Senior Specialist, Digital Operations (Hybrid) (Data Engineering)

Job Description

Digital is the multiplier that will allow Development Sciences and Clinical Supply (DSCS) to deliver better experiments faster, efficient filing and launch, more robust supply chains and higher-confidence decisions across the portfolio. The DSCS Digital Technologies (DDT) organization is tasked with the mission to pioneer and deploy innovative digital technologies that drive the acquisition, automation and utilization of data to enhance insights, efficiency, and quality of DSCS processes and methods.

The Senior Specialist, Digital Operations is a highly technical role responsible for shifting the organization from traditional BI reporting to a robust, modern data foundation. This role will heavily focus on data engineering, building custom web applications, and designing and deploying AI-enabled and agentic workflows to solve complex business problems.

The Senior Specialist, Digital Operations, will:

• Execute solutions to business needs by designing, building, and implementing modern data foundations and pipelines.

• Employ innovation and technology solutions (e.g., Databricks, Python, Agentic AI) to manage data and generate advanced insights more effectively.

• Develop custom web applications (WebApps) that allow business users to seamlessly interact with data and automated workflows.

• Work strategically and tactically to streamline processes and eliminate manual work through advanced automation and machine learning.

• Contribute to the advancement of the DDT Data Strategy and Strategic Roadmap, supporting the organization’s transition toward future-ready systems and intelligent data architectures.

Primary Activities

• Data Engineering & Foundations: Design, build, and optimize scalable data pipelines and architectures leveraging Databricks, Python, Dataverse, and advanced SQL. Transform raw data into highly accessible data foundations.

• Requirements Translation: Act as a critical bridge between business and technology by deeply understanding stakeholder needs and accurately translating those needs into clear business requirements and precise technical specifications for development.

• Agentic AI Solution: Design, build, test, and deploy agentic AI workflows and machine learning models using tools like Vertex AI, Databricks, Copilot Studio to automate decision-making processes and generate proactive business insights.

• Tool and Action Design: Define and implement reusable tools, connectors, APIs, and workflow actions that enable agents to retrieve data, reason over business context, execute approved tasks, and hand off outputs to downstream systems or users.

• Testing, Evaluation, and Monitoring: Establish test cases, evaluation criteria, validation approaches, and monitoring routines to assess agent accuracy, reliability, traceability, safety, and business value before and after deployment.

• Responsible AI and Governance: Ensure agentic solutions follow enterprise standards for security, data access, ethical and responsible AI, auditability, human oversight, and appropriate risk assessment prior to production use.

• Business Intelligence Strategy: Provide expertise across various Business Intelligence software platforms, guiding the team's evolution from legacy dashboarding toward embedded analytics, automated reporting, and modern digital operations.

• Modern BI & CI/CD: Manage enterprise reporting deployments using Power BI, explicitly leveraging PBIP (Power BI Project) files for version control.

• Web Application Development: Develop and deploy custom, user-friendly WebApps to support business operations, data entry, and interaction with underlying data models.

• Development & Code Management: Utilize modern development environments (VS Code) and AI coding assistants (Cline) alongside GitHub for robust version control of scripts, applications, and data models to ensure code quality.

• Systems Architecture: Work closely with data architects to ensure scalable, secure, and efficient data models that support both analytical and transactional workloads.

• Documentation & Enablement: Document processes, code, data models, and system architectures; provide training and technical support to end-users as new technologies are rolled out.

Required Experience and Skills:  

• Experience: 3+ years in data engineering, software/web development, data science, or a related highly technical role.

• Core Technical Stack: Strong expertise in Python and advanced SQL. Experience building and deploying full-stack or backend-heavy WebApps.

• Data & BI Platforms: Extensive hands-on experience leveraging Databricks and Microsoft Dataverse. Proficiency in Power BI, with specific experience using PBIP for deployment and version control. Broad understanding of enterprise BI software ecosystems.

• Business Analysis: Proven track record of gathering complex requirements from non-technical stakeholders and translating them into actionable, technical roadmaps.

• Agentic AI & Automation: Hands-on experience or demonstrated ability to design AI-assisted or agentic workflows using platforms such as Microsoft Copilot Studio, Vertex AI, Databricks, Power Platform, or comparable enterprise AI platforms. Ability to define agent instructions, tools/actions, knowledge sources, workflow triggers, evaluation criteria, and human-in-the-loop controls.

• AI-Ready Data and Context Engineering: Understanding of how data quality, metadata, semantic consistency, access controls, and contextualized data products enable reliable AI and agentic decision support.

• AI-Assisted Development: Experience using AI coding or development assistants to accelerate software delivery while maintaining human review, code quality, documentation, version control, and secure development practices.

• DevOps & Developer Tools: Proven experience with GitHub for version control and CI/CD pipelines. Highly comfortable working in VS Code and leveraging AI-powered development tools like Cline.

• Analytical Skills: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to tackle complex data challenges and translate them into technical solutions.

• Collaboration & Influence: Demonstrated ability to develop strong, trust-based relationships to drive change and execute priorities with a diverse group of technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills; demonstrated ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to different global professional levels.

• Independence: Independent decision-making abilities with a proactive approach to leading projects and delivering results.

• Familiarity with Biotech, Pharma or other regulated environments.

Education:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent experience required.

This role can be based at any of our locations at West Point, PA, Rahway, NJ or Schachen Switzerland.

Required Skills:

Business Analysis, Business Intelligence Software, Business Operations, Business Process Standardization, Business Support, Change Management, Data Engineering, Data Management, Data Quality Management, Financial Operations, Metrics Reporting, Microsoft Power Business Intelligence (BI), Process Improvements, Quantitative Analytics, Resource 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:

Domestic

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

07/31/2026

*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.