Our Quality Assurance group ensures every single material inside our products is manufactured, processed, tested, packaged, stored, and distributed aligned with our incredibly high standards of quality and meets all regulatory requirements. Partnering across our internal manufacturing facilities, external contract manufacturers and suppliers we create an interdependent global manufacturing network committed to deliver a compliant, reliable supply to customers and patients on time, every time, across the globe.
This position will be tasked with leading with strong strategic thinking and execution capability. The main responsibilities will involve managing complex project assessment and providing an independent voice to the Strategy PMO Leadership Team to shape and drive optimal decisions across the broader Quality portfolio of projects and program spectrum.
Key Responsibilities, all or subset of the below:
Business Case Development
- Understanding the requirements of a complex business case for assigned changes.
- Continually assessing key business elements across project lifecycle to ensure business goals remain relevant in an ever-changing business environment and escalate as required.
Project/Portfolio Management
- Following the PMO Standard Work
- Owning and developing detailed project plans for given changes using standard tools and ensures the alignment and coordination of cross-functional groups
- Assess and potential management of multiple projects at any one time that have high complexity and interdependencies
- Leading and executing within multifaceted project environments with a small to large cross-functional team
- Leading cross-functional and enterprise-wide strategic projects and the related programs (end-to-end) to deliver the committed value and guarantee project sponsor satisfaction, performance of the activities on time, on quality, on budget and within the agreed scope.
- Responsible and accountable for coordinated management of individual and/or multiple related projects directed towards business and organizational objectives.
- Resolving resource constraints and/or conflicts that affect individual and/or multiple projects within a program
- Ensuring transparency and divisional alignment
- Acting as the Strategy Officer for the PMO, assessing, initiating and assigning projects.
- Managing scope, schedule, and costs, to ensure project success and acceptance of the program.
Strategic Management/Transitioning
- Partnering with the leadership team in envisioning as well as translating an organizational strategy into a portfolio with cross-functional and enterprise-wide strategic projects and the related programs in alignment with global and site strategy.
- Defining key project business requirements (quality activities as part of the proposed project, validation, regulatory filing, potential quality impact, and creating project transition plans)
- Own as part of PMO, a people focused strategy to focus efforts on aspects which brings about the biggest impact on our people, as the foundation of organization
Risk Management
- Proactively identifying and mitigating risks and participating in Integrated Risk Management process as part of PMO Tier 3
- Identifying and raising issues and conflicting agendas/priorities for quick resolution
- Aligning teams to solve problems
- Bringing innovation into everyday thinking to mitigate risks
- Understanding and committing to Compliance
Financials and Budget Management
- Responsible for leading the internal alignment and review for the annual financial forecast for the quality organization through the forecast cycles.
- Represent PMO, where required as a delegate, at monthly global financial reviews.
- Ensuring through a governance process and/or dashboards with the respective stakeholders, the organization’s delivery to forecast and budget.
Communication
- Ensuring inter-project communication and integrated execution within the quality organization and site business units.
- Ensuring consistency and sharing of best practices
- Acting as central liaison between the diverse project and program stakeholders (e.g. project execution team, project sponsors, Strategy Office, Leadership Team)
- Influencing to ensure alignment and collaboration towards the goals in interest of the organization
What are we looking for?
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree in a Life Science discipline
- Project Management Certification (e.g. IPMA, PMI, PMP, PRINCE2, Waterfall, Agile), Black Belt or Green Belt Certified
- 7 to 15 years of experience in Project Management; preferably within a pharmaceutical company
- Proven track record of successfully managing complex programs or multi-project management activities (incl. budget, risk analysis/ mitigation, financial viability, resource planning, specification creation, relationship management etc.)
Leadership & Skills Required:
- End to End Visibility.
- Effective in managing face-to-face & virtual teams.
- Ability to influence both horizontally and vertically.
- Drive to engage others and have excellent interpersonal, communication and leadership skills.
- Maintained focus on the key project goals and priorities, but also be able to dive into the detail to facilitate problem resolution and ensure a robust assessment & project success.
- Regulatory Acumen and effective working relationship with all site business units.
- Demonstrated conflict resolution, problem solving, raising concerns and accountability.
- Capable of working under pressure whilst juggling multiple tasks in a time sensitive environment
- Ability to triangulate, simplify and translate complex strategic objectives into clear messaging.
- Excellent collaboration, communication, and presentation skills to lead meetings.
- Team player, constructive and integrative style.
Who we are
We are known as Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA in the United States and Canada and MSD everywhere else. For more than a century, we have been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases. Today, our company continues to be at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions and advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and animals around the world.
What we look for
Imagine getting up in the morning for a job as important as helping to save and improve lives around the world. Here, you have that opportunity. You can put your empathy, creativity, digital mastery, or scientific genius to work in collaboration with a diverse group of colleagues who pursue and bring hope to countless people who are battling some of the most challenging diseases of our time. Our team is constantly evolving, so if you are among the intellectually curious, join us—and start making your impact today.
