Categories: Pharmaceutical, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Administrative

Job Description

Are you passionate about being the enabling force driving the leaders who are shaping the future of AI in healthcare and enterprise operations? Do you thrive in fast-paced environments where attention to detail, discretion, and strategic foresight are essential? Join our AI, Process Intelligence, Software Engineering, and Human Experience Organization (APEX) within IT as the Executive Administrative Assistant to the Chief AI Officer (CAIO).

In this role, you will serve as the CAIO’s strategic execution partner, owning calendar stewardship, meeting preparation, relationship management, and day-to-day orchestration, while acting as a strategic partner to ensure the CAIO’s time is managed to focus on delivering the organization’s AI vision and priorities. You will leverage Generative and Agentic AI to maximize your effectiveness and lead the evolution of intelligent admin assistant agents, staying at the forefront of AI and agentic capabilities. You will collaborate across the company and with external partners to help the CAIO drive outcomes through disciplined time management, strategic stakeholder engagement, and crisp execution.

Core Responsibilities: Operational Excellence and Executive Support

• Act as the primary point of contact to the CAIO; manage inbound requests with discretion, judgment, and prioritization aligned to strategic objectives.

• Own end-to-end calendar management, ensuring time is allocated strategically to maintain key relationships with company executives and external parties (vendors, industry leaders, academic partners, regulators, standards bodies, ecosystem communities).

• Coordinate complex domestic and international travel, multi-leg itineraries, visa/passport processing, and on-the-ground logistics; develop contingency plans and provide real-time support during travel.

• Process expense reports accurately and promptly; maintain budgets and actuals for all of APEX and reconcile costs for APEX-related initiatives and events.

• Maintain comprehensive records, documents, and knowledge assets; manage executive files and ensure confidentiality.

Strategic Partnership and Time Stewardship

• Understand the CAIO’s strategic vision, annual objectives, and quarterly priorities; ensure the CAIO’s calendar and engagements directly map to strategic goals, OKRs, and key initiatives.

• Partner with the CAIO to triage and prioritize opportunities, requests, and meetings; recommend acceptance/deferral based on impact, readiness, and alignment.

• Build and maintain a strategic relationship map (internal and external) and an engagement plan to ensure regular, purposeful touchpoints with critical stakeholders.

• Prepare the CAIO for each meeting, day, week, and month: agenda framing, stakeholder profiles, recent interactions, decision points, risks/issues, and desired outcomes.

• Coordinate pre-reads, meeting materials, and follow-ups; ensure actions, owners, and timelines are captured and executed.

Meeting, Communication, and AI-Orchestrated Workflows

• Develop and drive operating rhythms: weekly exec one-on-ones, steering committees, vendor reviews, R&D syncs, quarterly business reviews, board updates, and quarterly town halls.

• Partner with APEX/IT Communications to craft, edit, and review e-mails, memos, internal announcements, and external communications; ensure messaging aligns with CAIO strategy and company policies.

• Build agendas and briefing packets; synthesize complex technical inputs (AI/ML strategy, model performance, compliance, risk) into clear, concise executive summaries for the CAIO.

• Track and ensure closure on decisions and action items from meetings; follow through with stakeholders to keep momentum.

• Anticipate and mitigate scheduling conflicts, risks, and reputational considerations; escalate thoughtfully with recommended options.

• Use Generative and Agentic AI (within all approved corporate systems) to draft briefings, summarize pre-reads, generate meeting minutes and action trackers, prioritize tasks, and proactively flag conflicts or dependencies, maintaining appropriate review for accuracy, tone, and compliance.

Program, Process, and Intelligent Agent Enablement

• Establish and maintain executive operating mechanisms (cadences, calendars, dashboards, trackers) to sustain progress across APEX and the CAIO’s portfolio (strategy initiatives, pilots, partnerships, compliance, and adoption).

• Coordinate town halls and leadership strategy/operational sessions & offsites; liaise with Conference Services, Webcast Services, and Communications to deliver high-quality events.

• Support utilization of collaboration platforms and knowledge bases to keep materials organized, searchable, and current across all approved corporate systems.

• Drive continuous improvement in administrative processes across APEX; mentor and align with peer administrative assistants to standardize best practices and build community.

