Associate Director, Statistical Programming

Novartis UK; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 67,900 - 126,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working options

Competitive salary

Insurance plans

Retirement plans

Wellbeing resources

14 weeks paid parental leave

Job summary

Novartis UK is seeking an Associate Director Statistical Programmer based in London, UK. In this high-impact role, you will lead a community of programmers to drive innovation and efficiency across clinical programs while ensuring high-quality insights for drug development.

Your responsibilities include leading programming activities, coordinating team efforts, and developing strategies in collaboration with cross-functional teams. You'll need a relevant degree and strong experience in Drug Development and statistical programming.

In addition to a competitive salary range of £67,900 to £126,100, you will enjoy benefits like flexible working, insurance plans, and 14 weeks paid parental leave.

Qualifications

• University degree in a relevant field.
• Proven leadership, collaboration, and organizational skills.
• Excellent understanding of clinical trials methodology.
• Ability to forecast challenges and implement solutions.
• Strong interpersonal skills in a global environment.
• Experience in Drug Development with Statistical Programming.
• Management or leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead statistical programming activities for large projects.
• Co-ordinate programmer activities and strategies.
• Build effective relationships with cross-functional teams.
• Drive standardization across studies with programming strategies.
• Ensure timely development and quality of programming deliverables.
• Provide technical recommendations and thought leadership.

Skills

Leadership skills

Collaboration skills

Organizational skills

Clinical trials methodology understanding

Interpersonal skills

Education

Degree in life science, computer science, data science, pharmacy, statistics, nursing or equivalent

Tools

R packages

AI-enabled tools

Job description

Associate Director Statistical Programmer

Location: London, UK – Remote working can be considered.

Therapy Area: CRM. This role is based in London, UK. Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role. Please only apply if this location is accessible for you.

Step into a high-impact leadership role where your expertise will shape the future of drug development. As Associate Director Statistical Programming, you will lead a high-performing community of programmers, driving innovation, quality, and efficiency across complex clinical programs. You’ll play a critical role in delivering timely, high-quality insights that enable life-changing treatments to reach patients faster—while empowering teams, advancing technology adoption, and influencing global strategy across Novartis.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead statistical programming activities as a Lead/Program Programmer for a large-sized or complex project or group of projects globally or locally, or disease area with phase I to IV clinical studies in Novartis Global Drug Development.
• Co‑ordinate activities of programmers either internally or externally. Make statistical programming decisions and propose strategies at project or disease level. Develop statistical programming strategy and scientific documentation for the project(s) or disease area together with the Biostatistician(s). Accountable for the assignment of resources and workload within his/her TA community and ensures sharing of resources between groups in order to meet company objectives and priorities.
• May act as functional manager of local/global associates including providing supervision and advice to these programmers on functional expertise and processes.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with cross‑functional teams including Biostatistics and Data Management counterparts, able to summarize and discuss status of deliverables and critical programming aspects, such as timelines, scope, and resource planning. SP representative at project level and in the Submission team, or in local leadership team.
• Develop programming strategy to drive standardization across studies or programs and effectively adopt R packages (e.g. Tidyverse), R Shiny Applications, AI‑enabled tools etc. to support data visualization, version control (e.g. Git‑based), and reproducible workflows. Partner with the functional mentors to support capability development, appropriate tool adoption, and alignment with standards and business needs.
• Accountable for timely and quality development and validation of all statistical programming components on assigned project(s). Responsible for quality control and audit readiness of all assigned statistical programming deliverables as well as accuracy and reliability of statistical analysis results.
• Provide authoritative technical and professional recommendations as representative of the statistical programming function at project level or for a major non‑clinical initiative. Provide thought leadership level support and guidance.

Essential Requirements

• University or college degree in life science, computer science, data science, pharmacy, statistics, nursing or equivalent relevant degree.
• Proven leadership, collaboration and organizational skills with demonstrated ability to successfully manage simultaneous trials and meet deadlines.
• Excellent understanding of clinical trials methodology, GCP and medical terminology.
• Must be able to anticipate challenges and risks and proactively suggest/implement solutions.
• Ability to work under pressure demonstrating agility through effective and innovative team leadership.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to operate effectively in a global environment. Foster a team environment that values learning, adaptability, and continuous improvement. Ability to influence and communicate across functions and to external stakeholders.
• Experience in Drug Development with experience in Statistical Programming.
• Management or leadership experience.

Benefits & Rewards

Expected Annual Base Salary Range: £67,900.00 - £126,100.00

The base salary offered is determined based on gender‑neutral objectives, such as relevant skills, competencies and experience in accordance with the Novartis pay setting policy and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically. In addition to your base salary, you may be eligible for a performance‑based bonus depending on certain performance parameters. The rewards of being part of our team go far beyond base pay and incentives. We also offer a variety of competitive benefits in kind to help you thrive personally and professionally, such as insurance plans, retirement plans, wellbeing resources and global recognition programs. In addition, we provide flexible and hybrid working options, where possible, and minimum 14 weeks paid parental leave.

Pay equity is a fundamental principle of our employment policy and reflects our commitment to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment that treats all employees with dignity and respect, as outlined in our Code of Ethics.

Note: Benefits and compensation may vary by country and are subject to local legal requirements, including provisions of collective bargaining agreements where applicable. A full overview of your compensation package, including any relevant collective bargaining agreement details applicable to your role based on your employment location and Novartis employer entity, will be communicated separately to you during the application process.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion / EEO

Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams’ representative of the patients and communities we serve.