CSR Lead, India

Work Your Magic with us!  

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.  

Work Your Magic with us! Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our people, customers, patients, and the planet. That is why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimageable with us.

We know the greatest breakthroughs have come through innovations in life science, healthcare and electronics. Yet not all people have access to these breakthroughs. We focus our India Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts to apply today’s science in life science, healthcare and electronics to improve lives, prepare for the future and impact life and health with science.

Through the Life Science Sustainability & Social Business Innovation (SSBI) initiatives, we harness the collective expertise and passion of employees to minimize our environmental footprint and positively impact communities around the world. In alignment with Merck’s overall sustainability strategy and goals, we demonstrate our commitment to sustainability through extensive programs in four main areas: Greener Products and Solutions, Sustainable Operations, Employee and Community Engagement (ECE) and Strategy & Activation.

 
Your role: This role will have primary responsibility for advancing the India CSR strategy through philanthropic investments and nonprofit partnerships and the company’s global skills-based volunteer program, ensuring alignment to our global employee and community engagement efforts and adherence to all India laws and regulations with respect to corporate social responsibility.

The India CSR Lead will provide guidance and subject matter expertise while creating actionable, measurable strategies for India CSR, building cross-functional support to execute various projects within these areas.

This position is based in Bangalore or Mumbai.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic planning and tactical execution of India CSR initiatives.
  • Build the CSR strategy for India, together with the India CSR council and MDs, in line with sector and group Sustainability focus
  • Develop the CSR policy in line with the requirement of the Companies Act together with Legal
  • Align country programs with global strategy and sector focus
  • Conduct regular assessments of the company's CSR performance and identify areas for improvement
  • Ensure transparency in budgeting, monitoring and oversight on ongoing programs
  • Stay informed about emerging trends and best practices in CSR and sustainability
• Enable employee engagement and reputation building
  • Manage execution of global employee volunteer program in India, including oversight and support of employee-led site teams to drive continuous program engagement and measurement of community impact.
  • Develop a CSR network within the organization and mobilize employees to contribute to the CSR programs
  • Engage with local external CSR stakeholders and identify local expectations
  • Collaborate with internal teams to support development of Public Private Partnerships
  • Drive CSR narrative in internal and external communications
• Build and manage the partner ecosystem for key nonprofit partnerships in science education, health, and environment focus areas, working closely with nonprofit partners to execute related programs and consistently track impact
• Implement and manage new grants management tool to standardize and centralize the nonprofit application process to ensure compliance requirements are met and to impact of India CSR activities are properly tracked.
• Work closely with Country Council, EHS and site heads (in charge of regional offices) to build the sustainability narrative for Merck India
• Support India focus on Access to Education, Science, Health and Health Equity priorities for Merck
• Implement systems and processes related to India CSR activities to drive efficiency.
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders, including local Business Heads, Legal, Compliance, Finance, HR and Communications for program execution.
• Convene and seek counsel from India CSR Council on needed decisions on quarterly basis.
• Complete annual reporting requirements in adherence with India government laws and regulations.
• Prepare internal and external communications related to promote India CSR programs.
• Draft and deliver compelling presentations to inform and excite internal and external stakeholders about programs and activities.

Experience:

• 7-8 years in corporate responsibility/community engagement, business, communications, social work or related discipline 
• Project management knowledge and experience required
• Proven track record of successfully working with internal and external stakeholders to resolve complex problems and create unique solutions
• Experience working with cross-functional teams
• Direct experience designing, managing, executing and evaluating programs and projects
• Understanding of the CSR ecosystem and partner network in India

Knowledge & Skills:

• Self-starter and ability to work across hierarchies, cultures and sectors
• Strong stakeholder management skills
• Self-motivated with the ability to prioritize multiple tasks and participate as effective team member
• Sharp analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Consistency and high-quality work output
• Detail-oriented
• Capable of building trust among stakeholders and developing highly effective and collaborative relationships
• Proficient in project management, with the ability to deliver multiple concurrent projects from inception through execution while meeting deadlines
• Demonstrated ability to independently set and meet goals and objectives
• Passion for corporate responsibility and community engagement
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office tools, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We celebrate all dimensions of diversity and believe that it drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in inspiring the next generation of scientists and champion human progress!

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We celebrate all dimensions of diversity and believe that it drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!
 
Apply now and become a part of our diverse team!