Molecular Profiling Product Manager

Job Description

Job Description:

The Research and Development Sciences (RaDS) value team in our Company R&D IT brings together product management, engineering, and data science expertise. We enable data, technology and services that accelerate our scientists’ ability to discover and develop innovative medicines that change the course of human health. In the RaDS value team, the Product organization is responsible for implementing capabilities and associated services to advance the drug discovery and development pipeline. Our IT team operates as a business partner proposing ideas and innovative solutions that enable new organizational capabilities. We collaborate internationally to deliver the services and solutions that help everyone to be more productive and enable innovation.

We are seeking a motivated and talented Product Manager to join the RaDS Product organization. The position will report to the Lead of the Disease Biology and PharmTox Product Line. The ideal candidate will partner closely with key business stakeholders, the product, engineering, data science and other IT teams, to support the development bioinformatics tools used in the target discovery space including knowledgebases and pathway/systems biology tools. Goal for this product team is to empower researchers with applications to explore, analyze, and visualize high-dimensional omics data for discovery and validation of targets and biomarkers as well as enabling development of a precise, robust and predictable NGS expression platform to support our Biologics pipeline.

Location:

• Boston/Cambridge, NJ, PA

Primary Responsibilities:

Problem discovery and strategy

• In close partnership with our Research & Development Division scientists and Business Technology Partners, set the vision, strategy and roadmap for critical squads working on business-critical problems

• In accordance with strategic priorities, advance development of Molecular profiling and bioinformatics tools.

• Participate in Problem Discovery to identify & prioritize problems, provide high level solutioning and draft associated epics and key results.

• Utilize process maps, Information architecture and design-thinking methodologies to clarify problem space, understand pain points and identify gaps and IT automation opportunities for research workflow optimization and productivity improvement

• Synthesize data, observations, and other research into insights to help inform product strategy and decisions using data driven approaches.

Product discovery, user experience and business analysis

• Conduct product discovery activities and rapid prototyping with scientific partners, user experience researchers, engineers, and data scientists to assess value risk, usability risk, feasibility risk and business viability risk.

• Conduct assessments of internal and external tools. Work with external vendors of genomics, molecular biology, safety and target discovery tools and data to assess opportunities and facilitate integration with internal tools and data lake.

• Use tools and analytical methods to compute success metrics, understand user engagement and identify trends; develop reports and visualizations to communicate findings

• Ensure that value and user experience are measured and achieved by utilizing your expertise in scientific processes, analytics, and deep understanding of stakeholders’ needs.

Product development, leading squads and maintaining product lifecycle

• Manage scientific applications and lead squads to build user-friendly scientific data and technology products. Perform other product related duties (e.g., risk assessment and vendor engagement) as needed.

• Utilize industry-wide standards and ontologies to enable building applications that are findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable with an ultimate goal of building in silico models and applying AI/ML approaches for accelerating drug discovery

• Create and maintain the required documentation including Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) deliverables, guidelines, standard operating procedures (SOPs), training materials and user communication notes with the focus on driving consistency of documentation across the product teams

• Be accountable for managing and evolving roadmap for key capabilities and initiatives within the product. Prioritize and maintain associated product backlogs.

• Coach the cross-functional team, guiding and empowering them to embody the product mindset with a focus on customers and scientific problems.

• Create a cohesive strategy to manage an orthogonal suite of products and applications by maximizing impact and reducing costs and redundancy.  Help with decisions on application renewals and associated activities in close collaboration with scientific partners

Skill sets:

• Highly collaborative problem solver with 5+ years of experience working with scientific software development, Bioinformatics, or scientific data management.

• Experience leading cross-functional teams, launching, and managing software products, defining user stories, and working to ensure development of products based on business requirements.

• Good understanding of the Omics and Target Discovery domain and processes.

• Record of successful evaluation and implementation of new technologies.

• Has managed and/or implemented bioinformatics tools, including COTS (Commercial Off the Shelf), internally developed and/or open-source products.

• Well-versed with software development life cycle (SDLC), ability to communicate technically with development teams and experienced with Agile Development Principles

• Familiarity with Visio or similar information modeling tools

• Familiarity with product management and Ux tools such as Jira, Confluence, Mural, Figma, Balsamiq etc.

• Ability to speak technically with development teams.

• Familiarity with databases, ontologies, and data standards/models relevant to drug discovery space.

• Ability to work in a team of multidisciplinary scientists and IT personnel and operate effectively in a matrix environment with a customer centric attitude.

• Record of working independently, asynchronously (across time zones) and with excellent communication skills that cross culture/geographic/organizational boundaries.

• High level of organization and attention to detail. Good time management skills as well as demonstrated project management ability.

• Experience with data visualization and dashboarding tools (Spotfire, R-Shiny, PowerBI etc.) and demonstrate storytelling ability with data

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

Education Minimum Requirement:

• M.A./M.S., with 3+ years or B.A./B.S. with 5+ years of experience in a scientific or technical discipline (such as biology, pharmaceutical sciences, computer science, bioinformatics, biostatistics, biomedical engineering, chemistry) 

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Professional experience working as a scientist, Informatics Analyst or IT analyst in a drug discovery or development environment

• Experience working in a GxP environment

• Prior scientific programming experience

• Experience with one or more data analytics and data mining programming tools, such as R, Perl, Python, Matlab, etc.

• Familiarity with relational databases (SQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL). Data integration experience

• Familiarity with informatics workflows/pipelines/tools development and knowledge graphs

• Familiarity with cloud computing environments & applications.

• Previous work experience in Agile-based development

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.

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U.S. Hybrid Work Model

Effective September 5, 2023, employees in office-based positions in the U.S. will be working a Hybrid work consisting of three total days on-site per week, Monday - Thursday, although the specific days may vary by site or organization, with Friday designated as a remote-working day, unless business critical tasks require an on-site presence.This Hybrid work model does not apply to, and daily in-person attendance is required for, field-based positions; facility-based, manufacturing-based, or research-based positions where the work to be performed is located at a Company site; positions covered by a collective-bargaining agreement (unless the agreement provides for hybrid work); or any other position for which the Company has determined the job requirements cannot be reasonably met working remotely. Please note, this Hybrid work model guidance also does not apply to roles that have been designated as “remote”.

The Company is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the salary range for this job in certain states and cities within the United States. Final determinations with respect to salary will take into account a number of factors, which may include, but not be limited to the primary work location and the chosen candidate’s relevant skills, experience, and education.

Expected US salary range:

$114,700.00 - $180,500.00

Available benefits include bonus eligibility, long term incentive if applicable, health care and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, paid holidays, vacation, and sick days. A summary of benefits is listed here.

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

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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:

Domestic

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

25%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Required Skills:

Asset Management, Benefits Management, Management System Development, Product Management, Requirements Management, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Strategic Planning, System Designs

Preferred Skills:

Job Posting End Date:

04/28/2025

*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.