Associate Director of Architecture

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An opportunity to influence front-end design, set architectural standards, and deliver projects with real business impact. A globally visible role with the opportunity to make a direct impact on delivering innovative products that help improve and save lives, advancing health and well-being for people and animals worldwide. Benefits depend on the job location but are in any case very competitive.

Job Description

Bring your architectural expertise to high-impact global capital projects and help turn business needs into innovative, compliant facility solutions worldwide.

For our Global Engineering Solutions organization, we are currently recruiting an Associate Director of Architecture

· Partner with internal clients and stakeholders to define business needs and translate them into facility design solutions.

· Lead front-end planning activities, including site selection, facility programming, and facility options development.

· Develop architectural scope, conceptual layouts, and preliminary facility concepts for capital projects.

· Evaluate facility layout options, capital phasing approaches, and design alternatives based on business priorities and critical success factors.

· Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support decision-making and convergence on preferred solutions.

· Work with external EPCM firms, engineering partners, and vendors to progress design deliverables.

· Ensure facility designs meet internal requirements, cGMP principles, safety expectations, and industry best practices.

· Own, develop, author, and maintain architectural engineering standards, guidelines, and design documents.

· Create and review process, people, and material flow diagrams as they relate to facility design.

· Develop master planning and site selection analyses for new or existing facilities.

· Support modular building and lean facility design strategies, including creation of center-of-excellence practices.

· Conduct peer reviews and provide subject matter expertise across multiple projects.

· Participate in constructability reviews, equipment selection, and pre-charter planning activities.

· Maintain knowledge of internal practices, regulatory expectations, and industry trends.

· Collaborate with Quality, Safety, Regulatory, Operations, and Production System teams to integrate requirements into designs.

· Support field walk-downs during construction, troubleshooting, and active project execution.

· Mentor and coach junior engineers, providing technical guidance and oversight.

· Support existing operations with troubleshooting, investigations, and remediation as needed.

· Manage work within cost, schedule, and departmental constraints.

· Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, or a related scientific discipline.

· Minimum 10 years of relevant industry experience.

· Proven experience in GMP facility design for biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities or laboratories.

· Strong knowledge of manufacturing facility design, engineering fundamentals, regulatory requirements, and construction methods.

· Experience leading architectural design for capital projects in manufacturing and laboratory environments.

· Proficiency in AutoCAD and other 2D/3D design tools, with the ability to produce facility layout deliverables.

· Strong working knowledge of building codes, construction materials, and building systems, including MEP integration.

· Experience with master planning and site selection analysis for new or existing facilities.

· Knowledge of GMP-regulated facility design, including segregation strategies, clean space classification, and hygienic zoning.

· Strong communication, interpersonal, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to work effectively in ambiguous environments and support capital projects through business case development.

· Ability to produce drawing deliverables, project specifications, URS documents, and design reports.

· Able to spend 2 - 3 days a week on one of the locations mentioned above and willing and able to travel around 30 % of your time (worldwide).

Please send an email including the vacancy number and job title to the following email address: RecruitmentNL@MSD.com

Applications can only be submitted through our career site.

Architectural Design, AutoCAD Engineering, Change Management, Clinical Manufacturing, Constructability Reviews, Construction Bidding, Cost Controls, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Design Development, Design Management, Design Principles, Drug Product Manufacturing, Engineering Management, Facility Design, Facility Engineering, GMP Compliance, Project Development, Regulatory Compliance, Results-Oriented

Regular

Hybrid

11/5/2026