Specialist - Environmental Health and Safety

Job Description

Basic Functions and Responsibility

As a member of the Rahway Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) team, provide technical leadership and program support for high-risk work, fire life safety, contractor safety, and related EHS compliance programs at the Rahway site.

Work collaboratively with operating departments, area management, contractors, and other stakeholders to integrate EHS requirements into daily operations. Support the development, implementation, assessment, and continuous improvement of EHS procedures, guidelines, training programs, and management systems.

Primary Activities

• Serve as the Rahway site subject matter expert (SME) to manage the safety of high-risk work (HRW) programs, including lockout-tagout, electrical safety, hot work, line breaking, elevated work, confined space entry, mobile crane, trenching and excavation.
• Support HRW programs through reviews of the permit to work system, delivery of HRW training, and program assessments in partnership with area management
• Support contractor safety as a liaison with project and site teams to ensure compliance with our company's contractor safety requirements and regulatory obligations.
• Provide EHS support for fire life safety, management of change, incident investigation, risk assessments, EHS standards compliance, inspections and auditing and capital project work as assigned. 
• Participate in EHS agency regulatory inspections and correspondence.
• Manage EHS information and compliance using site’s EHS management systems including data collection, modeling, trending, tracking and communication of EHS score card metrics.
• Partner with stakeholders to administer EHS management system and maintain compliance.
• With knowledge of EHS regulations and applicability, develop EHS procedures, guidelines and training programs as assigned.
• Support implementation of EHS compliance initiatives for customer areas.
• Support the completion of regulatory submissions, notifications, etc. required to maintain compliance with federal, state, and local EHS requirements.

Position Qualifications:

Education Minimum Requirement:

• BS with preference for Occupational Safety, Industrial Hygiene, Engineering, Environmental Science, or Science, relevant MS degree a bonus.

Required Experience and Skills: 

• Minimum 3 years applied professional experience in industrial safety, environmental and/or general EHS role. 
• Self-motivated, proactive, and can-do attitude with the ability to work independently.
• Possess critical thinking, analytical and logical problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to prioritize, focus on and obtain business results.
• Flexibility to perform various tasks to support the business.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
• Service and result-oriented mindset.
• Ability to handle potentially stressful situations with a positive attitude.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Experience in high-risk work program management, contractor management, process safety, research and pilot scale operations.
• Experience with EHS regulatory agency inspections.
• Strong systems and IT knowledge including Microsoft applications a plus.
• Demonstrated performance in a highly regulated industry with strict standards adherence and compliance initiatives.
• Relevant professional certification(s) preferred including ASP, CSP, CHMM, and/or CHST.

Required Skills:

Accident Investigation, Detail-Oriented, EHS Program Management, Employee Training, Environmental Audits, Food Safety and Sanitation (Inactive), Goal Setting, Hazardous Material Safety, Incident Investigations, Industrial Hygiene, Project Risk Assessments, Quality Auditing, Regulatory Compliance, Spill Containment, Technical Reporting

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

$79,200.00 - $124,700.00

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:

No

Travel Requirements:

No Travel Required

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

Not Indicated

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

10/3/2026

*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.