Job DescriptionThe Director, AI Discoverability & Evidence Architecture, within the Digital Marketing & Channels organization, will define the strategy and lead capability development and execution across AI Search Readiness, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), LLM as a Customer, and Evidence Architecture.
Working across Medical, Commercial, Corporate Communications, and Digital Human Health, this leader will build new enterprise capabilities that strengthen our Company's authority, visibility, and narrative accuracy in AI-generated experiences, ensuring that patients, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders receive trusted, scientifically grounded information in an increasingly AI-mediated healthcare landscape.
Key ResponsibilitiesEnterprise Strategy & Capability Leadership:- Define our Company's long-term AI Discoverability and AI Search Readiness strategy.
- Establish the vision, roadmap, governance model, and investment strategy for GEO and AI Discoverability capabilities.
- Lead evolution of Project Oak and LLM as a Customer initiative into sustainable enterprise services.
- Develop and maintain a multi-year roadmap aligned to business priorities and AI acceleration objectives.
AI Search Readiness:- Establish repeatable frameworks for assessing AI discoverability opportunities, evidence gaps, narrative vulnerabilities, and competitive risks across pipeline and inline brands.
- Lead AI Search Readiness assessments, strategic recommendations, activation roadmaps, and remediation planning for priority brands and therapeutic areas.
- Integrate AI Search Readiness into relevant launch, evidence, content, brand, and digital experience planning processes.
- Develop scalable service models, playbooks, and engagement approaches that enable adoption across brands, functions, and markets.
Evidence Architecture & Ontology Strategy:- Define approaches for evidence architecture, language architecture, ontology design, and machine-readable content standards.
- Drive creation of reusable authority hubs, narrative frameworks, taxonomy standards, and metadata structures supporting AI retrieval.
- Partner with Medical, Corporate Communications, and Commercial organizations to align evidence planning with AI discovery requirements.
- Shape business and technical requirements for the platforms, content models, data structures, and digital experiences needed to improve machine understanding.
AI Visibility & Measurement:- Build enterprise capabilities for monitoring AI visibility, citation quality, narrative accuracy, authority signals, and competitive positioning.
- Establish ongoing monitoring, assessment, remediation, and governance processes.
- Lead evaluation and implementation of AI visibility and GEO measurement platforms.
Team Leadership & Organizational Development:- Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing team across strategy, ontology, evidence architecture, technical discoverability, GEO operations, and insights.
- Lead a distributed, high-performing team across strategy and brand engagement, technical discoverability, and monitoring and insights operations.
- Define capability requirements and workforce strategies needed to scale AI Discoverability globally.
- Develop new centers of excellence and communities of practice focused on AI-mediated discovery.
- Establish partnerships with external experts, agencies, platforms, and emerging AI ecosystem providers.
QualificationsRequired:
- Bachelor's degree (BA/BS).
- 10+ years leading enterprise digital, product, content, search, AI, analytics, or customer experience initiatives.
- Experience translating rapidly evolving technologies into business strategies, investment roadmaps, scalable services, and measurable outcomes.
- Proven ability to lead through influence in highly matrixed environments spanning business, medical, communications, data, technology, digital, and governance functions.
- Systems thinking across people, process, technology, and partner ecosystems
- Strong technical foundation in AI/ML, including GenAI and agentic AI concepts, with the ability to understand capabilities, constraints, and practical application within enterprise workflows
- Strong strategic communication, storytelling, and change leadership skills.
Preferred:
- Experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, or life sciences industry.
- Experience working in a regulated environment with medical, legal, regulatory, privacy, security, and compliance considerations.
- Experience with AI-mediated discovery, generative search, GEO, SEO, semantic search, knowledge graphs, ontologies, structured content, metadata, or evidence architecture.
Required Skills: Architecture Governance, Architecture Governance, Asset Management, Benefits Management, Business Architecture, Business Decisions, Business Workflow Analysis, Computer Science, Goal Setting, Influencing Skills, Machine Learning (ML), Management System Development, Organizational Leadership, Partner Ecosystem Strategy, Platform Development, Product Management, Product Roadmap, Requirements Management, Situational Leadership, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Strategic Objectives, Strategic Planning, System Designs, Systems Thinking, Team Development {+ 2 more}
Preferred Skills: Current Employees apply HERE
Current Contingent Workers apply HERE
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:25%
Flexible Work Arrangements:Hybrid
Shift:Not Indicated
Valid Driving License:No
Hazardous Material(s):n/a
Job Posting End Date:10/16/2026
*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. 
