2026 Future Talent Program – Co-Op

Job Description

The Future Talent Program features Cooperative (Co-op) education that lasts up to 6 months and will include one or more projects. These opportunities in our Research Division can provide you with great development and a chance to see if we are the right company for your long-term goals.

We are seeking a co-op to join our Data Rich Experimentation (DRE) organization within Process Research & Developing Enabling Technologies (PR&D ET) located in either Rahway, NJ or West Point, PA.

Primary Responsibilities:

In this role, the chosen candidate will work with a team of scientists tasked with identifying, developing, and deploying data-rich technologies aimed at improving the manner in which process understanding is gathered. The tools that we develop are as diverse as the team developing them, and in this co-op role, the chosen candidate will leverage data-dense scientific approaches to enable our process research and development efforts across our Company's small molecule, biologics, and vaccines portfolio.

Our DRE organization is responsible for the invention and application of new data-rich and digital tools to support the scientists across process research and development at our Company. We aspire to embed data-intensive technologies into the fabric of our Company's process development culture. This co-op role is a scientific position tasked with helping solve complex process research and development challenges in an interdisciplinary, collaborative environment via invention, development, and application of cutting-edge tools. Our current areas of interest include high-throughput experimentation, bench-top automation, process modeling and simulation, kinetics and mechanism elucidation, process analytical technologies (PAT), machine learning and data science, digital tools, catalyst and ligand screening, and other process enabling technologies. Ultimately, using data-rich and digitally-fluent methodologies, we aim to elucidate a deeper understanding of our processes across diverse medicines and vaccines.

In addition to a passion for data-rich experimentation, the chosen candidate should have excellent interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills. The chosen candidate should embrace and model our core values of diversity and inclusion, including fostering a supportive culture where all can thrive. The chosen candidate should be able to effectively collaborate in a dynamic, integrated, and multidisciplinary team environment.

The chosen candidate should demonstrate a clear ability to learn and perform scientific research in a team-oriented manner that builds trusted partnerships across vast stakeholder networks. The chosen candidate should have willingness to learn how to publish and present research, including interacting with the broader academic community. The chosen candidate will join a diverse group of scientific problem solvers who are dedicated to creating the life-changing medicines and vaccines of tomorrow.

Education Minimum Requirement:

• Must be currently enrolled in a BS, MS, or PhD program in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Engineering, Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a closely-related field and will be returning to school after completion of the co-op.

• Must be authorized to work in the United States

• Must have availability to complete a 4-6 month full-time co-op experience at our Company (start dates are flexible).

Required Experience and Skills:

• Candidate must be a highly-motivated and technology-centric scientist.

• Candidate must be passionate about modernizing our Company's process development practices across biologics, vaccines, and small molecule modalities.

• Candidate must have the ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team environment.

• Candidate must have the ability to learn new skills and technologies under compressed timelines.

• Candidate must have the ability to work in a team environment with cross-functional interactions.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Candidate should be motivated to learn new skills, willingness to take on new challenges, and scientific curiosity.

• Candidate should have experience demonstrating scientific ability through publications and presentations in scientific conferences.

• Candidate should have excellent communication skills, demonstrated creativity, and effective interpersonal skills.

• Candidate should have the ability to deliver complex solutions in a dynamic environment.

• Candidate should have collaborative research efforts that are praised by the broader scientific community and are exemplary of a multidisciplinary group.

• Candidate should have evidence of cross-functional collaboration.

Please note that this position may be closed before the posted end date or may remain open longer, at the discretion of the company.

Salary range:

The salary range for this role is $39,600.00-$105,500.00 USD

FTP2026

RL2026

PRD

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

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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:

Intern/Co-op (Fixed Term)

Relocation:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

No Travel Required

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Required Skills:

 Preferred Skills:

Job Posting End Date:

11/3/2025

*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.