Executive Director CIDO Business Operations & Enterprise Portfolio Excellence

# Executive Director CIDO Business Operations & Enterprise Portfolio Excellence Merck Rahway , NJFull-Time Oct 28, 2026

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Job Description
** Job Description
** The individual in this role serves as the central IT operations and portfolio lead reporting directly to the Chief Information & Digital Officer (CIDO). The Executive Director, CIDO Operations & Portfolio Excellence runs the business of IT for the enterprise - ensuring operational execution of IT processes, portfolio governance, driving performance tracking, enabling frictionless execution of IT / Digital processes, improving overall delivery speed and quality of outcomes, and aligning technology investments to the highest areas of business value.  

This role leads enterprise-wide IT operational execution, governing a significant technology investment portfolio, embedding continuous process improvement (Lean / Agile), driving technology financial management (Fin Ops / TBM) in partnership with Finance, and overseeing preferred vendor and workforce ecosystems in partnership with Supplier Management team members. Partnering with the ITLT (IT Leadership Team) and SLN (Senior Leader Network) and various enabling functions, this role ensures that global technology investments deliver tangible ROI, reduce friction, and drive ongoing continuous improvement effort, leveraging the latest generative and agentic AI capabilities.
** Key Responsibilities
** Enterprise IT Portfolio Management & Strategic Governance
* Portfolio Health & Phase-Gating:
Govern the global technology investment portfolio; implement transparent demand intake criteria, rigorous business case validation, prioritization frameworks, and milestone phase-gating across corporate and divisional teams.
* Integrated Demand & Capacity Planning:
Deploy predictive capacity models to balance incoming divisional demand against delivery capacity, eliminating bottlenecks, resource contention, and organizational over commitment.
* Benefits Tracking & Value Realization:

Measure, audit, and report post-implementation value capture and ROI for major transformation initiatives, delivering transparent reports to the CIDO and executive stakeholders.
* Risk, Dependency & Variance Management:
Maintain an enterprise-wide view of portfolio interdependencies, budget variances, and delivery risks, establishing proactive mitigation playbooks and escalation paths.

IT Financial Management (Fin Ops) & Vendor Governance
* Enterprise Fin Ops & TBM:
Partner with Finance to enable a central IT financial management capability; institutionalize various cost optimization capabilities such as AI and cloud cost optimization (Fin Ops), and Technology Business Management (TBM) methodologies to model total cost of ownership (TCO) and unit economics.
* Run vs. Grow Optimization:
Systematically optimize and reduce "run-the-business" operational costs to shift capital toward strategic digital modernization and growth initiatives. Identify and drive optimization both on a divisional level and across divisions on an enterprise-wide basis.
* Strategic Vendor & Software Asset Governance:
Partner with Supplier Management to manage preferred technology partners, software licensing/SaaS portfolios, and systems integrators to maximize contract value and reduce vendor lock-in.

IT Performance Management
* Executive Performance Cockpit:
Design and manage unified IT dashboards, Performance reporting agents, and balanced scorecards tracking key indicators: MTTR/MTBF, cost-to-serve, deployment frequency, SLA attainment, system availability, and strategic OKRs.
* Agentic capabilities: optimize the IT operational execution processes through simplification, standardization, and digitization including the use of generative and agentic AI capabilities to make the overall function more effective and efficient over time Office of the CIDO Governance Cadence and Reporting
* Rhythm of the Business:
Structure and orchestrate the operating rhythm of the CIDO organization, including monthly divisional operational reviews, leadership meetings, and operational deep dives, Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), etc.
* Executive Reporting:
Synthesize complex IT specific portfolio, risk, and financial performance data into concise executive briefings and presentations.
** Required Qualifications & Experience
**
* Experience:

Minimum of 15 years of progressive leadership experience spanning IT strategy, technology business operations, enterprise PMO/portfolio management, IT financial…