About this role
Job Description
As the Associate Director, Clinical Data Management (CDM) Geography Lead, you will play a key leadership role in shaping data management operations and talent across your assigned geography. You will drive operational excellence, quality, compliance, and resource optimization while partnering with leaders across the organization to advance regional strategy, foster consistent ways of working, and develop high-performing teams that contribute to the successful delivery of clinical trials worldwide.
Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership & Geographic Strategy:
- Oversee day-to-day data-management execution within the assigned geography; ensure efficiency, quality, compliance, and inspection readiness.
- Responsible for reviewing and providing input on work performed by direct reports.
- Manage and develop local teams; align performance to GDMS (Global Data Management and Standards) standards and expectations; guide onboarding and technical skill-building.
- Partner with Portfolio & Resource Operations Specialist team on workload tracking, capacity/utilization, and operational metrics; support near-term forecasting and workload balance across studies/TAs (Therapeutic Areas).
- Ensure adherence to GDMS/GCTO (Global Clinical Trial Operations) processes and local regulatory requirements; drive consistent execution of GDMS ways of working.
- Partner with functional leads to align oversight and promote consistent ways of working across regions.
- Identify and escalate operational or compliance risks; support mitigation and preventive actions.
- Share lessons learned and best practices within the geography; support change initiatives.
People Management Responsibilities
- Align teams around a clear direction; set clear objectives aligned to organizational goals; assign work and set priorities accounting for work-life balance sustainability.
- Conduct regular check-ins and annual reviews; coach for performance; provide recognition.
- Develop career plans; create growth opportunities and promotion cases; ensure appropriate training and mentoring.
- Lead recruiting and hiring and oversee performance management activities, including management of sensitive employee-relations matters in partnership with HR.
- Coordinate on-shore/off-shore and contingent resources; ensure role clarity and effective handoffs.
- Manage an operating budget and optimize spend against priorities.
- Coaches, inspires and empowers team members, creating the support structures and clarity needed for high performance .
Technical skills
- Working knowledge of data-management operations, quality standards (GDMS, GCTO), and clinical trial lifecycle.
- Experience with data standards, data flow, and study start-up systems.
- Proficiency in workload planning, resourcing systems, and performance metric tools.
- Familiarity with continuous improvement methodologies
- Understanding of local and global regulatory requirements, including Good Clinical Practice guidelines and 21 CFR Part 11, and processes.
- Ability to implement and execute inspection-readiness practices in collaboration with Process & Quality partners.
- Demonstrated ability to drive high-quality clinical data collection design, validation and delivery in alignment with protocol requirements.
- Understanding of inspection/audit processes and ability to contribute to audit readiness.
- Non-technical skills
- Exceptional communication and influencing skills, with the ability to engage and align stakeholders across functions, geographies, and levels to achieve shared objectives.
- Effective coach, mentor, and develop direct reports and teams to ensure a high level of performance, achieving satisfaction through advancement of others.
- Strong stakeholder management and collaboration capabilities, fostering trust and effective partnerships to deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes.
- Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, motivating and guiding cross-functional and virtual teams without direct reporting authority.
- Highly adaptable and resilient, able to prioritize and perform effectively under pressure in a fast-changing environment.
- Works independently with accountability, exercising sound judgment and initiative while maintaining alignment with organizational priorities.
- Effective facilitator of decision-making, coordinating the work of others and driving timely resolution of complex issues.
- Fluent in English with excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to clearly convey complex or technical information to different audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to drive large-scale change, embed innovation, and lead continuous improvement initiatives, while ensuring adoption of standardized, risk-based, and digital practices.
Enterprise Leadership Skills
- Execution Excellence | Drives reliable, high-quality delivery within their team - developing core functional capabilities and KPI-driven measurement approaches (e.g., time-to-lock, query rates, error reduction) to track progress, improve outcomes, and support consistent, submission-ready outputs across studies.
- Strategic Planning | Thinks strategically within the assigned scope and gains alignment through collaborative stakeholder engagement and influence across development, clinical operations, regulatory, safety, and IT.
- Networking & Partnerships | Builds and sustains strategic internal and external relationships (cross-functional leaders, service providers, alliance partners, customers) within the assigned scope to advance functional area objectives.
Qualifications & experience
- Bachelor's Degree (preferred in Life Science, Data, or Information Technology; or equivalent educational experience) with 8 years of experience in data management, including:
- Demonstrated experience in clinical data management, clinical trial operations, and managing large multicultural teams.
- Minimum 2 years of people leadership and management experience (direct or matrix leadership)
OR
- Advanced Degree (Masters or Doctorate) (preferred in Life Science, Data, Information Technology, Project Management, or Business) with 4 years of related industry experience in data management, including:
- Demonstrated experience in clinical data management, clinical trial operations, and managing large, inclusive teams.
- Minimum 2 years of people leadership and management experience (direct or matrix leadership)
If you are a passionate leader with deep expertise in clinical data management, a commitment to developing inclusive and high-performing teams, and a desire to influence the future of global clinical research, we encourage you to apply. Join us in a purpose-driven environment where your leadership, innovation, and dedication to excellence can make a meaningful impact on patients, science, and healthcare.
Additional location(s) Compensation Information:
Required Skills:
Adaptability, Adaptability, Building Trust, Business Alignment, Business Informatics, Career Planning, Client Coaching, Clinical Data Management, Clinical Trials, Data Analysis, Data Extraction, Data Integration, Data Validation, Decision Making, Delivery Management, Enterprise Leadership, Goal Setting, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Interpersonal Relationships, Leadership Management, Organizational Leadership, People Leadership, People Management, Performance Improvements, Pharmacovigilance {+ 10 more}
Preferred Skills:
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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:
No Travel Required
Flexible Work Arrangements:
Hybrid
Shift:
Not Indicated
Valid Driving License:
No
Hazardous Material(s):
N/A
Job Posting End Date:
10/27/2026
*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.