Job Description
The Director, AI Innovation Studios leads a small, high-impact team of consultants, analysts, and facilitators that drives discovery and early incubation of AI opportunities across the enterprise. This is a hands-on director-level role that combines client-facing consulting and workshop facilitation with people leadership, operational ownership of a studio team, and accountability for moving well-scoped opportunities into rapid proofs-of-concept (PoCs), proto@types, and handoff to Product or Delivery teams. The Director will translate business challenges into measurable AI use cases, create compelling business cases and success criteria, and ensure rigorous, ethical, and outcome-focused execution across discovery and early delivery phases.
Key responsibilities
Practice leadership & strategy
Contribute to the vision and operating model for the AI Innovation Studios aligned to APEX/Compass priorities and the Chief AI Officer's strategy.
Define Studio methodologies, templates, toolkits, intake and prioritization criteria, and measurable success metrics for discovery engagements and rapid PoCs.
Maintain relationships with adjacent APEX functions (Product Management, Portfolio Management, Engagement, Process Intelligence, Data Science/AI engineering) to enable efficient handoffs and access to technical expertise.
Team leadership & talent development
Lead, coach, and grow a compact team of 5-7 full-time consultants, analysts, and facilitators - all direct reports - cultivating a high-trust, collaborative, and delivery-focused culture.
Hire, develop, and retain Studio practitioners; run performance management, career development, and workforce planning for the team.
Balance hands-on participation in engagements with enabling team members to lead discovery and PoC work autonomously.
Client engagement & discovery
Serve as primary consultant for high-priority discovery engagements with business-area leaders and Divisional IT leads: design and run opportunity identification workshops, rapid discovery sprints, process & data analysis, stakeholder alignment sessions, and ideation activities.
Translate workshop outputs into clearly scoped opportunity assessments: problem statement, proposed AI approach, expected benefits, cost/effort estimate, success criteria and risks.
Act as a trusted advisor to divisional partners, ensuring Studios' engagements shift thinking from "possible" to "actionable."
Rapid prototyping & PoC oversight
Own initiation and oversight of rapid PoCs and proto@types generated from discovery: set hypotheses, define acceptance criteria, coordinate technical resources, and monitor progress against timelines and outcomes.
Ensure PoCs produce measurable evidence (metrics, demos, validated assumptions) to support go/no-go decisions and handoff to Product/Delivery.
Partner with Product Management and Delivery to create clear transition plans, technical readiness checklists, and business case updates.
Governance, prioritization & portfolio alignment
Operate within Compass' portfolio governance and prioritization frameworks: triage incoming Studio requests, recommend investment and sequencing decisions, and ensure alignment to enterprise priorities and capacity.
Track and report Studio pipeline health, conversion rates, time-to-PoC, ROI estimates, and stakeholder satisfaction to the ED of AI Compass and other executive stakeholders.
Ethics, risk & adoption
Embed best practices for safe, ethical, equitable, and regulatory-compliant AI in all discovery and PoC activities.
Identify adoption risks and change-management needs early; help create stakeholder engagement plans, success criteria, and measures to accelerate adoption and value realization.
Methods, tools & partnerships
Lead use of a broad array of discovery tools and workshop methods (design thinking, business analysis, process mapping, prioritization frameworks, Miro/MURAL, etc.).
Coordinate with internal APEX subject-matter experts (process intelligence, data science, ML engineers, security, privacy, legal) and manage occasional engagement of external partners/vendors for specialized capabilities.
Success metrics
Number of qualified AI opportunities identified per quarter and per business area.
Pipeline conversion rate: % of discovery engagements that progress to funded PoC or product incubation.
Time-to-PoC: median time from intake to PoC kickoff.
Handoff conversion rate: % of PoCs that transition to Product/Delivery with clear business cases.
Average (and aggregate) estimated ROI or value of opportunities advanced.
Stakeholder satisfaction and trust (partner NPS or equivalent).
Team health indicators: retention, competency growth, and utilization.
Required qualifications & skills
Bachelor's degree in math, computer science or related field.
8+ years of professional experience in consulting, strategy, product discovery, business analysis, or related roles; experience leading teams and client engagements.
Demonstrated track record (3+ years preferred) of discovering, scoping, or delivering AI, automation, or advanced analytics initiatives with measurable business outcomes.
Strong facilitation and consulting skills: proven ability to design and lead workshops, stakeholder interviews, ideation sessions, and executive briefings.
Excellent business acumen and financial literacy: ability to build credible business cases, ROI estimates, and value hypotheses.
Strong people leadership skills with experience managing and developing individual contributors in a hybrid, distributed environment.
Exceptional communication skills: translate complex AI concepts into actionable business language, and craft concise, persuasive artifacts for executives.
Experience with discovery-to-PoC processes and working closely with product managers, data scientists, ML engineers, and delivery teams.
Familiarity with ethical, regulatory, and governance considerations for AI deployments.
Preferred qualifications
Experience in life sciences, healthcare, or regulated industries.
Prior consulting experience (management consulting or internal strategy/innovation practices).
Hands-on technical familiarity with ML/AI concepts and prototyping approaches (data exploration, simple model prototyping, prompt engineering, or working with ML/LLM teams).
Experience operating within enterprise portfolio governance and prioritization frameworks.
Organizational @context & operating expectations
This Director will report to the Executive Director, AI Compass and will partner regularly with Product Management, Portfolio Management, Engagement, Delivery, Security & Privacy, and divisional IT leads.
The role is expected to be both strategically minded and operationally grounded: roughly balancing enabling/mentoring the team and personally leading high-priority engagements.
All team members are U.S.-based and work in a hybrid model; in-person travel to business locations is expected as required (up to 75%).
Required Skills:
Accountability, Business Analysis, Business Case Development, Client Counseling, Communication, Design Thinking, Distributed Systems, Emerging Technologies, Financial Decision Making, Identifying Opportunities, Leadership, Management Consulting, Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT), Portfolio Management, Prioritization, Product Management, Prototyping, Requirements Management, Solution Architecture, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Technical Advice, Transition Management, User Experience (UX) Design, Waterfall Model
Preferred Skills:
Current Employees apply HERE (https://wd5.myworkday.com/msd/d/task/1422$6687.htmld)
Current Contingent Workers apply HERE (https://wd5.myworkday.com/msd/d/task/1422$4020.htmld)
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 (https://survey.sogosurvey.com/r/aCdfqL) 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 (https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/22-088\EEOC\KnowYourRights\10\20.pdf)
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 (https://www.msdprivacy.com/us/en/CCPA-notice/)
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
$169,700.00 - $267,200.00
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:
Remote
Shift:
1st - Day
Valid Driving License:
No
Hazardous Material(s):
N/a
Job Posting End Date:
12/6/2025
*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.
Requisition ID: R373031
