Senior Principal Scientist, Clinical Research

The Senior Clinical Director (Senior Principal Scientist) has primary responsibility for the strategic planning and directing clinical research activities involving investigational compounds in Immunology. With a focus on late-stage development, the Senior Clinical Director will manage the entire cycle of clinical development, including determination of appropriate disease indications to pursue and subsequent study design, initiation, execution, monitoring, analysis, regulatory filing, and publication.

• Evaluating pre-clinical and translational work for the purpose of generating the early clinical development plan and Investigational New Drug applications.
• Providing clinical development support of business development assessments of external opportunities to grow the Immunology Pipeline
• Developing clinical development strategies for investigational drugs and planning clinical trials (design, operational plans, settings) based on these clinical development strategies
• Monitoring and managing the conduct of ongoing or new clinical trials for investigational drugs
• Analyzing and summarizing the clinical findings from studies to support decisions regarding safety and efficacy as well as new drug applications, clinical study reports, or publication; and
• Participation in internal and joint internal/external research project teams relevant to the development of new compounds

• Supervise the activities of Clinical Scientists in the execution of clinical studies.
• Work closely with a cross-functional group of experts in commercialization, regulatory affairs, statistics, and manufacturing to manage clinical development projects
• Assist the Executive Director, Associate Vice-President/Vice-President and Product Development Team Lead in ensuring that appropriate corporate personnel is informed of the progress of studies of our company and competitors' drugs and internal and external expert opinion on scientific questions relevant to their areas of responsibility.

• Maintaining awareness of scientific developments within their area of expertise, in terms of new scientific findings, research methodologies
• Identification of scientifically and operationally strong investigators who can assist in the development of our company's investigational drugs in Immunology
• Establishing collaborative relationships with external experts in Rheumatology diseases, particularly those whose research focus and expertise can inform and assist the evaluation of the company's investigational drugs
• Attending appropriate scientific meetings to maintain their competency and to maintain awareness of research activities in their area of responsibility.

• Author detailed development documents, presentations, budgets, and position papers for internal and external audiences
• Facilitate collaborations with external researchers around the world
• Travel on company business about twenty (20) percent of the time to manage future or ongoing clinical research projects.

• M.D., D.O., M.D./PhD, or D.O./PhD

• Minimum of 5 years of clinical and/or development experience (academia, clinical medicine, and/or corporate clinical development)
• Minimum of 3 years of industry experience in drug development or biomedical research experience in academia
• Demonstrated record of scientific scholarship and achievement
• Prior experience in design and execution of phase 2 or 3 clinical trials in rheumatologic diseases is preferred 
• Strong interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to work collaboratively in a cross-functional team environment

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

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

The salary range for the primary location of this role is:

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.