Associate Director, Compound Management & Process Automation

Novo Nordisk; Måløv; On-site; DKK 847,000 - 1,245,000; Full time

Job summary

Novo Nordisk in Måløv, Denmark, seeks an Associate Director to lead the Compound Management & Process Automation group within Research Workflow Operations. You will drive reliable compound management and accelerate laboratory workflows through automation and digitalisation, partnering with protein and peptide research across Therapeutics Discovery.

You will co-lead with the Director, translate priorities into clear plans, build a high-performing team, and foster psychological safety,

Qualifications

• MSc or PhD in life sciences with relevant experience in drug discovery or development.
• Experience leading people in pharmaceutical research or substantial expertise in digitalisation and automation of drug discovery or development processes.
• Experience improving laboratory workflows and translating scientific or operational needs into practical improvements.
• Strong interest in coaching, talent development and building collaborative teams.
• Proven stakeholder management skills and the ability to collaborate across functions and organisational levels.
• Enterprise mindset balancing department priorities with broader research needs.

Responsibilities

• Co-lead shared responsibilities with the Director of ResWO Module Delivery, and translate agreed priorities into clear plans and effective department delivery.
• Ensure reliable compound management activities and align department resources and capabilities with research needs.
• Drive optimisation of laboratory activities through automation, digitalisation and continuous improvement, to increase efficiency, quality and reproducibility.
• Build partnerships across research functions and with technology and digital teams, taking an enterprise perspective when prioritising improvements and resources.
• Lead, coach and develop your team, creating an environment with psychological safety, clear expectations, accountability and opportunities to grow.

Skills

People leadership

Automation

Stakeholder management

Coaching

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Education

MSc/PhD in life sciences

Job description

Job Title: Associate Director, Compound Management & Process Automation

Department: Research Workflow Operations

Location: Måløv, Denmark

Your impact begins here

As Associate Director, you will lead the Compound Management & Process Automation department within Research Workflow Operations (ResWO), a team of 12 scientists and technicians. You will keep compound management reliable and make laboratory workflows faster, more consistent and more automated, in collaboration with protein and peptide research areas across Therapeutics Discovery. Your leadership helps early research projects keep pace towards lead candidate selection, and that progress matters to people living with serious chronic diseases.

What You’ll Bring

• An MSc or PhD in life sciences, or a related discipline, with relevant experience in drug discovery or development.


• Experience leading people in pharmaceutical research, or substantial subject matter expertise in digitalisation and automation of drug discovery or development processes.


• Experience improving laboratory workflows and translating scientific or operational needs into practical improvements.


• A strong interest in coaching, talent development and building collaborative teams, supported by experience developing people or mentoring colleagues.


• Proven stakeholder management skills and the ability to collaborate and influence across functions and organisational levels.


• An enterprise mindset, with the ability to balance department priorities with the needs of the broader research organisation.

As a person, you listen actively, build trust and value diverse perspectives. You are curious about better ways of working, and you bring clarity and a practical approach when priorities change. You enjoy co-leadership and shared accountability, and you are motivated by helping others succeed.

What You’ll Do

• Co-lead shared responsibilities with the Director of ResWO Module Delivery, and translate agreed priorities into clear plans and effective department delivery.


• Ensure reliable compound management activities and align department resources and capabilities with research needs.


• Drive optimisation of laboratory activities through automation, digitalisation and continuous improvement, to increase efficiency, quality and reproducibility.


• Build partnerships across research functions and with technology and digital teams, taking an enterprise perspective when prioritising improvements and resources.


• Lead, coach and develop your team, creating an environment with psychological safety, clear expectations, accountability and opportunities to grow.

Who You’ll Work With

You will join ResWO within Therapeutics Discovery in R&D. The area was recently established to enable faster delivery at scale by strengthening execution of research activities within the protein and peptide pipeline across Therapeutics Discovery in R&D. ResWO will play a key role in supporting competitive research timelines for early research projects until lead candidate selection, by designing, deploying, and optimising high-throughput workflow-based research operations. Success is built on close collaboration with stakeholders across Therapeutics Discovery and a shared ambition to continuously improve how we work. You will help shape how we work and build a culture where people feel empowered to improve laboratory activities and contribute to shared results.

What You Can Expect Here

You will be trusted to lead and supported to perform at your best. In Therapeutics Discovery, we lead with intent so that everyone feels valued, motivated and proud of their work, and inclusive leadership is a key capability for this role. You will help build a culture where people feel able to improve laboratory activities and contribute to shared results, and you will have continuous learning and career development opportunities along the way.

Salary: For this role, the Annual Base Salary ranges from 847,000.00 to 1,245,100.00 DKK, corresponding to the level of the position.

The placement within the salary range will be assessed during the recruitment process based on the candidate’s skills, competencies, knowledge and relevant experience.

Incentives and benefits: The salary package may include short-term and/or long-term incentives and other employee benefits based on position level, location, functional area and relevant market benchmarks.

Deadline: 1 November 2026.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.