Senior Specialist

Job Description

Senior Specialist - Data Science

At our company we are leveraging analytics and technology, as we invent for life on behalf of patients around the world. We are seeking those who have a passion for using data, analytics, and insights to drive decision making, that will allow us to tackle some of the world's greatest health threats.

Within our commercial Insights, Analytics, and Data organization we are transforming to better power decision-making across our end-to-end commercialization process, from business development to late lifecycle management. As we endeavour, we are seeking a dynamic talent to serve in the role of Senior Specialist - Data Science.

This role involves working with our partners in different Therapeutic areas for e.g. Oncology, Vaccines, Pharma & Rare Disease (Cardiovascular, HIV, Immunology etc.) and Domain areas (HCP Analytics, Patient Analytics, Segmentation & targeting, Market Access, Digital Analytics, Precision Medicine etc.) across the organization to help create scalable and production-grade analytics solutions, ranging from data visualization and reporting to advanced statistical and AI/ML models.

You will work in one of the three therapeutic areas of Brand Strategy and Performance Analytics Market Activation – Oncology/Vaccines/Pharma & Rare Disease, where you will play a pivotal role in leveraging your statistical and machine learning expertise to address critical business challenges and derive insights to drive key decisions. Working alongside experienced data scientists and business analysts, you will have the opportunity to collaborate in translating business queries into analytical problems, employing your critical thinking, problem-solving, statistical, machine learning, and data visualization skills to deliver impactful solutions.

We are seeking candidates with prior expertise in the healthcare analytics or consulting sectors, prior experience in leading Data Science teams and delivering end-to-end data science projects against business priorities. Thorough understanding of different Physician and Patient-level data (PLD) from leading vendors such as IQVIA, Komodo, and Optum as well as other datasets like sales rep activity data, promotions data, payer data is expected. Extensive experience on commercial pharma analytics (HCP Analytics, PLD analytics with experience in concepts like patient journey, persistence, compliance, line of therapy, etc., Segmentation & Targeting, Precision medicine, Digital analytics, Propensity modelling etc.). You will collaborate with Market leaders to answer critical business questions using data science solutions. You will be part of a dynamic team that collaborates with our partners across therapeutic areas. Furthermore, effective communication skills are crucial, as this role requires interfacing with executive and business stakeholders.

Who you are:

· You understand the foundations of statistics and machine learning and can work in high performance computing/cloud environments, with experience/knowledge in aspects across statistical analysis, machine learning, model development, data engineering, data visualization, and data interpretation

· You are self-motivated, and have demonstrated abilities to think independently as a data scientist

· You structure your data science approach according to the necessary task, while appropriately applying the correct level of model complexity to the problem at hand

· You have an agile mindset of continuous learning and will focus on integrating enterprise value into team culture

· You are kind, collaborative, and capable of seeking and giving candid feedback that effectively contributes to a more seamless day-to-day execution of tasks

Key responsibilities:

• Lead a moderate sized team of Data Scientists to solve complex business problems
• Responsible for the people management, career growth, coaching and mentorship for the team members
• Collaborate with business leaders to define and prioritize the business problems, work with the team to conceptualize the data science solution to address the problem
• Lead the end to end Program Management to ensure that team is working as per aligned  business priorities
• Standardize and scale data science solutions to increase the delivery efficiency on prioritized work
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design and implement solutions that meet business requirements
• Define business & technical requirements (datasets, business rules, technical architecture), provide technical direction to the team and manage end-to-end projects
• Present the findings to senior business stakeholders in a clear and concise manner
• Ensure the technical and professional development of junior team members by required mentorship and defining the career progression pathway
• Develop deep expertise in the therapeutic area of interest, contribute to thought leadership in the domain through publications and conference presentations.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree with 8-10 >9 years industry experience
• Extensive experience in healthcare analytics or consulting sectors
• Extensive experience working with Physician & patient level data (PLD) from leading vendors such as IQVIA, Komodo, Optum etc. along with datasets like Sales rep activity data, promotions data, payer data
• Extensive experience on commercial pharma analytics (HCP Analytics, PLD analytics with experience in concepts like patient journey, persistence, compliance, line of therapy, etc., Segmentation & Targeting, Precision medicine, Digital analytics, Propensity modelling etc.).
• Experience in project management, senior level stakeholder management
• Experience in leading moderate sized teams
• Strong Python/R, SQL, Excel, Powerpoint and storyboarding skills
• Executive communication skills
• Strong foundation of statistics and machine learning

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in STEM (MS, MBA, PhD)
• Experience in Oncology/Vaccine/Pharma & Rare Diseases therapeutic area (Cardiovascular, HIV, Immunology etc.) commercial analytics
• Experience of supporting end-to-end Program Management
• Experience in GenAI implementations

Our Human Health Division maintains a "patient first, profits later" ideology. The organization is comprised of sales, marketing, market access, digital analytics and commercial professionals who are passionate about their role in bringing our medicines to our customers worldwide.  

We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing diverse, talented, and committed people together. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when diverse ideas come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another's thinking and approach problems collectively. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace.

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. 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:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

Required Skills:

Business Intelligence (BI), Database Design, Data Engineering, Data Modeling, Data Science, Data Visualization, Machine Learning, Software Development, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Waterfall Model

Preferred Skills:

Job Posting End Date:

09/17/2025

*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.

Requisition ID:R337097

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