Senior Specialist (Paralegal) Animal Health

MSD • Full-time • Rahway, New Jersey, United States • 1d ago

Job Description

Position Summary:

The Senior Specialist, Legal supports our Company Animal Health legal group by providing paralegal, operational, and administrative support across a variety of commercial, compliance, and regulatory matters.

This role partners closely with attorneys and cross-functional business stakeholders to support efficient legal activities, contract management, promotional material review, and maintenance of legal resources and templates.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment with professionalism and discretion.

Key Responsibilities:

Provide day-to-day paralegal and administrative support to the legal team on commercial transactions and operational matters
Support promotional material review for our Company Animal Health materials in Veeva/PromoMats at an appropriate level, in coordination with managing attorneys
Assist with drafting, reviewing, organizing, and tracking contracts, NDAs, vendor agreements, distributor/retailer agreements and related legal documents
Manage the Legal Department templates library, including maintaining current versions, organizing content, and supporting updates as needed
Assist our Company Animal Health attorneys with policy and procedure updates, including editing, formatting, tracking revisions, and coordinating reviews
Maintain legal files, records, templates, and tracking systems
Serve as a liaison between the legal team and internal business stakeholders to facilitate timely responses and support
Assist with compliance-related tasks, documentation, and reporting as needed
Coordinate signatures, approvals, and other legal administrative processes
Support special projects within the legal function
Maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with sound judgment

Qualifications

Required:

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
3+ years of experience in legal support, legal operations, contract administration, compliance, or a related corporate environment
Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
High attention to detail and accuracy
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Copilot), contract management systems, and experience with Veeva PromoMats or similar material review platforms
Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment
Demonstrated professionalism, discretion, and sound judgment

Preferred:

Experience supporting a legal team in the pharmaceutical, animal health, healthcare, or other regulated industry
Paralegal certificate or equivalent legal training

Competencies

Initiative and accountability
Collaboration and stakeholder management
Problem-solving and analytical thinking
Adaptability and responsiveness
Integrity and confidentiality

Required Skills:

Cite Checking, Client Service, Confidentiality, Contract Administration, Detail-Oriented, Foreign Filing, Legal Analysis, Legal Documents Preparation, Legal Document Writing, Legal Research, Legal Technology, Negotiation, Patent Prosecution, Trial Preparation

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:

EEOC Know Your Rights

EEOC GINA Supplement

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

The salary range for this role is

$96,200.00 - $151,400.00

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 https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (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:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

Travel Requirements:

No Travel Required

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Hybrid

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

Hazardous Material(s):

N/A

Job Posting End Date:

09/16/2026

*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.