Associate Director​/Director, Portfolio Strategy and Operations, Cardio Renal Metabolic Development Unit

#LI-Hybrid

Location:

Basel, Switzerland Are you ready to support some of the most important portfolio and development decisions at Novartis? As Associate Director, Portfolio Strategy & Operations, reporting to the Head of Portfolio Strategy & Operations, you will partner with senior leaders across the Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Development Unit to drive governance, operational excellence, and portfolio reporting and management. In this highly visible role, you will enable informed portfolio and business decisions through portfolio analytics, milestone and tollgate oversight, executive reporting and leadership governance support.

You will also lead strategic initiatives, support the HPSO, Development Unit Head and Leadership Team on high-priority business matters, and help ensure the successful execution of Development Unit priorities. Your work will help teams navigate complexity, align stakeholders and maximize the value of the pipeline to deliver meaningful outcomes for patients.

• Lead the operational management of the Development Unit Leadership Team, including agenda planning, meeting logistics, preparation guidance, minutes, decision documentation and follow-up.
• Coordinate portfolio and strategy activities concerning pipeline progress, prioritization, early portfolio development, executive reporting, governance milestones and external stakeholder communications.
• Provide portfolio analytics, milestone and tollgate reporting, portfolio risk assessments and executive insights to support Development Unit, Development Leadership Team and enterprise portfolio reviews
• Partner with Global Program Heads, Global Program Teams and senior functional leaders across Development, Biomedical Research, Medical Affairs, Commercial, Communications and Investor Relations.
• Drive portfolio resource planning activities and contribute to assessments of organizational capacity, capability needs and execution risks across the Development Unit
• Design, implement and continuously improve business processes that enable portfolio prioritization, resource allocation, portfolio risk management and consistent decision-making.
• Identify and implement opportunities to leverage digital technologies, data analytics and AI-enabled ways of working to improve portfolio transparency, decision quality and organizational effectiveness
• Provide guidance to Global Program Teams on project governance requirements, leadership-team expectations and preparation for portfolio decision forums.
• Track Development Leadership Team and Development Unit Leadership Team objectives, decisions and commitments, proactively flagging risks, gaps, dependencies and overdue actions.
• Provide strategic support to the Development Unit Head and Development Unit Leadership Team on high-priority portfolio, organizational and business matters
• Foster Development Unit identity, collaboration and community across the research, development and commercialization continuum through town halls, newsletters and strategic engagement initiatives.
• Exchange best practices, processes and standards with Operations teams across other Development Units
• Mentor colleagues within the Development Unit Operations team, support organizational change and deputize for the Head of Portfolio Strategy and Operations when required.

• Bachelor’s degree, professional bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification in life sciences, business, strategy, project management or another relevant discipline.
• Strong relationship-management and influencing and skills, with experience working effectively across global, matrixed and multidisciplinary teams.
• Excellent analytical thinking and judgment, attention to detail / accuracy, and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex portfolio information into clear recommendations for senior leaders.
• Takes ownership of challenges, identifies pragmatic solutions and drives actions to completion. Seeks continuous improvement in workflows and deliverables.
• Strong ability to accurately synthesize complex portfolio information into clear executive communications and materials for senior leadership and Investor…