Director, Safety Operations

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

Job summary

Novo Nordisk in Søborg, Denmark, seeks a Director, Safety Operations to lead the Centre of Expertise and Submission area, shaping how safety information moves from affiliates to health authorities. You will drive automation while maintaining quality, compliance and timely reporting across a growing global safety organisation.

You will lead a team of safety professionals, partnering with global teams to standardise processes and improve efficiency.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in life sciences.
• Extensive pharmacovigilance experience in a large pharma company, including senior specialist roles.
• Extensive knowledge of international pharmacovigilance legislation and guidelines.
• Proven success optimising processes and systems, with solid knowledge of business processes and IT behind safety operations.
• Strong people leadership experience, including leading through other leaders.
• Strong communication, negotiation and conflict‑management skills, handling complex issues calmly.
• Strategic mindset with ability to inspire and make tough decisions for the wider organisation.
• Hands-on automation experience in case processing or regulatory submissions is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Safety Operations Centre of Expertise and Submissions, setting future direction.
• Directly manage Safety Operations specialists and align teams to deliver improvements.
• Oversee end-to-end ICSR handling for clinical and post‑marketing products.
• Drive efficiency, simplification and automation while ensuring quality and compliance.
• Ensure up-to-date systems and processes for regulatory reporting and safety handling.
• Build a global network across HQ, affiliates and external partners.

Skills

Masters degree in life sciences

Pharmacovigilance

Regulatory knowledge

Leadership

Communication

Strategic mindset

Process optimization

Automation

Education

Master’s degree in life sciences

Job description

Location: Søborg, Capital Region of Denmark, DK

Job Title: Director, Safety Operations

Department: Safety Operations, Global Patient Safety, Research & Development

Your impact begins here

As Director, Safety Operations, you will lead the Centre of Expertise and Submission area and shape how safety information moves from affiliates to health authorities. As Novo grows, you will challenge current ways of working and drive automation and simplification, while keeping quality, compliance and timely reporting uncompromised. Your work helps make sure the safety of our treatments is understood and acted on, for the people who rely on them every day.

What you’ll bring

• A master’s degree in life sciences.
• Extensive pharmacovigilance experience in a large-scale pharmaceutical company, including senior specialist roles.
• Extensive knowledge of international pharmacovigilance legislation and guidelines.
• Proven success optimising processes and systems, with solid knowledge of the business processes and IT systems behind efficient day-to-day safety operations.
• Strong people leadership experience, including leading through other leaders, and the professional authority to set direction.
• Strong communication, negotiation and conflict‑management skills, and the ability to analyse and handle complex, urgent or sensitive issues calmly.
• A strategic mindset, the ability to inspire others and the willingness to take tough decisions for the benefit of the wider organisation.

Useful, but not essential:

• Hands‑on experience implementing automation in case processing or regulatory submissions.
• Experience working across global hubs or influencing new regulatory requirements in external working groups.

What you’ll do

You will lead the daily operations of the Safety Operations Centre of Expertise and Submissions while setting the future direction for the area. Leading through a manager and directly managing Safety Operations specialists, you will align teams, resolve operational challenges and deliver sustainable improvements across Safety Operations. More specifically, you will:

• Lead the establishment, maintenance and continuous optimisation of end-to-end individual case safety report (ICSR) handling for clinical and post-marketing products, from affiliate intake through regulatory submission.
• Take an end-to-end view of case processing and submissions, challenge current practices and drive operational efficiency, simplification and automation while maintaining quality, compliance and timely regulatory reporting.
• Ensure systems and processes for reporting safety information remain up to date and compliant with regulatory requirements and guidelines, while influencing emerging requirements for safety information handling.
• Build a strong network across headquarters, affiliates and external collaborators, and ensure new procedures and processes are communicated clearly across the worldwide pharmacovigilance organisation.
• Ensure a consistent approach to onboarding and training across Safety Operations, with clear roles and responsibilities that are understood across the organisation.

Who you’ll work with

You will join Safety Operations, part of Global Patient Safety in Research & Development, and report to the VP of Safety Operations. Safety Operations makes sure safety information from clinical development and marketed products is collected, evaluated, processed and reported accurately, in line with global pharmacovigilance requirements. As Novo grows, the team is developing its operating model, systems and data capabilities to support scalability and efficiency.

You will lead a team of around 20 people: the manager of the global submissions team and approximately six Safety Operations specialists who report directly to you. You will secure operational excellence across organisational units in Denmark, the US and Bangalore, India.

Your network will be broad. Internally, you will work with areas across Global Patient Safety, global project teams, Global Trial Portfolio, Enterprise IT, AI and Digital Innovation, regions and affiliates, US Patient Safety, Quality, Finance, Corporate Legal and senior management. Externally, you will interact directly with health authorities, investigators and vendors. These relationships let you move decisions forward quickly and scale improvements globally.

What you can expect here

This is a role with real decision‑making authority. You will be trusted to prioritise, resolve issues and delegate independently, and to set objectives that create impact across functions inside and outside Global Patient Safety. You will work in a complex, fast‑moving regulatory environment where your voice shapes how safety operations evolve – and where curiosity about automation and simpler ways of working is valued.

You will be part of a culture that values clear priorities, honest feedback and never compromising on patient safety, with opportunities to grow through cross‑functional work, global collaboration and relevant learning offerings.

Salary

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

Learn more about our Reward Philosophy here .

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

At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long‑term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and preventing diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.