Associate Director, ESG Strategic Reporting and Impact

The role of Associate Director, ESG Strategic Reporting & Impact is an unique opportunity to join our company as a key contributor to the company’s sustainability reporting efforts, helping to achieve greater environmental, social, and governance (ESG) transparency and disclosure.

The candidate selected for this role will work under the guidance of the Director, ESG Strategic Reporting in a fast-paced and changing environment.

The ESG Strategy & Engagement team is part of our Company’s Social Business Innovation (SBI) department within Corporate Affairs. In addition to ESG, SBI includes teams focused on health equity, global impact giving, and community engagement. The ESG team works closely with these groups as well as with senior leaders and partners in the business, including Finance, Risk Management, Corporate Strategy, Legal, Treasury, Investor Relations, and others on a day-to-day basis.

The role will serve as a key member of a high-performing ESG team, focusing on the company’s commitment to operating responsibly to enable a safe, sustainable and healthy future for people and communities everywhere.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Manage the ESG report and disclosure processes end-to-end, orchestrating efforts across a cross-functional team of subject matter experts to collect and share data about the Company’s ESG actions; verifying report metrics; collecting, editing and summarizing content; and driving report promotion and distribution.
• Drive the internal collection of accurate ESG-related data including data validation and assurance processes within critical timelines; manage the ESG reporting platform and metrics database.
• Partner with the ESG Controller and Audit/Assurance and other functional areas to regularly review and strengthen internal controls for ESG reporting.
• Effectively develop teams of internal stakeholders, outside partners, consultants and vendors toward outcomes and results as well as train on ESG data reporting requirements and standard operating procedures.
• Develop and maintain performance dashboards, tools, databases, and other tracking mechanisms to evaluate, track, and report implementation and progress against the company’s ESG goals and key stakeholder requirements and relationships.
• Coordinate the company’s financial planning for ESG, sustainability, and related projects.
• Respond to external sustainability requests and surveys, track company performance, and help to identify opportunities to enhance scores by developing expertise in ratings methodologies.
• Support initiatives and workstreams to improve ESG-related reporting processes and tools.
• Ensure full alignment to established ESG reporting frameworks, including GRI, SASB, UNGC, UN SDGs.
• Lead and manage responses to key ESG surveys (e.g., MSCI, Sustainalytics, FTSE4Good), understand the ratings drivers, and maintain industry peer comparisons.
• Manage for the ongoing development, maintenance, and leveraging of the company’s ESG website content to ensure the best user experience.
• Support ongoing ESG investor engagement by preparing materials for calls/events and maintaining an engagement tracking system.
• Bring company recognition and drive reputation by identifying, participating in, and applying for awards, surveys and rankings that focus on the company’s ESG initiatives; leverage award and recognition opportunities to internally advocate for business change that will enhance the impact of the company’s commitments.
• Communicate the organization’s ESG performance to internal and external stakeholders through presentations, reports, and other communication materials.

Minimum required education:

• High school diploma or equivalent; BA/BS degree preferred.

Required Experience and Skills:

• Minimum of 3-5 years of relevant experience in Corporate ESG (Sustainability) preferably with a range of experience across different functions and/or businesses.
• Strong understanding of ESG reporting, sustainability practices, and the relevant regulations and standards.
• Proficiency with ESG reporting frameworks such as GRI, SASB, UNGC, UN SDGs.
• Ability to effectively manage responses to key ESG surveys (e.g., MSCI, Sustainalytics, FTSE4Good), understand the ratings drivers, and maintain industry peer comparisons etc.
• Superior Research & Analytical skills.
• Excellent writing and verbal presentation skills, with the ability to distill and communicate complex details and data into consumable insights.
• Proven project management skills and the ability to juggle multiple tasks & competing priorities while working effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Ability to operate in a high volume, time pressured environment while maintaining a positive focus.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Experience working in the pharmaceutical industry or a related industry (hospital, public health, etc.)
• Agency management experience in marketing, communications, public relations, or corporate responsibility
• Budget and KPI management

Position Location:

Rahway, New Jersey (Hybrid model with balance of remote and in-person working days)

Our Support Functions deliver services and make recommendations about ways to enhance our workplace and the culture of our organization. Our Support Functions include HR, Finance, Information Technology, Legal, Procurement, Administration, Facilities and Security.

Who we are…

We are known as Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA in the United States and Canada and MSD everywhere else. For more than a century, we have been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases. Today, our company continues to be at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions and advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and animals around the world.

What we look for…

Imagine getting up in the morning for a job as important as helping to save and improve lives around the world. Here, you have that opportunity. You can put your empathy, creativity, digital mastery, or scientific genius to work in collaboration with a diverse group of colleagues who pursue and bring hope to countless people who are battling some of the most challenging diseases of our time. Our team is constantly evolving, so if you are among the intellectually curious, join us—and start making your impact today.

To Apply

Please visit the Merck & Co., Inc. careers website.