• Lead the evolution of intelligent admin assistant agents: define use cases, author prompts/playbooks, curate context, test and QA agent workflows, measure outcomes, train colleagues, and partner with IT/AI teams to improve reliability and integration with enterprise systems—staying on the forefront of AI and agentic capabilities.

• Coordinate and ensure successful delivery of communications across the company – specifically focused on initiatives like AI Horizons webcast, AI Town Halls, etc..

Stakeholder and Vendor Engagement

• Cultivate enabling relationships with admin assistants and support functions to all company executives, technical leaders, vendors, and external experts; coordinate introductions, demos, and connect sessions aligned with CAIO strategy.

• Support vendor and partner lifecycle activities (NDA routing, scheduling evaluations, tracking milestones, coordinating executive briefings).

• Serve as a trusted representative of the CAIO in coordinating cross-functional work, ensuring professionalism and confidentiality at all times.

Risk, Compliance, and Confidentiality

• Uphold data privacy, security, and compliance expectations in all administrative and AI-enabled activities, including handling sensitive information and regulated content.

• Ensure awareness of and adherence to applicable regulations and internal policies relevant to the role, including GxP where applicable.

Schedule and Availability

• Hybrid role with on-site presence in Rahway, NJ.

• Flexibility to support global stakeholders across time zones.

• Availability after hours as needed and on weekends when the CAIO is traveling or during critical events.

Who You Are
Required Qualifications

• Education: High School Diploma.

• Minimum 8 years of Administrative Assistant experience.

• Minimum 3 years supporting senior executives (VP and above) as an Executive Administrative Assistant.

• Advanced proficiency in MS Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and collaboration tools; ability to create executive-ready materials.

• Experience scheduling complex, multi-leg domestic and international travel; demonstrated experience processing visas/passports.

• SAP or equivalent ERP experience processing expense reports and basic financial tasks.

• Exceptional communication skills to interact effectively with executives and internal/external stakeholders, both onsite and remotely.

• Demonstrated experience using Generative AI tools to draft, summarize, plan, and streamline workflows, with strong judgment on application and review.

• Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced education (associate or bachelor’s degree) or relevant certifications (Certified Administrative Professional, PMP, PHR/SPHR, project coordination).

• Experience in healthcare, life sciences, or enterprise IT; familiarity with AI/ML concepts and terminology to support effective meeting preparation and communication.

• Experience with Agentic AI or workflow automation tools (e.g., copilots, orchestration agents, RPA/IPA platforms); ability to design prompts, templates, and process automations.

• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize simultaneous assignments and manage to deadlines.

• Extraordinary attention to detail; proactive, self-directed, and comfortable making decisions with incomplete information.

• Experience with event planning, executive operating rhythms, and cross-functional coordination.

• Familiarity with all approved corporate systems for collaboration, knowledge management, finance, and vendor management.

• Experience mentoring others on AI-assisted workflows and establishing practical playbooks.

Success Measures

• CAIO calendar reflects strategic priorities and yields measurable progress on quarterly objectives.

• CAIO is well-prepared for all meetings, decisions are documented, and actions are closed on time.

• Visible productivity and quality improvements from AI-assisted workflows, with consistent adherence to company policies and GxP considerations where applicable.

• Adoption and satisfaction with intelligent admin assistant agents across the APEX admin community; documented playbooks and process improvements.

• Stakeholder relationship health indicators improve across internal and external networks.

• Administrative processes are reliable, efficient, and continuously improved.

• Confidentiality, compliance, and professionalism are consistently maintained.

#MSJR

The salary range for this role is:

$98,400 - $155,000

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. 

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Adaptability, Collaboration Tools, Communication Management, Communication Systems, Confidential Data Handling, Database Management, Data Entry, Detail-Oriented, Document Management, Enterprise Systems, Event Planning, Executive Summary, Facility Management, Interpersonal Relationships, Operational Excellence, Prioritization, Process Improvements, Processing Expense Reports, Purchase Order Management, Reporting and Analysis, SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Scheduling, Stakeholder Communications, Stakeholder Engagement {+ 2 more}

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.

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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”.

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:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

02/2/2026

*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.