Senior Data Scientist, Pharmacology

Job Description We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Data Scientist with a background in Pharmacology to join our Quantitative Biosciences team in West Point, PA. In this role, you will be working collaboratively with our local discovery teams and other computational & data science functions to advance therapeutic programs in Immunology, Neuroscience and Infectious Diseases/Vaccines, and to build computational pipelines that make better use of the data we generate. If you are data‑focused, energetic, and looking to further develop your career in data science and drug discovery, we'd love for you to be part of our diverse and passionate team. In this role you will: Work with department pharmacologists to design statistically sound experiments and critically analyze and interpret the data from these experiments to ensure the success of discovery programs in Immunology, Neuroscience and Infectious Diseases/Vaccines. Help develop novel data pipelines that move, integrate and analyze diverse sources of biological data that aid in the identification of targets, profiling of therapeutic candidates or improving the chances of translation (e.g., cellular images, flow cytometry, multi‑omics, deep profiling). Identify, develop and implement data visualization approaches that help drive decision making on program teams and manage resources for the department. Help wrangle and analyze unstructured and structured data that will drive new translational strategies for the company. Participate in the development and implementation of active learning‑based approaches to drug discovery. Work with automation engineers and laboratory scientists to develop the infrastructure to collect and move data off of lab‑based instrumentation to help facilitate downstream analyses including those implementing AI/ML methodologies. Identify, validate, and integrate new technologies or methodologies to increase efficiency and productivity, drive program progression, and facilitate clinical translation of discovery programs. Collaborate across the network to help guide the data transformation process and build data science infrastructure. Effectively communicate data analyses and computational strategies to stakeholders and management. Democratize computational approaches and upskill lab‑based scientists to become more data science savvy. The ideal candidate will have experience working directly with experimentalists to design and interpret pharmacology experiments. This role is ideal for someone with a background in both experimental and computational lab work. Qualifications: Education: Master's (with 3 years) or Ph.D. in Biology, Pharmacology, Data Science, Biostatistics, Computational Biology/Chemistry or other related life sciences field and relevant experience in modeling, analyzing and visualizing pharmacology data. Required Experience and Skills: A background in pharmacology‑based modeling, statistics and machine learning. A deep understanding of preclinical pharmacology experiments, and how to design and interpret statistically sound experiments that will help drive pipeline decisions. Experience with integrating and analyzing multiple pharmacology‑relevant data types, e.g. cellular imaging, transcriptomic, chemical structure‑activity data. A robust understanding of drug discovery and clinical development and how pharmacology/PKPD data is used to derisk programs and optimize therapeutic effect. The ability to communicate effectively with and relate to a broad range of stakeholders, including senior leaders, peers, direct reports, partner organizations and external collaborators. A passion for innovation and problem‑solving. Required Skills: Biomedical Sciences Biopharmaceutics Biostatistics Cell Physiology Clinical Immunology Computational Biology Computational Chemistry Computer Science Cytometry Data Analysis Database Systems Data Science Data Wrangling Drug Discovery Process Drug Discovery Research Immunochemistry Life Science Machine Learning Pharmacokinetics Pharmacology Pharmacotherapeutics Stakeholder Relationship Management 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. 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: Yes Travel Requirements: 10% Flexible Work Arrangements: Not Applicable Shift: Not Indicated Valid Driving License: No Hazardous Material(s): n/a Job Posting End Date: 12/30/2025 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. 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. #J-18808-Ljbffr