Director - Inspection & Recalls

Novo Nordisk A/S; Ballerup; Remote; DKK 941,000 - 1,449,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Incentives

Benefits package

Job summary

Novo Nordisk A/S in Denmark is seeking a Director of Inspection & Recalls to lead a global team of experienced specialists responsible for health authority inspections readiness and recall responses. You will shape strategy, drive data, automation and AI, while maintaining quality and human accountability.

The role reports to Group VP for Quality Innovation & Excellence and involves collaboration with external authorities.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership of senior specialists in pharmaceutical quality.
• 10+ years in pharmaceutical quality, regulatory or manufacturing environments.
• Ability to translate strategy into clear priorities and action.
• Strong judgment, calm under pressure, and risk-management skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management with senior leaders and partners.
• Curiosity about how data, AI and technology can improve quality while maintaining accountability.

Responsibilities

• Set clear direction for Inspection & Recalls and align with Quality strategy.
• Coach and develop experienced specialists, ensuring accountability.
• Maintain strong, consistent inspection readiness across Good Practice areas.
• Explore AI, automation and data to improve preparedness and insights.
• Turn inspection learnings into improved processes and practices.

Skills

Leadership

Senior specialist coaching

Strategic prioritisation

Risk judgement

Stakeholder management

Data/AI curiosity

Job description

As Director of Inspection & Recalls, you will lead a global team of highly experienced specialists responsible for two areas that are fundamental to our quality organisation; how we prepare for and manage health authority inspections, and how we respond when a Quality Defects arises.

As Director of Inspection & Recalls, you will lead a global team of highly experienced specialists responsible for two areas that are fundamental to our quality organisation; how we prepare for and manage health authority inspections, and how we respond when a Quality Defects arises.

You will build on a strong foundation while helping the team rethink how the work gets done, including where data, automation and AI can make us better, faster and more consistent, and where experience, judgement and human interaction must remain at the centre.

What you'll bring

We are looking for an experienced people leader with a strong track record of leading senior specialists, setting clear direction and creating the conditions for expertise to translate into organisational impact. We imagine you will bring:

• Solid leadership experience, including leading and developing experienced specialists.
• 10+ years of experience and a strong understanding of pharmaceutical quality, regulatory or manufacturing environments, with relevant experience in inspection readiness, recall management or interactions with health authorities such as EMA, DKMA or FDA.
• The ability to turn strategy into clear priorities and meaningful action.
• Sound judgement and remain calm and decisive when navigating risk, competing priorities and complex situations.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships and influence senior leaders, specialists and external partners.
• Curiosity about how technology, data and AI can improve the way teams work, without losing sight of quality, compliance or human accountability.

What you'll do

You will be responsible for setting a clear direction for the team and create an environment where experienced specialists are empowered to take ownership and succeed. Your responsibilities will include:

• Set a clear direction for Inspection & Recalls and turn the wider Quality strategy into priorities the team can act on.
• Lead, coach and develop experienced specialists, creating clear accountability while giving people the space to use their expertise.
• Keep our approach to inspections strong and consistent across Good Practice areas, from preparation and authority interaction through to responses and follow-up.
• Explore where AI, automation and better use of data can genuinely improve preparedness, insight and efficiency, and help the team adopt new approaches responsibly.
• Make sure we learn from inspections, observations, recalls and near misses, turning those lessons into better ways of working.

Who you'll work with

You will lead the global Inspection & Recalls team and report to the Group Vice President for Quality Innovation & Excellence. You will be part of the Quality Innovation & Excellence Leadership team.The role puts you at the intersection of specialist expertise, senior leadership and external authority interaction.

You will also work closely with the area’s Strategic Advisor, who brings deep specialist and industry expertise. The partnership is an important one: you bring the leadership, direction and accountability that enables that expertise, and the expertise of the wider team, to have impact.

What you can expect here

You will inherit an experienced team doing work that matters. The opportunity is not to change things for the sake of change, but to ask what great inspection and recall management should look like in the years ahead and help the team get there.

There will be room to challenge established approaches, experiment responsibly and build new capabilities. At the same time, this is a role where reliability matters. You will need to balance transformation with the discipline and judgement required in a global quality organisation.

Salary

For this role, the Annual Base Salary ranges from 940,800.00 to 1,448,700.00 DKK, 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 as well as other employee benefits based on position level, location, functional area and relevant market benchmarks. Learn more about our Reward Philosophy here .

Your impact begins today.

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