Associate Director, Disease And Target Biology

Novo Nordisk A/S; Oxford; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Novo Nordisk A/S in Oxford is seeking an Associate Director, Disease and Target Biology to lead a front-line team and translate genetics, multi-omics, and patient data into actionable target discovery and validation. You will guide campaigns with Therapy Areas, setting evidence standards to move targets forward in metabolic, cardiovascular, and renal disease.

You will work across the UK and Denmark, collaborating with Data Science, AI & Digital Innovation, and Global Research to drive strategy,

Qualifications

• PhD in human genetics, computational biology, genetic epidemiology, or a related discipline, with substantial post-PhD experience.
• Experience combining genetics and omics with cohort or patient data to identify and stratify patient subgroups.
• At least 5 years of leadership experience in drug/target discovery.
• Experience leading scientific teams, ideally across multiple locations.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills, including influencing therapeutic area partners and senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of scientists across the UK and Denmark, overseeing recruitment, performance, and development.
• Use human genetics, multi-omics and patient data to identify subgroups and generate testable hypotheses for target discovery.
• Co-lead scientific campaigns with therapeutic area teams, defining biological evidence to support programme decisions.
• Set scientific and operational direction with Data Science leaders and AI & Digital Innovation.
• Guide AI/ML applications in disease biology and collaborations with academia and biotech.

Skills

Leadership

Human genetics

Computational biology

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

PhD in genetics

Job description

Job title: Associate Director, Disease and Target Biology

Department: Disease and Target Biology; Data Science

Location: Oxford, United Kingdom

Your impact begins here

Lead a front-line scientific team that exploits human genetics, multi-omics, and patient data to deepen disease understanding and identify new opportunities for target discovery. As Associate Director, Disease and Target Biology, you will leverage your scientific and people leadership expertise to drive target discovery campaigns with our Therapy Areas and translate complex evidence into clear decisions. You and your team will work with the TAs to define the biological evidence needed to move targets and programmes forward across Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, Cardiovascular, and Renal disease.

What you’ll bring

You are an experienced scientific leader who can move confidently between detailed analysis, team development, and strategic decision-making. You bring strong expertise in human genetics and computational biology, along with the ability to explain complex evidence clearly to scientific and senior stakeholders.

Essential qualifications and experience:

• A PhD in human genetics, computational biology, genetic epidemiology, or a related discipline, together with substantial post-PhD experience.
• Experience combining genetics and omics with cohort or patient data to identify and stratify patient subgroups; and demonstrated experience applying this to actionable disease understanding and target discovery / validation.
• At least 5 years of leadership experience in drug/target discovery, with pharmaceutical, biomedical, or techbio industry experience strongly preferred.
• Experience leading and developing scientific teams, ideally across multiple locations, and comfortable remaining hands‑on technically.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to influence therapeutic area partners and senior leaders.

Useful, but not essential:

• Experience managing teams across sites or time zones.
• Direct experience in metabolic, cardiovascular, or renal disease.
• Familiarity with artificial intelligence and machine-learning approaches applied to biological and clinical data.
• An understanding of the drug discovery and development value chain.
• A strong publication record and standing in the external scientific community would also be valuable.

What you’ll do

• Lead and develop a team of approximately seven scientists based across the UK and Denmark, taking responsibility for recruitment, performance, development, well‑being and an effective cross‑site working environment.
• Use human genetics, multi-omics and cohort or patient data to identify and stratify patient subgroups; applying results in pursuit of better disease understanding and testable hypotheses for target discovery.
• Co‑lead scientific campaigns with therapeutic area teams, defining the biological evidence required to support or challenge hypotheses and enable programme decisions.
• Set the team’s scientific and operational direction in partnership with Data Science leaders and colleagues across AI & Digital Innovation and Global Research.
• Guide the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in disease biology, work with engineering teams on deployment, and provide scientific leadership for academic and biotechnology collaborations.

Who you’ll work with

You will join the Disease and Target Biology team within ADI Data Science and report to Robert Kitchen. The role leads approximately seven direct reports with varying levels of seniority and specialist expertise across the UK and Denmark.

Your closest partners will include Therapy Area colleagues working in Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, Cardiovascular and Renal disease, as well as teams across Data Science, Data Engineering, AI & Digital Innovation and Global Research. You will also represent the organisation in relevant academic, biotechnology and industry collaborations. The wider geographical scope includes stakeholders in the UK, Denmark, the US and China.

What you can expect here

This is a player‑coach opportunity for a scientific leader who wants to remain close to the work while building the capability and impact of a multidisciplinary team. You will have scope to shape scientific strategy; contribute directly to priority analyses and influence how biological evidence informs research decisions.

The role also provides opportunities to lead external collaborations, contribute to publications and conferences, and help advance the responsible use of patient and cohort data.

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

By 1 November 2026