Senior Specialist, Quality Assurance, Clinical Quality

Job Description

Our Research Laboratories Quality Assurance (QA) is an independent organization that provides quality focus at each critical stage of the product development life cycle, including post approval marketing, to ensure high-quality, safe, and effective products, contributing to the company mission of improving and saving lives around the world.   

Our Research Laboratories QA Clinical Quality (CQ) provide independent assurance that our company ensures the safety, rights, and well-being of participants, while complying with applicable global regulatory requirements through sound processes, procedures, and strategies for ensuring data integrity in our clinical trials. 

Primary Responsibilities:

• Leads their own specific tasks and responsibilities within a team, prioritizing time and effort towards important deliverables and producing high-quality work 

• Contributes to the overall goals of the team by excelling at their individual role and taking initiative to improve their own skills 

• Influences, partners and collaborates with other colleagues within and outside their team 

• Prepares, conducts QA audits, generates audit reports, communicates results to the relevant QA management and external relevant stakeholders (e.g. Clinical Operations), and interacts with various teams to ensure corrective and preventative actions are taken to bring QA observations to closure as applicable.

• Be able to analyze and leverage critical to quality factors to identify potential risks to prepare and perform risked-based audits

• Activities may include GCP audits of investigator sites, suppliers, third party collaborations and due diligence activities.

• In alignment with risk assessments, supports the QAL in the identification of audit substrate for scheduling, as appropriate.

• Ensures appropriate and timely escalation of quality issues, including potential misconduct or issues of significant deviation with projects/products, to the QAL and TA Head.

• Interfaces and provides day-to-day support to applicable QA functional line to ensure appropriate quality oversight of assigned studies.

• Assesses compliance of clinical investigator sites, vendors, study activities, clinical study reports and submission documents, and Country Offices (COs) processes against ICH (International Conference of Harmonization), applicable government agency regulations/guidelines, as well as our company policies, procedures and industry standards. The QAS should have a comprehensive working knowledge of Quality Assurance, regulations and auditing. Develops and delivers awareness sessions with minimal supervision on various GCP and PV topics internally and externally.

• Promotes standardization of auditing approach within QA.

• Routinely suggests new audit techniques/aids in areas of technical expertise.

• Ensures the work climate/culture within QA, exemplifies the company's Leadership behaviors

Education

• BS/BA degree or equivalent and/or 3-5 years experience in a relevant field, along with proficiency in the primary activities and essential skills required for this role. 

Enterprise Leadership Skills

• Ownership and Accountability - Taking ownership; setting high standards of performance for self and others; assuming responsibility and accountability for successfully completing assignments or tasks; self-imposing standards of excellence rather than having standards imposed

• Execution Excellence - Taking prompt action to accomplish work goals, per compliance standards; taking action to achieve results beyond what is required; being proactive. 

• Emotional Intelligence - Meeting the personal needs of individuals to build trust, encourage two-way communication, build allyship and strengthen relationships 

• Networking and Partnerships - Building partnerships; developing and leveraging relationships within and across work groups to achieve results. 

• Coaching and Development- Building self-insight; demonstrating an awareness of own strengths and development needs as well as the impact of own behavior on others; modifying behavior based on self-awareness to improve impact. 

• Talent Growth - Embracing continuous learning; actively identifying new areas for growth; regularly creating and taking advantage of learning opportunities; using newly gained knowledge and skills on the job and learning through their application.

#ERPeligible

Required Skills:

Analytical Thinking, Audits Compliance, Clinical Research, Clinical Trials, Detail-Oriented, Ethical Compliance, GCP Auditing, Investigative Skills, Metrics Analysis, Multiple Therapeutic Areas, Process Improvements, Stakeholder Management, Taking Ownership, Technical Documentation Management, Time 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:

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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

$106,200.00 - $167,200.00

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:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

50%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Remote

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

06/26/2026

*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.