For about 20 years, Caroline Dorsa worked at Merck, rising to vice president and treasurer before leaving in early 2007 for Avaya, a telecom company. She left the drugmaker as the former cfo, Judy Lewent, announced her retirement plans. Not long afterwards, Pete Kellogg was snatched away from Biogen Idec to become Merck’s new cfo. By last fall, though, Dorsa had moved on again, this time to Gilead Sciences, as cfo.

But that didn’t last long. Earlier this week, Gilead announced Dorsa had left. The same day a memo went around Merck that Dorsa will be returning next week - but not in fnance. Instead, Dorsa will be a senior vice president for strategy and integration in the global human health division and report directly to Ken Frazier, Merck’s No. 2 exec.

This might make Kellogg a wee bit uncomfortable. And this may puzzle others at Merck’s Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, headquarters. After all, what exactly does a senior vice president for strategy and innovation do all day? And what it is about a treasury background that provides the necessary qualifications for such a job? [UPDATE: A Merck spokeswoman calls us to say that Dorsa will "guide development and execution of strategic initiatives aimed at improving the overall global human health operating model and driving greater growth." Huh? Well, she adds that Dorsa held jobs other than finance in the past, although Dorsa was in the finance department for 13 years.]