Senior Principal Biostatistician Early Development

Novartis Farmacéutica; London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading pharmaceutical company in London seeks a Senior Principal Biostatistician to oversee all statistical work for clinical trials. The successful candidate will lead projects, collaborate across teams, and propose innovative statistical methodologies. Applicants should have an MS or PhD in Statistics, strong communication skills, and experience in clinical statistics. This position offers hybrid working arrangements.

Benefits

Hybrid working arrangement

Diversity & Inclusion commitment

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Statistics with relevant work experience.
• Fluent in English with strong communication and presentation skills.
• Strong understanding of early development and drug development.
• Demonstrable experience in statistical tasks and work independently.

Responsibilities

• Lead statistical work for assigned trials independently.
• Develop statistical analysis plans and reporting activities.
• Collaborate across functions on trial projects.
• Propose innovative trial designs and statistical methodologies.

Skills

Statistical analysis

Communication

Project management

Pharmacokinetics knowledge

Collaboration

Education

MS in Statistics or equivalent

PhD in Statistics or equivalent

Tools

SAS

R

Job description

Job ID REQ-10028570

Lug 09, 2025

Summary

The Senior Principal Biostatistician in Early Development is responsible and accountable for all statistical work, scientific and operational, for one or more assigned trials in collaboration with the clinical trial team.

About the Role

Our Development Team is guided by our purpose: to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives.

To do this, we are optimizing and strengthening our processes and ways of working. We are investing in new technologies and building specific therapeutic areas and platform depth and capabilities – all to bring our medicines to patients even faster.

We are seeking key talent, like you, to join us and help give people with disease and their families a brighter future to look forward to.

Apply today and welcome to where we thrive together!

The Role:

Work independently at the trial level and may co-lead, with a pharmacometrician, indication or project level quantitative activities for a development project under limited supervision. Proposes and leads implementation of modern and innovative trial/experimental designs, statistical models, analysis and data exploration methodologies at the study or project level.

This role offers hybrid working, requiring 3 days per week or 12 days per month in our London Office.

Key requirements:

• Responsible for all statistical tasks on the assigned trials and perform these tasks for mid- to high complexity trials independently with peer review/input as required. Responsible for protocol development in alignment with the development plan, developing statistical analysis plan, reporting activities.
• Contribute to planning and execution of exploratory analyses, innovative analyses related to publications, PK, PK/PD analyses, exploratory biomarker, and statistical consultation. Initiate, drive, and implement novel methods and innovative trial designs in alignment with quantitative team.
• Explain statistical methodology and interpret analysis results. Provide statistical expertise to support clinical pharmacology submission activities and documents, responses to Health Authorities and drug development activities, as required.
• Contribute to interactions with external review boards/ethics committees, external consultants and other external parties with oversight as appropriate.
• Represent the Early Development Analytics Function on cross-functional teams for the assigned trials. Responsible for functional alignment and ensuring line function awareness throughout the trials.
• Collaborate with other line functions. Explain statistical concepts in an easily understandable way to non-statisticians and provide adequate statistical justifications for actions/decisions/statements, when required.
• Establish and maintain sound working relationships cross functionally within the Clinical Trial Team and Biostatistics & Pharmacometrics team.
• Propose and implement innovative designs and methods to optimize dose finding and drug development. Contribute to planning, prioritization and tracking of program level biostatistics activities and effective partnership with vendors.

Your Experience:

• MS (in Statistics or equivalent) with relevant work experience or PhD (in Statistics or equivalent) with relevant work experience.
• Fluent in English with strong communication and presentation skills.
• Influences decisions that directly impact the trial/project and team ability to deliver objectives.
• Demonstrable experience in all tasks of a statistician at trial and experiment level with the ability to work independently. Demonstrable knowledge and expertise in statistics and its application to clinical trials; ability to explain statistical designs and concepts. Depending on the assignment, may require proven expertise in pharmacokinetics, exposure-response modelling, exploratory biomarker, applied Bayesian statistics, or data exploration skills. Proficiency in use of statistical software packages (e.g. SAS, R). Good knowledge of drug development and Health Authority guidelines. Demonstrated efficiency working on a multidisciplinary team to achieve team objectives.
• Strong understanding of early development. Familiarity with pharmacometric principles is a plus.
• Good project management and matrix leadership skills. Ability to collaborate well with non-statistical functions.

Why Novartis:Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting, and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? :https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

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

Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

Join our Novartis Network: Not the right Novartis role for you? Sign up to our talent community to stay connected and learn about suitable career opportunities as soon as they come up: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network

GB16 (FCRS = GB016) Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd.

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

Job ID REQ-10028570