{"id":2159823,"url":"https://alion.io/job/merck-co-assoc-dir-fin-planning-analysis","title":"Assoc. Dir., Fin. Planning & Analysis","company":{"id":3768,"name":"Merck & Co.","domain":"msd.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/msd","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":100,"open_postings":268,"ghost_share":0.015,"stale_share":0.06,"repost_share":0.082,"time_to_fill_p50_days":12,"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"}},"role":"Finance","role_family":"Finance","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Macquarie Park, Australia"],"countries":["AU"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":72000,"max_usd":133000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":14},"experience_years_min":7,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Master Data Management","optional":false},{"name":"Microsoft Excel","optional":false},{"name":"Power BI","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-09T07:58:14Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-09","last_verified_at":"2026-10-21T11:54:14Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":12,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":12},"description":"Job Description\nPosition Summary\nThe APSA Regional Manufacturing Finance Lead serves as the primary finance business partner to the regional manufacturing organization, providing strategic financial leadership across Animal Health Technology Solutions Manufacturing sites in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and China. This role leads a geographically dispersed team of site finance professionals and is accountable for driving financial performance, supporting strategic investments, optimizing manufacturing network efficiency, strengthening working capital and inventory management, and delivering sustainable productivity improvements aligned with long-term business objectives.\nBeyond operational finance leadership, the role strengthens ecosystem stability and advances continuous improvement in master data management, process harmonization, and digital capabilities across the manufacturing network.\nWorking closely with Site, Regional, and Global Manufacturing Leadership Teams, Regional Commercial Leadership, Global Strategy, Supply Chain, Procurement, Technical Operations, and Global Manufacturing Finance, this role provides data-driven insights, proactively manages risks and opportunities, supports critical business decisions, and ensures strong financial stewardship, spending discipline, and alignment with company policies and financial controls across the APSA manufacturing network.\nLocation: Flexible within the APSA region, with the ability to support time zones across New Zealand and South Africa and collaborate effectively with US and European teams as required.\nNumber of Assigned Employees: 3\nKey Responsibilities (including but not limited to)\nStrategic Business Partnering\nAct as the primary finance partner to Regional Manufacturing Leadership Team.\nProvide financial insights to support strategic manufacturing decisions, network optimization, capacity planning, product sourcing, localization, and site expansion initiatives.\nInfluence business decisions through data-driven analysis, scenario modeling, and clear financial recommendations.\nDrive standardization and digitalization of manufacturing finance processes across sites.\nFinancial Planning & Analysis\nLead annual budget, rolling forecast, and long-range planning processes for regional manufacturing operations.\nAnalyze operational performance and key cost drivers to support transparent business reviews.\nDrive manufacturing cost control by monitoring factory expenses, challenging cost assumptions, and partnering with site teams to improve spending discipline and cost efficiency.\nIdentify risks and opportunities and recommend practical mitigation actions.\nDeliver timely, accurate, and insightful regional management reporting and site-level financial reviews on monthly basis.\nManufacturing Performance Management\nMonitor manufacturing KPIs and financial metrics across the regional site network.\nDrive accountability through performance reviews, action tracking, and follow-up with site teams.\nSupport site productivity and continuous improvement initiatives.\nCosting & Inventory Management\nOversee standard costing and inventory valuation processes in partnership with COSI and site finance.\nPartner with operations and supply chain teams to improve inventory health and working capital performance.\nSupport product cost accuracy and productivity review.\nCapital Investment & Business Cases\nEvaluate capital expenditure projects and manufacturing investments.\nDevelop robust financial models and investment business cases.\nAssess return on investment, financial value creation, and strategic alignment of key initiatives.\nSupport post-investment performance monitoring and benefit tracking.\nTeam Leadership\nLead and develop a high-performing regional manufacturing finance team.\nFoster a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous learning.\nCoach and mentor finance professionals to strengthen business partnering capabilities.\nBuild strong relationships with site finance teams and regional stakeholders.\nQualifications\nEducation\nBachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field.\nCPA, CMA, ACCA, or MBA preferred.\nExperience\n7+ years of progressive finance experience, preferably in a regional, manufacturing, or multi-site environment.\nProven leadership experience managing regional teams or multi-site organizations\nDemonstrated experience partnering with stakeholders across other organizations\nPlanning / forecasting and accounting experience required\nPreference for experience in manufacturing finance, FP&A, cost accounting, or plant controllership.\nPharmaceutical, Animal Health or Technology Manufacturing industry experience preferred.\nTechnical Competencies\nFinancial planning, forecasting, and management reporting.\nCapital investment evaluation and business case development.\nERP systems experience, ideally SAP\nProductivity, cost optimization, and working capital analysis preferred.\nManufacturing costing and inventory accounting preferred\nAdvanced Excel, Power BI, and financial modeling skills preferred.\nLeadership Competencies\nStrategic thinking and sound business judgment.\nExecutive-level communication and stakeholder management.\nBusiness partnering, influencing, and cross-functional collaboration.\nTalent development and team coaching.\nChange leadership and continuous improvement mindset.\nCollaboration across functions, cultures, and geographies.\nStrong ownership, accountability, and commitment to high-quality execution.\nTravel Required: Approximately 10%, based on business needs.\nRequired Skills:\nAchieving Objectives, Commercial Banking Relationship Management, Economic Research, Economic Studies, Financial Analysis, Financial Modeling, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), People Leadership, Planning Budgeting And Forecasting (PBF), Preparation of Financial Reports, Professional Guidance, Profit and Loss (P&L) Analysis, Tax Compliance, Trend AnalysisPreferred Skills:\nCurrent Employees apply HERE\nCurrent Contingent Workers apply HERE\nSearch Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully\nMerck & 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.\nEmployee Status:\nRegularRelocation:\nVISA Sponsorship:\nTravel Requirements:\nFlexible Work Arrangements:\nHybridShift:\nValid Driving License:\nHazardous Material(s):\nJob Posting End Date:\n10/21/2026*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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7111,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":7,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Continuous learning","Flexible schedule"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"Australia","iso":"AU","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Financial Services","Health Care","Veterinary Medicine","Biologics & Biosimilars"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-09T07:58:14Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":58,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.774,"p_room":0.75,"age_days":11,"expected_fill_days":12,"reasons":["conf:0","velocity","win:late","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/merck-co-assoc-dir-fin-planning-analysis","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/merck-co-assoc-dir-fin-planning-analysis.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-21T15:16:26Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":21807,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-22T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3768},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3768"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fmerck-co-assoc-dir-fin-planning-analysis"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fmerck-co-assoc-dir-fin-planning-analysis"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fmerck-co-assoc-dir-fin-planning-analysis"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/merck-co-assoc-dir-fin-planning-analysis\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fmerck-co-assoc-dir-fin-planning-analysis"}]}