Associate Director, Global Rewards Partner

Job Description

Position Overview

The Global Rewards Partner for Global Support Functions (GSFs) is the senior Compensation leader and single point of contact into the Compensation & Benefits COEs for these functional areas. This role, reporting to the Executive Director, Compensation and Global Programs carries deep subject-matter knowledge in compensation - pay strategy, job architecture, competitive intelligence, incentive design, and pay governance - and applies it to a client group that competes in competitive talent markets, from software engineering and data science to legal and finance leadership. The role is also a primary intelligence source back into the COE: insight from how compensation frameworks perform in functional talent markets flows continuously into our C&B teams to sharpen design and approaches over time.

Primary Accountabilities

• Serve as a trusted senior rewards partner to the Global Support Functions’ HR partners, proactively identifying compensation opportunities, shaping reward solutions, and ensuring business, organization design, and talent decisions are supported with clear, forward-looking compensation guidance.
• Build deep phenotype expertise across the employee populations and talent markets most relevant to assigned Functions - technical, digital, professional, and executive-adjacent populations - and translate that expertise into reward insights.
• Advise on reward implications of restructures, acquisitions, geographic footprint decisions, new capability builds, and critical-skill hiring plays.
• Interpret and apply broad-based compensation policy, pay structures, and fair-pay standards to business cases, exercising judgment on where global guardrails apply and where genuine exceptions are warranted.
• Lead market intelligence - benchmarking, survey interpretation, and competitive analysis for specialized and hot-skill populations - and translate findings into pay structure and salary management recommendations.
• Advise on job architecture and job evaluation topics, ensuring roles are leveled consistently within the global framework and using tools and technology to simplify the process.
• Advise on complex compensation offers - new hire, promotion, lateral, sign-on, and retention - including senior and business-critical hires.
• Support recognition and incentive plan application within the division, ensuring design intent translates into the behaviors the business needs.
• Use AI tools to improve compensation research, analysis, reporting, and presentations with appropriate human oversight.
• Serve as the point of contact for benefits-related topics for HR colleagues, partnering with the Global Benefits COE to address questions and requests for additional information efficiently.
• Also contributes to broader enterprise, Compensation COE, or cross-functional projects as needed, bringing flexibility and a solution-oriented mindset to support evolving business and organizational priorities.

Experience, Capabilities and Leadership Characteristics

• The role requires the following capabilities and leadership characteristics:
• Consultative judgment - brings a balanced, business-minded perspective to complex compensation discussions, helping leaders evaluate options, navigate trade-offs, and align on practical solutions that support business priorities while maintaining sound compensation governance.
• Technical depth with storytelling lens - combines deep compensation expertise with strong business acumen, translating complex pay concepts, market insights, and governance considerations into clear, actionable guidance that helps leaders make informed talent and business decisions.
• Orchestration - brings together US and international C&B colleagues, HR Operations and cross-functional partners to deliver coordinated, end-to-end reward solutions, creating seamless client experiences and ensuring business leaders receive clear, integrated guidance.
• Product-owner mindset - thinks about the full experience of the HR Partner, the manager, and the employee, beyond the technical answer.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree, or currently in pursuit of degree completion in human resources, business or a related discipline
• Minimum of eight (8) years of progressive compensation experience, including demonstrated depth in job architecture/evaluation, market pricing, pay structure design, and annual compensation cycle support.
• Proven track record advising senior business and HR leaders, including at executive or functional leadership level.
• Strong quantitative and analytical capability - modeling, cost analysis, and the ability to make a data-backed case to senior leader audiences.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office suite of software products and familiarity with HR systems, (e.g., Workday, Excel, Copilot, HRIS/reporting tools).
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI-enabled productivity and analytical tools to strengthen data analysis, research, reporting, and decision-making.
• Brings curiosity and adaptability in adopting emerging technologies, with the ability to integrate AI capabilities into Compensation processes.
• Experience operating in a global, matrixed environment with multiple stakeholder groups.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, business judgment and analytical capability.
• Compensation experience supporting technology, digital, or other specialized/premium talent markets preferred.
• CCP (Certified Compensation Professional) or equivalent credential preferred

 

MSJR

Required Skills:

Compensation Management, Compensation Plans, Compensation Program Design, Consultation, Employee Relations Programs, Employee Rewards Programs, Executive Compensation, Executive Presence, Financial Acumen, Global Compensation, HR Compensation, Salary Surveys, Total Rewards

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:

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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 salary range for this role is

$129,000.00 - $203,100.00

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

Job Posting End Date:

10/9/2026

*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.