Pharmaceuticals
10 Merck engineering leaders
These ten people hold or have held director-level and higher engineering roles at Merck, with titles such as vice president of global engineering solutions, executive director of engineering and director of global engineering. A reader can learn how engineering leaders build and run their teams in pharmaceutical companies.
Professionals to explore
01—10Danielle Werner
LinkedInExperience: Director, Global Engineering Solutions Technology Center, West Point · Merck
Director, Global Engineering Solutions Technology Center, West Point at Merck since April 2024, a Director-level role in the Engineering and Technical department. Former Associate Director, Global Engineering Services, Merck Production Systems COE Lead (2021–2024) and Associate Director, Global Engineering Solutions, Process Engineering (2020–2022) at Merck.
Douglas Chubb, PE
LinkedInExperience: Executive Director, Engineering, Utilities, and Technical Services · Merck
Executive Director, Engineering, Utilities, and Technical Services at Merck since October 2024, based in West Point, Pennsylvania; the profile says the role leads about 230 employees and 300 contractors. Former Director, Engineering, Master Planning Strategy (2020–2024) and Director, Engineering, Utility & Energy Operations (2017–2020) at Merck.
Eric Smith
LinkedInExperience: Regional Engineering Director · Merck
Former Regional Engineering Director at Merck (2019–2020), and Executive Director at Merck since September 2020; the profile headline reads Regional Engineering Executive Director and says the current role is responsible for the project program in the Southeast US. Former Portfolio Engineering Director at Merck (2012–2015).
Jennifer M. Pollard
LinkedInExperience: Executive Director - Downstream Process Development and Engineering · Merck
Executive Director - Downstream Process Development and Engineering at Merck since June 2019, based in Kenilworth, New Jersey; the profile headline gives the same title at Merck. The listing also shows Sr Principal Scientist at Merck since June 2015 and former Principal Scientist at Merck (2010–2015).
Joel Griffin
LinkedInExperience: Associate Vice President of Engineering · Merck
Associate Vice President of Engineering at Merck since April 2026; the profile says the role leads the AI Foundry, an organization of more than 150 software engineers, AI engineers and solution architects. Former Executive Director of Engineering (2024–2026) and Director of Engineering (2022–2024) at Merck, and former Distinguished Software Engineer at Walmart Global Tech (2020–2022).
John McGee
LinkedInExperience: Engineering Director - Large Molecule Tech Center · Merck
Former Engineering Director - Large Molecule Tech Center at Merck (2018–2023) and former Engineering Director - GES MPS Center of Excellence (2013–2018). Executive Director - Global Technology Center at Merck since August 2023, a role the profile says leads a team of more than 100 professionals responsible for global facility and process design and execution.
Michael Zivitz
LinkedInExperience: Vice President, Global Engineering Solutions · Merck
Vice President, Global Engineering Solutions at Merck since June 2023; the profile describes the role as head of Global Engineering with a background in organizational leadership and capital project delivery. Other Merck roles listed are Associate Vice President (2020–2023), Executive Director (2016–2020) and Engineering Director (2007–2020).
Ryan M. Flessner
LinkedInExperience: Executive Director, Chemical Engineering R&D · Merck & Co., Inc.
Executive Director, Chemical Engineering R&D at Merck & Co., Inc. since June 2024, which the profile describes as Chemical Engineering R&D Department Head. Former Director of Engineering (2023–2024), Director of SSO Operations (2022–2023) and Director, Engineering (2020–2022) at Merck, based in Rahway, New Jersey.
Sean Montague
LinkedInExperience: Director - Global Engineering Solutions · Merck
Director - Global Engineering Solutions at Merck since February 2018; the profile says the role helps lead construction management and safety for Global Engineering Solutions in the Southeast US, Midwest and Puerto Rico. Former Director of Engineering at Pureflow, Inc. (2015–2016) and former VP of Operations at Amec Foster Wheeler (1996–2015).
Shawn McCormick
LinkedInExperience: Director - Merck Global Engineering · Merck
Director - Merck Global Engineering at Merck since April 2021, a Director-level role in the Engineering and Technical department; the profile describes McCormick as a Director of Process Engineering. Former Associate Director - Merck Global Engineering (2017–2021), Associate Director - Network Strategy Portfolio Management (2015–2017) and Senior Process Engineer - Global Engineering (2012–2015) at Merck.
Choose the right perspective
Match the person's area to your question: global engineering and capital project leaders know how new facilities are designed and built, site and utilities engineering leaders know how existing plants are run, and process development leaders know how new processes reach manufacturing. Check whether the relevant Merck role is current or past before asking about how engineering works there today.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01How does a pharmaceutical company plan and deliver a large capital program across several regions at once?
- 02How do you split engineering ownership between a global engineering group and the engineering and utilities teams at each site?
- 03How do process development and engineering teams hand a new process over to commercial manufacturing?
Reaching Merck engineering leaders
How can I contact one of these Merck engineering leaders?
Pick one of the 10 people on this page and choose "Book a paid call", or describe your project to find others. You offer a fee for a 15-minute call or a written answer, Instant Expert finds the person's work email and sends the invitation, and they decide whether to accept. The list covers 2 companies: Merck and Merck & Co., Inc., based on profile data retrieved on October 7, 2026. Being listed here doesn't mean someone has agreed to take calls.
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About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot and may describe past or present roles. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.
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