Executive Director, Digital Transformation & Delivery Excellence

Job Description

Role Summary

The individual in this role serves as the Chief Information & Digital Officer's (CIDO) enterprise lead for translating digital strategy into disciplined, multi-divisional execution. The role connects strategic priorities, investment decisions, delivery governance, and value realization across the IT organization. Balancing enterprise governance with divisional execution, the Executive Director frames critical investment and architectural choices, leads CIDO-sponsored transformation initiatives, accelerates cross-divisional delivery and value realization, modernizes Information Technology (IT) ways of working, scales next-generation capabilities, and advances workforce modernization.

Core Responsibilities & Strategic Accountabilities

Transformation Excellence and Value Realization

• Advisory: Serve as a trusted advisor to CIDO and ITLT framing critical trade-offs, investment options, and ROI projections to shape the IT portfolio and roadmap.

• Roadmap & Value Realization: Translate strategic intent into an actionable, multi-year transformation portfolio with clear value milestones, tracking outcome delivery in close partnership with Finance and executive sponsors.

• Operating Rhythm & Executive Alignment: Facilitate an effective operating rhythm across the IT leadership team, ensuring cross-functional transparency, portfolio governance, and continuous operating model optimization.

• Executive Engagement Support: Partner with CIDO to support transformation progress, value realization metrics, technical debt posture, and strategic risks to the Executive Leadership.

Cross-Divisional Program Delivery

• End-to-End Program Leadership: Direct the delivery of complex enterprise transformation initiatives that require direct sponsorship and delivery focus from the CIDO office

• Bottleneck Elimination: Serve as the designated escalation authority on behalf of the CIDO, resolving cross-divisional friction, resource constraints, and integration roadblocks.

• IT Way of Working Transition: Transform IT delivery organizations from federated, project-based paradigms to agile, value-stream-aligned, AI centric models measured by operational speed, cyber resiliency, and business impact.

Digital Capability Rollout

• Next-Gen Capability Scaling: Work with IT teams to support enterprise-wide definition and rollout and adoption of modern digital capabilities on behalf of the CIDO, including advanced data pipelines and practical agentic AI solutions.

• Market & Capability Sensing: Monitor emerging technologies (including generative and agentic AI), competitive shifts, regulatory developments, and strategic partnership models to capture enterprise-level transformation opportunities.

Workforce and Process Modernization

• IT Talent Acceleration: Partner with divisional IT leaders and HR to develop and maintain an overall talent development plan, execute workforce modernization programs, reskilling talent in modern, next generation skills

• IT Process and Ways of Working: Serve as the central lead for IT processes, defining and optimizing IT processes and related ownership structure to ensure more effective and efficient outcomes; partner with specific IT functions to reimagine IT processes such as Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC); continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), etc.

Experience, Qualifications & Skills

Education

• Required: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related field.

• Preferred: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science in Computer Science, Information Science, or equivalent advanced degree.

Required Experience & Capabilities

• 15 Years of Leadership Experience: Proven track record in progressive technology leadership, IT strategy, and large-scale enterprise transformation within a complex, matrixed global enterprise.

• Multi-Divisional Delivery Track Record: Demonstrated success leading and delivering global scale programs across independent business units and federated IT groups without direct hierarchical control.

• Turnaround & Crisis Leadership: Verifiable experience serving in turnaround, recovery, or interim leadership roles to rescue distressed technical programs or organizational initiatives.

• Executive Presence & Influence: Extensive background advising C-suite executives, partnering with executive committees, and participating in board-level strategy and governance presentations.

• Technical & Modernization Depth: Hands-on foundational understanding of modern software architecture, public cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP), API-first integration, DevSecOps pipelines, and legacy migration.

• Data & AI Governance: Working familiarity with enterprise data governance frameworks, machine learning operations (MLOps), and generative/agentic AI deployment patterns.

• Financial Acumen: Deep command of technology financial management, including business case development, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) optimization, vendor negotiations, and capital/operating expenditure governance.

• Regulated Industry Experience: Prior leadership experience in biopharmaceuticals, life sciences, healthcare, financial services, or other heavily regulated environments.

• Life Sciences Domain Acumen: Familiarity with the biopharmaceutical value chain (Discovery/R&D, Clinical Development, Manufacturing & Supply, and Commercial/Medical Affairs).

• People Leadership: Proven ability to build, mentor, and lead high-performing teams of senior directors, technical leaders, and matrixed delivery pods.

• Consulting Background (Preferred): Previous experience within top-tier management consulting, enterprise transformation advisory, or technology strategy firms.

Required Skills

Acquisitions Divestitures, Acquisitions Divestitures, AI Implementation Planning, Biopharmaceuticals, Business Operations, Business Transformation, Business Unit Integration, Change Agility, CI/CD, C-Level Management, Computer Science, Consultative Approach, Data Governance, Developing Proposals, DevSecOps, Digital Strategy, Emotional Intelligence, Environmental Scanning, Executive Presence, Financial Management, Information Systems, Machine Learning Operations, Management Consulting, Oncology Drug Development, Operating Models {+ 9 more}

Preferred Skills

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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.

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The primary location for this posting is

USA - New Jersey - Rahway

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is

$255,800.00 - $402,700.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of 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 .

Additional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Additional location(s) Compensation Information

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

Hybrid

Shift

Valid Driving License

Hazardous Material(s)

Job Posting End Date

11/3/2026 *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.