Equipment and process troubleshooting

Supporting on-shift Operations Coaches (M1)

Author deviations and works to coordinate, develop and implement Corrective Actions/Preventive Actions (CAPAs)

Lead implementation of MPS principles on the shop floor

Sample management

Ability to effectively support, upskill and mentor new employees

Analyzing and implementing initiatives that will help to increase overall success within the department.

Effectively using metrics and measurement to ensure that projects and initiatives result in desired outcomes.

Ability to prioritize workload under guidance from management.

Education Minimum Requirement:

High School Diploma AND at least Five (5) years in a manufacturing, technical, support, or Military role. OR

Bachelor’s degree in a technical field AND at least Three (3) years in a manufacturing, technical, support, or Military role.

Bachelor's degree and at least One (1) year of experience in a direct GMP, biotechnology, manufacturing setting.

Required Experience and Skills: 

Experience working in a GMP environment

Demonstrated written and verbal communications skills

Ability to foster a collaborative work environment

Demonstrated interpersonal, technical aptitude, and problem-solving skills

Strong team skills, including the ability to coach/develop work teams, provide training, motivate/empower others, and resolve conflict

Must be flexible and able to manage multiple priorities

Preferred Experience and Skills:

Understanding of MPS methodologies

Experience with shop-floor cGMP manufacturing and related systems (i.e. SAP)

Familiarity with pharmaceutical regulatory requirements

Project management and data analysis skill

Technical writing experience

Experience with facility, equipment and/or process start up activities in a cGMP environment

Demonstrated ability to work independently

Production planning / scheduling experience

#MSJR #VetJobs #SWE2026

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Adaptability, Batch Record Review, CAPA Management, cGMP Compliance, Column Chromatography, Communication Sciences, Computer Literacy, Data Analysis, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Management, Equipment Set Up, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Lean Manufacturing Tools, Mentoring Staff, Operations Management, Pharmaceutical Regulatory Compliance, Prioritization, Process Improvements, Process Monitoring, Process Optimization, Process Troubleshooting, Production Planning, Project Management, Regulatory Compliance, Sample Management {+ 8 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 - North Carolina - Durham (Old Oxford)

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

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

$79,200.00 - $124,700.00

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:

3rd - Night

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

11/16/2026 *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:R424357

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
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 3374 comparable Manufacturing & CMC roles across 173 biopharma companies.

3374Comparable roles tracked
3074Currently active
173Companies hiring similar roles
61Countries represented

Salary context

793 of 3374 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Operator – Plant Utilities · Lilly $13/hr – $28/hr (≈ $26,998–$58,302/yr)
Highest disclosed · Head of Analytical Development · ModernaTX, Inc. $272,200/yr – $490,100/yr
Peer group range $42,650 – $381,150 (median $128,400)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 3374 comparable roles

United States1531
Germany216
India155
France145
Ireland130
China121

+ 55 more countries

Seniority mix

1484 of 3374 peers have a known seniority level

Senior403
Manager351
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc198
Associate142
Principal126
Director106
Associate Director104
Senior Director47
Executive/VP7

Therapeutic area mix

21 of 3374 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease13
Rare Disease3
Oncology2
Dermatology & Aesthetics1
Respiratory1
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.

40%similar
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Director
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Associate
Same function Same country
40%similar
Merck West Point, Pennsylvania, United States of America Principal
Same function Same country
40%similar
Merck West Point, Pennsylvania, United States Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Same function Same country
40%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Associate Director
Same function 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 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.

40%
Director, Global Regulatory Affairs – Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC), Platform Innovation – Synthetic Peptides and Oligonucleotides
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Associate Principal Scientist/Engineer, Medical Device and Combination Products, Analytical
Merck · West Point, Pennsylvania, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Senior Scientist II - Biologics Drug Product Development
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Senior Scientist I - Peptide Analytical Chemistry
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · 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.