Job Description Summary

The Innovation Strategy Associate Director (ISAD) will join the Program Innovation team in Strategy, Program and Portfolio Operations (SPPO). The role will include both internally and externally facing activities. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and maintaining a strong understanding of the external competitive landscape in those innovation and indication domains for which s/he is responsible, including identifying and screening vendor opportunities of relevance to the portfolio.
The role will be a core member of the Program Innovation team working internally with drug program teams across multiple therapeutic areas, to identify and support a broad range of data science/AI and digital initiatives to impact medicines in development and increase their overall value to patients and Novartis.

Job Description

Innovation Strategy Associate Director

The Development organization leads all aspects of the development of new medicines discovered by our researchers and partners. We transform the lives of people by developing innovative and life-changing medicines.

The role will be a core member of the Program Innovation team working internally with drug program teams across multiple therapeutic areas, to identify and support a broad range of data science/AI and digital initiatives to impact medicines in development and increase their overall value to patients and Novartis.

The role will co-lead or lead the Data and Digital Asset Strategy creation process end-to end, working closely with the drug program teams and digital and data science solution teams to co-create the strategies, including identification of potential solutions and use cases, assessment of impact/value and feasibility, tracking solutions in implementation and, from time to time, supporting the execution as needed. The role requires the ability to own and drive a wide variety of innovation initiatives, lead activities across cross-functional teams, and handle complexity.

Your responsibilities include:

Identify and assess external vendors, technologies and new trends and provide competitive insights and recommendations on vendor/technology suitability to address identified needs of drug programs.
Lead the identification of unmet needs and opportunities where innovation through diverse data science and digital solutions can positively impact drug development.
Bring strong project management expertise and a strategic mindset to drive the overall process and coordinate multi-disciplinary partners.
Act as a data science/AI and/or digital expert and lead specific solution deep-dives with specialist teams and multi-disciplinary partners.
Find opportunities to scale new and existing innovations across the portfolio.
Develop a comprehensive business case, implementation plan and recommendations for identified solutions.
Lead solution tracking to identify and communicate risks and issues, formulate mitigation plans, and report to the Development Leadership Team.
Contribute to effective team dynamics, performance, communication, collaboration, prioritization, standardization and quality of deliverables within and between projects.

Minimum requirements:

Advanced degree in engineering/computer science or other technical degrees or equivalent experience in life science
Fluent English (oral and written) and very strong communication skills
4+ years data science and digital/technology industry or consulting experience with 2+ years project /program leadership experience and 2+ years pharmaceutical or healthcare experience
Advanced understanding and direct relevant experience with one or more data science and/or digital technology domains, and pharmaceutical development
Experience developing and leading projects/programs within a complex matrix environment
Experience of working with large scale and complex multidisciplinary teams
Demonstrable experience of problem definition and problem solving
Demonstrated experience of scenario development and evaluation, and contingency planning
Comfortable with, and enjoys working in uncertain environments, and navigating uncharted territory.

Why Novartis?

Our purpose is to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people's lives and our vision is to become the most valued and trusted medicines company in the world. How can we achieve this? With our people. It is our associates that drive us each day to reach our ambitions. Be a part of this mission and join us! Learn more here: https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

You'll receive:

You can find everything you need to know about our benefits and rewards in the Novartis Life Handbook. https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:

Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams' representative of the patients and communities we serve.

Join our Novartis Network:

If this role is not suitable to your experience or career goals but you wish to stay connected to hear more about Novartis and our career opportunities, join the Novartis Network here: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network

EEO Statement:

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers and take pride in maintaining a diverse environment. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. We are committed to building diverse teams, representative of the patients and communities we serve, and we strive to create an inclusive workplace that cultivates bold innovation through collaboration and empowers our people to unleash their full potential.

Accessibility and reasonable accommodations

The Novartis Group of Companies are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to tas.nacomms@novartis.com call +1 (877)395-2339 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

https://www.novartis.com/careers/careers-research/notice-all-applicants-us-job-openings

Salary Range

$151,200.00 - $226,800.00

Skills Desired

Drug Development, Program Development, Program Management, R&D, Team Management, Waterfall Project Management