Associate Principal Scientist, Vendor Management

Job Description

Job Description

Our company is a global health care leader with a diversified portfolio of prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. The difference between potential and achievement lies in the spark that fuels innovation and inventiveness; this is the space where our company has codified its legacy for over a century. Our company’s success is backed by integrity, forward momentum, and an inspiring mission to achieve new milestones in global healthcare.

Our company is on a quest for cures and is committed to be the world’s premier, research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. Today, we’re doubling down on this goal. Our company is a scientific research facility and will take our company leading discovery capabilities and world-class small molecule and biologics R&D expertise to create breakthrough science that radically changes the way we approach serious diseases.

We are currently seeking an Associate Principal Scientist, Biomarker Operations Vendor Management to be an integral part of a Biomarker Operations team in our company’s translational medicine area.  You will serve as a functional interface between internal project teams, internal molecular biomarker lab and diagnostic vendors.  Your responsibilities will include maintaining a high level of vendor productivity, proactively assessing new capabilities and technologies, participating in external vendor audits and due diligence, ensuring both internal and external compliance, creation and adherence to vendor standardization and managing problem resolution.   You will also closely partner with internal scientists and alliance and relationship managers, as well as colleagues in our company’s Licensing, Procurement, Finance, and Quality Assurance departments.  This position will report into the Biomarker Operations Vendor Management Director and be based either at one of our company’s Pennsylvania or New Jersey sites.

You will have experience in molecular biomarkers, clinical trial central and specialty lab processes and demonstrated success in biomarker operations vendor management.  You will have strong verbal and written communication skills and be expected to operate in a highly collaborative and matrixed environment.  You will excel under fast-paced and fluid conditions and be a strong advocate for operational excellence.

In this exciting role, you will:

• Ownership to ensure assigned vendor deliverables and timelines are clear, resources are appropriately planned and managed, communications are effective, risk management plans are in place, and information is accurately tracked and accessible.
• Work with vendors to continuously improve their level of service
• Identify, troubleshoot, and solve operational issues
• Collect metrics on vendor performance and develop action plans when needed
• Ensure vendor agreements and other appropriate vendor documents are in place
• Manage budget forecasts, tracking, and invoice payments as needed

• Guarantee vendor capacity meets demand
• Assess, pilot and onboard new vendors, capabilities, and technologies to our company’s standards
• Participate in external vendor audits and due diligence
• Ensure both internal and external compliance
• Monitor processes and identify opportunities for improvement 
• Maintain effective communication and working relationships with project team members, vendors and other internal supporting teams

Qualifications

Education Minimum Requirement:

• For BA/BS: ≥ 8 years in a Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical or Health/Life Science related degrees
• For MS or higher degree: ≥ 5 years in a Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical or Health/Life Science related degrees

Required Experience and Skills:

• Experience working at a clinical trial central laboratory or specialty laboratory vendor and managing sponsors
• Experience in biomarker operations from a vendor oversight perspective
• Project Management experience within a science context
• Excellent communicator
• Problem resolution and mitigation experience in a complex multilevel hierarchy company
• Demonstrates advanced understanding of omics (ex. proteomics, genomics, multiomics) assay workflows, including assay execution, data generation, quality control, and results reporting processes.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Molecular biomarker and diagnostic experience
• Drug discovery experience, including familiarity with clinical trial execution
• Formal Project Management certification or training
• Leadership roles

Required Skills:

Academic Conferences, Assay, Assay Development, Bioanalytical Analysis, Bioanalytical Techniques, Biochemical Assays, Biomarker Development, Clinical Judgment, Clinical Laboratory Operations, Clinical Trials, Creativity, Detail-Oriented, Ethical Compliance, Global Health, Immunohistochemistry (IHC), Mass Spectrometry Analysis, Operational Excellence, Pharmaceutical Biology, Problem Resolution, Project Management, Quality Control Management, Vendor Management, Vendor Performance Management

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

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

$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:

Domestic

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

25%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

05/8/2026

*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.