Senior Specialist, Customer Success

Job Description

Role Overview

The APEX Engagement Lead - Senior Specialist plays a key role in connecting business and IT stakeholders with the capabilities of APEX (AI, Process Mining, Software Engineering, and User Experience Design). This role focuses on turning strong relationships into concrete opportunities, driving awareness and understanding of APEX technologies and helping divisions navigate the APEX demand intake process.

This is a highly visible, hands-on role with significant room for creativity and experimentation. The Engagement Lead will build and grow relationships with senior stakeholders (up to VP level), and help shape a high-quality pipeline of opportunities into APEX. It is an excellent developmental role for someone who wants to deepen their experience with AI and advanced digital technologies, gain exposure to senior leaders, and work with a high degree of independence.

The role reports to the Associate Director, APEX Engagement. The Engagement team is part of AI Compass - a suborganization of APEX consisting of Engagement, Portfolio, AI Innovation Studios & Product.

Key Responsibilities

1. Turning Long-Term Relationships into Impact

• Build and nurture strong relationships with key IT and business stakeholders in assigned areas.
• Act as a trusted partner who understands their priorities, challenges, and ambitions and connects them to relevant APEX capabilities.
• Proactively look for areas where APEX can help drive better outcomes and convert those into concrete opportunities in the APEX funnel.
• Maintain a clear, high-level view of the overall APEX portfolio in your areas of responsibility to ensure coherence, avoid duplication, and spot synergies.

2. Demand Intake & Guiding Stakeholders Through the APEX Process

• Serve as a primary point of contact for new ideas and use cases coming from your area of responsibility.
• Clarify objectives, sponsorship, and business rationale for potential use cases, ensuring a solid foundation before handing over to other APEX teams for deeper analysis and design.
• Help stakeholders understand the APEX lifecycle, what to expect at each stage, and what is needed from them to move forward.
• Track and communicate the status of opportunities within your divisions, ensuring transparency and clear expectations and
• Understand eventual impact of the use cases and value pull through.

3. Presentations & Workshops to Market APEX and Its Technologies

• Develop and tailor clear, compelling presentations and narratives that explain APEX capabilities and success stories to different audiences, including senior leaders.
• Design and facilitate interactive workshops and sessions that inspire stakeholders to think differently about how AI, Process Mining, Software Engineering, and User Experience Design can help them.
• Experiment with new formats, storytelling techniques, and ways of engaging audiences, using feedback and results to continuously improve.
• Collaborate closely with APEX technical and delivery teams to ensure alignment between what is presented and what can be delivered.

4. Education & Communities

• Organize and host sessions such as "lunch & learns", office hours, demos, and community events to help stakeholders better understand APEX's technologies and how to use them.
• Curate and create accessible materials (e.g., FAQs, simple guides, short playbooks, internal posts) to demystify AI and other APEX capabilities.
• Support and nurture internal communities of interest around AI and other APEX topics, helping connect people with similar interests and needs.
• Encourage knowledge sharing across divisions by highlighting examples, lessons learned, and practical tips.

What Success Looks Like

• A growing number of high-quality, well-framed opportunities in the APEX funnel from your divisions.
• Strong, positive relationships with stakeholders, reflected in feedback and willingness to involve APEX early in their thinking.
• Increased awareness and understanding of APEX capabilities, leading to greater adoption of AI and other APEX solutions.
• Engaging workshops, presentations, and education activities that generate interest, ideas, and follow-up opportunities.

Experience & Education

Experience

• Bachelor's degree in any relevant field (e.g., business, technology, engineering, social sciences, design, or related areas).
• Typically, 5+ years of experience in roles such as consulting, digital transformation, product, engagement, or similar stakeholder-facing positions.
• Demonstrated experience working with digital technologies; exposure to AI or advanced automation is preferred.
• Proven experience speaking with and presenting to senior stakeholders and facilitating group sessions or workshops.

Skills & Competencies

Essential

• Strong stakeholder management skills; comfortable working with senior leaders (up to VP level).
• Excellent communication and storytelling abilities, including the ability to explain complex concepts in simple, engaging ways.
• Confident facilitator in group settings; able to design and run workshops and sessions that encourage participation and new ideas.
• Ability to influence without formal authority, building alignment and momentum across teams and functions.
• High learning agility and curiosity about emerging technologies, especially AI and related digital capabilities.
• Structured and organized in managing multiple relationships, opportunities, and activities in parallel.
• Proactive, energetic, and self-starting; able to create your own momentum and identify where to focus without waiting for direction.

Preferred

• Advanced degrees (e.g., MBA or other relevant graduate degrees) are a plus but not required.
• Experience in consulting, internal consulting, or roles with a strong engagement and stakeholder-facing component.
• Familiarity with AI, Process Mining, Software-Engineering, or User Experience Design, or demonstrated interest and ability to upskill quickly in these areas.
• Experience presenting to and engaging with cross-functional, global audiences.

• Location: - Rahway, NJ (Hybrid; 3 days/week in office per company guidelines)

Required Skills:
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Business Case Development, Client Counseling, Communication, Community Events, Customer Experience Management, Customer Service, Customer Success, Digital Technology, Digital Transformation, Emerging Technologies, Engagement Management, Human Resources Consulting, Knowledge Sharing, Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT), Product Management, Requirements Management, Solution Architecture, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Technical Advice, Transparent Communication, User Experience (UX) Design, Waterfall Model

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.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

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".

The salary range for this role is
$117,000.00 - $184,200.00

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. More information about benefits is available at .

You can apply for this role through (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

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:
Domestic

VISA Sponsorship:
No

Travel Requirements:
10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:
Hybrid

Shift:
1st - Day

Valid Driving License:
No

Hazardous Material(s):
N/A

Job Posting End Date:
02/11/2026
*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.

Requisition ID: R383806