Job Description

Support of the company Portfolio (85%) 

• Lead cross-functional project teams in the strategy planning, execution, and delivery of China new product development projects. 

• Develop project milestones and deliverables; prepare reports that summarize key progress and issues on development programs across departments, divisions, and franchises, including preparation of background documents and presentations to senior management. 

• Effective execution of management-approved strategic plans for assigned projects; this includes ensuring risk management plans are fully developed, contracts are agreed upon and adhered to, change control procedures are followed when significant program deviations are encountered, communications within and external to the team are effective, and approved team resources and budgets are appropriately planned and managed.  

• Ensure project data is accurately reported in databases and understood by development team members, including information used to derive costs, schedule, resources, and any other data pertinent to the creation and management of project plans. 

• Apply learning from assignments on prior teams/projects to new projects and effectively guide teams in areas of developed expertise. 

• Ensure that team meetings have structure and clear purposes and goals; facilitate meetings and clearly communicate decisions and action items to team members and relevant parties outside of the team. 

• Monitor team dynamics regularly to ensure optimal team performance.  Take action to correct problems within a team stemming from miscommunication, differences of opinion, misaligned objectives, inexperience, etc.  Resolve conflicts and issues within teams. 

• Monitor processes and ensure that those responsible are informed of their effectiveness; advocate for and contribute to the success of change/process improvements when warranted.  

Business Process Improvements / Project Manager Talent Development (15%) 

• Ensure that project manager-owned, managed, or affiliated processes are evaluated and feedback is provided to process owners regularly. Actively participate in project management and continuous improvement initiatives that require product development experience and understanding of procedures and policies.  Provide input into the evaluation of the project manager's scope of activities as required by Senior Management. 

• Establish good networks with a wide variety of employees, as appropriate for the given project, to assist with the implementation of change management plans. 

• Provide mentoring and technical oversight to Associate PMs / Project Planners working on common projects.  

• Provide input into key departmental initiatives and/or departmental administrative activities. 

• Take relevant training courses to increase knowledge of the discipline of project management and understanding of product development in the pharmaceutical industry, and to improve leadership skills. 

Requirements
    BS/MS/Ph.D. with 5-10 years of pharmaceutical/ biotech industry experience, prefer CMC knowledge background.
    5+ years of project management or related experience.
    Requires specialized depth of expertise in own discipline with basic knowledge of other disciplines in EtE drug development. Previous experience on CMC strategy development, alliance management and product acquisition are preferred. 
    Project Management certification / training and / or coursework & training in Project Management desirable.
    Demonstrated ability to work effectively and accomplish goals in team settings; experience in leading committees or task forces an asset. Proven ability to effectively keep teams, projects, and assignments on track or properly rescoped with management approval.  
    Understands or can quickly gain an understanding of the overall drug / vaccine development process and the key functions involved.
    Can relate project details to larger divisional / corporate strategies, as appropriate, to provide context to teams 
    Demonstrate good judgment and creativity in team environments.
    Effective interpersonal skills; able to establish good working relationships and collaborate with networks of employees of all levels; able to foster cooperation in others; creative problem-solver .
    Effective written and oral communicator
    Knows when and how to speak up and appropriately raise issues to the team and management
    Keeps team members, departmental colleagues (as appropriate) and management fully apprised of project / initiative status and issues  
    Has demonstrated leadership and credibility:  diplomatic, decisive, straightforward, honest. Understands and has demonstrated situational leadership.

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

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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. 

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