Job Description

Join a dynamic, innovative team dedicated to accelerating drug discovery and development through information science. We are seeking a passionate, experienced Associate Director to connect scientists and stakeholders with focused scientific literature and data-driven insights. This role offers the opportunity to influence innovation by delivering tailored literature alerts and knowledge services that empower research teams across the organization.

As Associate Director, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to design and deliver tailored literature alerts. These services help stakeholders interact with, manage, and consume knowledge from scientific literature that drive innovation, leveraging the latest technologies. You will be a trusted advisor and change agent, guiding teams on best practices in literature searching and knowledge extraction.

Your deep scientific expertise, strong technical skills, and commitment to continuous learning and improvement will support the evaluation and application of AI tools to enhance literature-based knowledge discovery.

The ideal candidate combines a strong scientific background with technical proficiency and exceptional communication skills. You will bring deep understanding of the drug development process and biopharmaceutical industry, along with proven experience in managing complex projects. If you are motivated by solving challenging information problems and contributing to transformative initiatives that amplify the impact of scientific research, we encourage you to apply.

Primary Activities:

The primary activities would include, but are not limited to:

• Conducting advanced literature searches by identifying, analyzing, synthesizing, and delivering published literature and data to meet stakeholder's requests

• Monitoring research developments, tracking industry trends, and distributing results through regular alerts of biomedical literature

• Maintaining awareness of novel products relating to literature searching

• Evaluating promising technology for consideration, including those with AI capabilities

• Responding to requests for literature by leveraging scientific domain and information research knowledge

• Guiding stakeholders in identification and utilizing the best available resources to conduct accurate, comprehensive, and cost-effective searches

• Gathering, analyzing and reporting relevant metrics to ensure resource utilization optimization

• Building stakeholder engagement through targeted outreach and communications

• Cultivating strategic partnerships, understanding client information needs, establishing rapport, and fostering open communication to facilitate development of client focused programs and initiatives

• Collaborating with internal data scientists and information scientists to design and implement tailored literature and knowledge solutions to meet well-defined stakeholder requirements

• Agent for change in how we do our work

• Works with stakeholders to assess current and future information needs

Qualifications:

Education:

• Degree in life sciences, information science, or related scientific discipline, plus pharma/biotech industry or healthcare experience

  • Bachelor's and 5+ years' experience

  • Master's/PhD and 3+ years' experience

Required:

• Experience with biomedical, basic research, chemistry, and biotechnology information resources, and commercial literature searching tools such as PubMed, Embase, SciFinder, Dialog, or STN as well as thesaurus knowledge

• Experience with Medline, Embase, Scopus, TrialTrove, Pharmaprojects, the Cortellis suite of databases

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely to diverse audiences, including researchers, clinicians, regulatory affairs professionals, and other stakeholders

• Familiarity with copyright regulations for literature

• Optimize/customize scientific content for delivery to end users

• Knowledge of drug discovery, development and research, clinical data coding and experience working within a regulated environment

• Ability to engage stakeholders to determine requirements in support of their business needs, and deliver the appropriate solution

• Strong prioritization and project management skills, with high attention to detail

• Ability to work with minimal oversight within a matrixed environment to drive tasks to completion and to act with appropriate accountability

• Excellent customer service orientation with prompt response to inquiries

• Ability to work under pressure in a changing environment with flexibility

• Proficiency with collaboration and productivity tools (MS Teams, Excel, MS Power Automate, etc.)

Preferred:

• Knowledge of GenAI and data science

• Experience with evaluating AI offerings from publishers and vendors

• Knowledge of text mining, machine learning, and natural language processing for data curation and enrichment

• Experience writing and maintaining process documentation

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

U.S. Hybrid Work Model

Effective September 5, 2023, employees in office-based positions in the U.S. will be working a Hybrid work consisting of three total days on-site per week, Monday - Thursday, although the specific days may vary by site or organization, with Friday designated as a remote-working day, unless business critical tasks require an on-site presence.This Hybrid work model does not apply to, and daily in-person attendance is required for, field-based positions; facility-based, manufacturing-based, or research-based positions where the work to be performed is located at a Company site; positions covered by a collective-bargaining agreement (unless the agreement provides for hybrid work); or any other position for which the Company has determined the job requirements cannot be reasonably met working remotely. Please note, this Hybrid work model guidance also does not apply to roles that have been designated as "remote".

The salary range for this role is

$139,600.00 - $219,700.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this 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.

You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

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:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Adaptability, Biopharmaceutical Industry, Biopharmaceuticals, Biopharmaceutics, Boolean Searches, Change Management, Clinical Research, Communication, Cross-Functional Team Leadership, Data Analysis, Drug Development, Drug Discovery Process, EMBASE, Foster Innovation, Literature Evaluation, Literature Research, Literature Searches, Management Process, Medical Literature Review, Multiple Therapeutic Areas, National Library of Medicine Medline, Process Optimization, Project Management, Project Prioritization {+ 14 more}

Preferred Skills:

AI Prompting, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, Information Extraction

Job Posting End Date:

09/20/2025

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFOREthe 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:R361653

PDN-9fcf5299-ec91-4406-830e-ecbadb17538e