Job Description

Our internal and external customers depend on the Asset Management Engineering and Maintenance Teams to keep product supply flowing!  With our broad range of facilities, processes, and environments; our engineers must become versed in many fields, including: Biological, Chemical, Automation, Capital Projects, Maintenance, Safety, Process Development, Technical Services, Utilities and Validation.  The Associate Specialist, Project Engineer will fill an important development role in supporting complex capital projects, asset performance tracking, document package robustness, project communication, and consistent project management.  The Associate Specialist, Project Engineering will professionalize the team’s operation, and ensure we are meeting our commitments as a team to improve our fidelity in the delivery of our asset management services.

Summary, Focus and Purpose

The Associate Specialist, Project Engineer position is responsible for standardizing project management turn over practices, tools, and reporting that is submitted by Capital Project Managers within the team. The Project Engineer will also facilitate and centrally track the turn over, handling, and processing of project documentation of all kinds in all formats to ensure compliant, available record retention. The Project Engineer will support Commissioning and Qualification by ensuring contractors and engineers have provided as-built information, have completed testing, and have followed through on punch list responsibilities. The Project Engineer will become proficient in multiple reporting tools such as Power BI, Spotfire, Aera, Historian, Microsoft Reports, and others.  The ability to command these tools, to teach others, and to better communicate financial, safety, quality, efficiency, and energy consumption performance will set out team apart, and will drive us toward our vision of world class asset management.

This is an entry level engineering role that will be rapidly exposed to many levels of responsibility, broad technology, vast data sources, and high performing professionals at all levels. 

Key Functions

Delivery

• Capital Management

• • Support project managers in developing standard schedules

  • Support project managers in developing document trace matrices

  • Support project managers in field walkdowns for drawing/specification compliance

  • Support project managers in pre-start safety and environmental reviews

  • Support project managers in project task tracking (MOC, Change Control)

• Department Financials

• • Build and maintain cost tracking tools (Power BI or Spotfire) for expense and capital performance against world class performance metrics.

  • Build and distribute sub-team performance tracking reports to allow work level decision making.

• Compliance

• • Work with Maintenance and Engineering to develop training and skill assessments.

  • Provide close support for all audits.

  • Track document revision status for the department (SOPs, LOTO, JHAs, etc) and support assigned resources in completion as necessary to be successful.

• Project Management

• • Run small capital and expense projects as assigned ($150K in total per year max).

Compliance

• Complete all training on time and in full.

• Fully adhere to all safety, environmental, quality, and other requirements.

• Be a model for department expectations.

• Manage and implement department CAPAs and Change Controls.

Cost

• Drive extreme cost ownership within the department by creating, maintaining, and distributing work level cost reporting.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering required (Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical, or Biological Systems preferred)

Required Experience | Knowledge | Skills

• One (1)+ year of experience providing technical/development support in the biopharma industry.

• Exposure to and understanding of cGMPs and of regulatory requirements as they apply to the vaccine/pharmaceutical industry

• Technical writing experience with investigations, change requests, standard operating procedures, batch records, protocols, etc.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, as a team member, and as a small team leader.

• Good interpersonal skills with ability to influence and support others through a culture of inclusion, feedback, and empowerment.

• Willing to work irregular hours on occasion to support multi-shift operation on an extended or as needed basis.

• Ability to access mechanical and equipment platforms by ladder and stair for document / installation confirmation walkdown. 

• Ability to work at a computer station for a majority of working hours.

• Must be able to use AI productively, but not rely on it to communicate with others.

  

Preferred Experience | Knowledge | Skill

• Experience with LOTO.

• PM development experience.

• System walkdown experience.

• Ability to perform mechanical and electrical sizing confirmation mathematics.

Required Skills:

• Adaptability

• Analytical Instrumentation

• Automation Systems

• Bioprocessing, Capital Projects

• cGMP Compliance

• Change Control Processes

• Change Request Management

• Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)

• Continuous Process Improvement, Data Analysis, Detail-Oriented

• Electrical Systems, Global Manufacturing

• Lean Manufacturing

• Lean Product Development, Maintenance Supervision

• Mechanical Systems, Organizational Change Management

• Pharmaceutical Packaging

• Process Control

• Regulatory Compliance

• Regulatory Inspections

• SAP Manufacturing Execution (SAP ME)

Required Skills:

Accountability, Adaptability, Biopharmaceutical Operations, CAD Proficiency, Communication, Data Analysis, Engineering Principle, Engineering Standards, Estimation and Planning, Experimentation, Management Process, Process Optimization, Professional Engineering, Project Management, Software Proficiency, Teamwork, Technical Communication, Technical Problem-Solving

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:

EEOC Know Your Rights

EEOC GINA Supplement​

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

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 salary range for this role is

$71,900.00 - $113,200.00

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:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

01/30/2026

*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.

Requisition ID:R379447