Associate Director, Technical Product Management

Job Description

Role Summary:

Join our company in Rahway, NJ, and be part of a 130-year legacy of success backed by ethical integrity, forward momentum, and an inspiring mission to achieve new milestones in global healthcare. Be part of an organization driven by digital technology and data-backed approaches that support a diversified portfolio of prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. Drive innovation and execution excellence with a team passionate about using data, analytics, and insights to drive decision-making and create custom software to tackle some of the world’s greatest health threats.

Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end delivery of FSA initiatives from discovery and requirements through design, build, testing, deployment, and value realization.

• Define and manage delivery plans, milestones, dependencies, resource plans, risks, and critical path activities.

• Coordinate across data, platform, and application squads to ensure timely and high-quality delivery.

• Ensure delivery aligns with AtR strategy, finance calendar, Sarbanes-Oxley controls, and enterprise architecture standards.

• Drive release planning and execution, including cutover, deployment readiness, hypercare, and post-release stabilization.

• Coordinate dry runs, regression testing, and readiness activities to support monthly, quarterly, and year-end financial close cycles.

• Ensure clear deployment communications, issue triage, and rollback/contingency planning where needed.

• Oversee day-to-day operational readiness and support for the FSA, including stability, performance, capacity, and incident management.

• Establish and monitor SLAs/SLOs for availability, response time, and service quality.

• Lead production triage, root-cause analysis, and remediation planning with technical teams.

• Coordinate maintenance windows, change management, and disaster recovery/business continuity planning.

• Translate business priorities into actionable delivery plans and communicate status, risks, and dependencies clearly to stakeholders.

• Proactively manage delivery and operational risks, implementing mitigation and contingency plans for critical reporting periods.

• Ensure adherence to data privacy, security, and regulatory requirements in partnership with governance and compliance teams.

• Coordinate internal teams and vendor resources to ensure the right skills, capacity, and accountability are in place for delivery and support.

• Coach and mentor team members, fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, automation, and measurable outcomes.

• Manage vendor performance and delivery commitments against agreed outcomes and timelines.

• Define and track delivery and operational KPIs such as milestone adherence, defect rates, incident MTTR, availability, and backlog throughput.

• Report on progress against plan, identify corrective actions, and drive delivery optimization initiatives.

• Support business case development and communicate delivered value to stakeholders and leadership.

Education:

• Minimum: BA/BS degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Business, Finance, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience

• Preferred: Master’s degree, MBA, or equivalent advanced degree in a related field

Required Qualifications

• Proven experience in Program Management, Project Management, Delivery Management, and Project Support.

• Strong skills in Stakeholder Relationships, Risk Management, Planning, and Measurement Analysis.

• Ability to leverage technical knowledge to operate in a digital environment.

• Experience working closely with technical SMEs and technical job families such as Information Architecture and Software Engineering.

• Track record of leading cross-functional initiatives with measurable outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting delivery for financial systems or data platforms used for accounting and reporting.

• Deep understanding of financial accounting, management reporting, analytics, and financial data consumers.

• Familiarity with monthly, quarterly, and year-end close processes and associated controls.

• Experience working with Product Line/Value Team Leads, Technical Leads, Product Designers, Product Analysts, user groups, business stakeholders, and external partners.

• Strong ability to manage competing priorities, dependencies, and delivery risks in a complex global environment.

• Technical Platform experience with SAP HANA Sidecar, SAP SLT Replication, HANA Table Functions, HANA Stored Procedures, SAP HANA Studio, HANA-native modeling techniques, Custom ETL processes, Analytic Privileges / HANA Security Roles, Trino (Data Sharing), Autosys (Orchestration), Airflow (Orchestration), DIFW/S3 integrations.

• 11+ years of experience in IT and/or project/delivery management roles.

• Proven ability to manage cross-functional teams and vendor resources to optimize delivery and performance.

• Experience in a large global corporation, supporting strategic delivery plans aligned with business needs.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to drive initiatives to meet business objectives.

• Ability to adapt quickly in a dynamic and complex environment.

• Demonstrated ability to work with Microsoft Office product suite.

• Proven track record of communicating effectively across stakeholder groups.

• Excellent organizational and time management skills, including the ability to support multiple projects and deadlines.

• Self-starter, quick learner, and able to deliver under deadlines.

Required Skills:

Asset Management, Asset Management, Benefits Management, Business Acumen, Business Application Support, Business Case Analyses, Business Case Development, Business Decisions, Data Compliance, Delivery Coordination, Delivery Management, Driver Management, Learning Agility, Management System Development, Operation Maintenance, Performance Plans, Product Delivery, Product Management, Requirements Management, Risk Avoidance, Schedule Adherence, Stakeholder Management, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Strategic Planning, System Designs {+ 2 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:

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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

$142,400.00 - $224,100.00

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

You can apply for this role through (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:

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

Job Posting End Date:

09/8/2026

*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.