About this role
Job Description Senior Director, Functional Area Geography Lead, Clinical Data Management (CDM Country Lead) The Senior Director, Functional Area Geography Lead, GDMS Clinical Data Management (CDM Country Lead) provides strategic leadership and governance to ensure consistent, high-quality, and compliant data management delivery across the assigned geography. The role is accountable for workforce strategy, operational performance, capability development, and organizational effectiveness, while driving alignment with GDMS (Global Data Management & Standards) leadership and enterprise priorities. This position plays a critical role in advancing scalability, innovation, talent development, and the successful delivery of the Clinical Development Portfolio.
Strategic Leadership & Geographic Strategy Provide strategic leadership for Clinical Data Management within the assigned geography, ensuring consistent execution, quality, compliance, and alignment with organizational objectives. Develop and execute country-specific strategies that support broader GDMS and enterprise priorities. Serve on functional leadership teams, representing geographic and functional perspectives in GDMS leadership forums, audits, inspections, and enterprise initiatives.
Build strong partnerships across GDMS, GCTO, and enterprise support functions to deliver strategic and operational goals. Communicate complex risks, trade-offs, and recommendations to senior leadership, enabling informed decision-making. Champion innovation, automation, digital capabilities, and risk-based data management practices to enhance business outcomes.
Lead geographic operating model design and optimization efforts in alignment with global GDMS strategy. Drive capability development initiatives and technology adoption consistent with business needs, industry best practices, and organizational priorities. Inspire teams and stakeholders around shared objectives supporting the Clinical Development Portfolio and GCTO strategy.
Serve as GDMS Site Head for the assigned country, where applicable. Partner with regional and local functions, including HR and Finance, to enable business priorities and organizational effectiveness. Operational Governance, Execution & Cross-Functional Leadership Lead workforce planning, resource optimization, and operational-performance management across the assigned geography.
Act as the primary escalation point for country-level operational issues, ensuring effective risk management, capacity planning, and regulatory compliance. Ensure inspection readiness and implementation of compliant operational controls, including change management, operational data governance, and system releases. Identify and implement process and technology improvements that enhance scalability, standardization, efficiency, and quality.
Lead complex cross-functional initiatives from concept through implementation and value realization. Partner with Portfolio & Resource Operations Specialists to support metrics governance, portfolio transparency, and operational effectiveness. Manage OKRs and performance indicators for the geography, driving accountability and alignment with GDMS objectives.
Conduct scenario planning and oversee business continuity and resilience strategies to protect critical operations and service delivery. Provide clear, concise, and decision-ready communications to senior leaders and business partners. People Leadership & Talent Development Establish clear direction, priorities, and objectives aligned to organizational goals.
Lead, develop, and coach leaders and teams while fostering employee engagement, performance, and work-life sustainability. Conduct performance reviews, career-development discussions, succession planning, and talent-assessment activities. Create development opportunities through mentoring, training, promotion planning, and capability-building initiatives.
Lead recruiting and hiring efforts while managing performance and employee-relations matters in partnership with HR. Oversee effective utilization of global, offshore, and contingent workforce resources, ensuring role clarity and seamless collaboration. Manage departmental budgets and optimize resource investments against strategic priorities.
Promote an inclusive, high-performance culture that attracts, develops, and retains top talent. Ensure leaders are effectively coaching, empowering, and developing their own teams. Capability Leadership (As Assigned) Represent assigned capabilities on the Clinical Data Management Leadership Team.
Define strategic objectives, roadmaps, and investment priorities for capability advancement. Establish governance frameworks aligned with GDMS, GCTO, and enterprise digital and data strategies. Oversee development of critical tools, processes, and skills that strengthen organizational capabilities.
Drive consistent global implementation through governance, playbooks, guidance, and change-management support. Partner across regions and functions to align and standardize ways of working. Qualifications, Skills & Experience Technical Expertise Strong understanding of end-to-end clinical data management processes, systems, standards, governance, and quality oversight.
Deep knowledge of ICH/GCP requirements and their application within clinical and safety data management. Strong understanding of regulatory requirements, quality systems, inspection readiness, and audit processes. Experience implementing risk-based approaches, digital solutions, and automation to improve quality and efficiency.
Knowledge of workforce planning, capacity management, risk escalation, and operational governance processes. Ability to leverage dashboards, analytics, forecasting tools, and capacity models to support strategic decisions. Experience establishing standards that promote scalability, integration, reuse, and operational excellence.
Strong financial acumen, including budget ownership, workforce-cost planning, and value realization. Knowledge of local operational requirements including HR, vendor, finance, and compliance processes. Expertise in data governance, quality management, lineage, lifecycle management, and data-product stewardship.
Clinical Data Management Expertise Demonstrated ability to support and lead inspection-readiness activities in partnership with quality and process organizations. Proven experience delivering high-quality clinical data collection, validation, and reporting aligned with protocol requirements. Leadership & Professional Skills Strategic leadership with demonstrated success leading diverse global and cross-functional organizations.
Strong stakeholder-management, negotiation, and conflict-resolution capabilities. Ability to influence senior leaders and drive decisions in complex matrix environments. Proven change leadership and organizational transformation experience.
Track record of embedding innovation, digital adoption, and continuous improvement into operations. Strong people-development and coaching capabilities with experience building high-performing teams. Excellent business acumen and ability to balance operational, financial, and talent considerations.
Resilient, adaptable, and effective in dynamic and ambiguous environments. Strong prioritization and execution skills focused on critical business outcomes. Sound judgment, independence, and accountability while maintaining organizational alignment.
Exceptional communication and executive storytelling skills, with the ability to tailor messages to diverse audiences. Fluent English with excellent written and verbal communication skills. Enterprise Leadership Competencies Talent Growth Build and sustain organizational capability by attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining talent while fostering an inclusive environment where individuals can achieve their full potential.
Strategic Planning Develop and execute long-term strategies through collaboration, influence, and alignment across Development, Clinical Operations, Regulatory, Safety, IT, and other key stakeholders. Networking & Partnerships Establish and maintain strategic internal and external partnerships that advance functional, geographic, and enterprise objectives. Education & Experience Candidates must meet one of the following requirements: Master's or Doctoral degree in Life Sciences, Data Science, Information Technology, Project Management, Business, or a related field 10+ years of relevant industry experience in data management 5+ years of people leadership experience Demonstrated experience in Clinical Data Management, Clinical Trial Operations, and leadership of global teams Required Skills: Adaptability, Adaptability, Budget Management, Capacity Management, Change Management, Clinical Data Management, Clinical Study Management, Clinical Study Protocols, Conflict Resolution, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Data Analysis, Data Governance, Data Processing, Data Validation, Decision Making, Ethical Standards, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Operating Models, Operational Decisions, Organizational Effectiveness, Organizational Performance Management, People Leadership, Product Governance, Strategic Thinking, Talent Management {+ 1 more} Preferred Skills: Current Employees apply HERE Current Contingent Workers apply HERE 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.
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Please, no phone calls or emails. Employee Status: Regular Relocation: VISA Sponsorship: Travel Requirements: Flexible Work Arrangements: Hybrid Shift: Valid Driving License: Hazardous Material(s): Job Posting End Date: 08/28/2026 *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.