Associate Director, Rare Disease Data Strategy

Job Description Summary

Location:

#LI-Hybrid

Strategy, Platforms & Transformation enables improved decision-making at Novartis by leveraging data, analytics, and insights to drive business growth. Strategy, Platforms & Transformation partners closely with the US Commercial organization to bring actionable insights, challenge assumptions, and enable smarter, data-driven decisions. Reporting to the Executive Director, Data Strategy, the Associate Director, Data Strategy will help establish and deliver a comprehensive rare disease data strategy for the US Commercial organization.

This role supports the development and execution of the Strategy, Platforms & Transformation rare disease data strategy, ensuring data assets, data products, and ways of working are aligned to broader Novartis objectives. The Associate Director partners with cross-functional stakeholders to translate priority business questions into a prioritized roadmap for data sourcing, enrichment, and decommissioning, and to establish clear governance, ownership, and success measures.

The role enables access to fit-for-purpose data, manages dependencies and delivery risks across initiatives, and provides transparent progress reporting against agreed milestones.

The ideal location for this role is the East Hanover, NJ or Cambridge, MA site, but a distant working arrangement may be possible in certain states. Distant workers are responsible for the cost of home office expenses and any travel/lodging to the East Hanover or Cambridge site, as determined necessary by hiring manager. The position will require travel as defined by the business (domestic and/or international).

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Translate priority rare disease business questions into an integrated data strategy roadmap (sourcing, enrichment, decommissioning) with clear sequencing, dependencies, and outcomes.
• Lead cross-functional alignment on data needs, definitions, and success measures; establish fit-for-purpose data standards and minimum metadata to enable portfolio visibility and reuse.
• Partner with Data Partnerships and Procurement stakeholders to inform vendor evaluations, data acquisition approaches, and ongoing portfolio optimization (including contract/renewal inputs as applicable).
• Coordinate delivery across Strategy, Platforms & Transformation and business teams by managing risks, issues, and interlocks; drive adoption of agreed ways of working and ensure timely decision-making.
• Provide regular, concise updates to senior stakeholders on progress, value delivered, and trade-offs; recommend course corrections based on data, insights, and changing business priorities.
• Ensure data strategy activities comply with applicable policies, data privacy requirements, and relevant regulations.

The ideal candidate brings experience developing and executing data strategies within a pharmaceutical and/or rare disease context, with demonstrated ability to translate business questions into prioritized roadmaps spanning data sourcing, vendor management, portfolio visibility, and requirements definition. The role requires strong stakeholder management skills, comfort operating in a matrixed environment, and the ability to influence without authority. Knowledge of pharmaceutical commercial data and external data vendors is strongly preferred.

Essential Requirements:

• Minimum 5+ years of experience in data strategy, data management, analytics enablement, or related roles.
• Working knowledge of data strategy principles, frameworks, and best practices (e.g., roadmap development, governance, metadata, and data lifecycle management).
• Familiarity with pharmaceutical commercial data vendors and common data domains (e.g., claims, prescription, provider, patient services, digital).
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with demonstrated ability to influence decisions across functions and levels.
• Demonstrated ability to drive change and adoption of new ways of working in a complex, matrixed environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including ability to identify delivery risks, dependencies, and constraints across data initiatives; familiarity with data…