Director Medical Value & Enablement

Novartis; East Hanover (NJ); On-site; USD 204,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

Novartis in New Jersey seeks a Director to serve as a highly autonomous strategic advisor within US Medical Affairs. You will lead enterprise-scale value realization, framing complex challenges and delivering executive-ready strategies from concept to measurable outcomes.

You will orchestrate cross-functional transformations, design future operating models, and drive adoption, with a focus on AI-enabled workflows and robust change management across MSTs, disease clusters, and COEs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business or life sciences; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years across pharmaceutical/healthcare strategy, transformation, or organizational effectiveness.
• Proven ability to frame ambiguous problems and deliver executive-level recommendations.
• Strong knowledge of Medical Affairs strategy and stakeholder needs.

Responsibilities

• Set strategic agenda with VP/leadership, advancing priorities with minimal oversight.
• Frame ambiguous questions, develop evidence-based POVs, and propose strategic options.
• Lead strategic planning across MSTs, Disease Clusters, portfolios, or COEs with measurable outcomes.
• Draft high-quality strategies, roadmaps, and executive recommendations with data-driven insight.
• Identify emerging needs and risks, maintaining momentum in fast-changing environments.

Skills

Strategic planning

Cross-functional leadership

AI fluency

Data analytics

Change management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business or life sciences

Job description

Summary

The Director, Medical Value & Enablement (MVE) is a highly autonomous strategic advisor, thought leader, and transformation architect within US Medical Affairs. Operating with minimal day-to-day leadership oversight, the Director independently identifies enterprise-critical opportunities, frames complex and ambiguous challenges, develops original points of view, and creates executive-ready strategies from concept to measurable value realization.

The Director, Medical Value & Enablement (MVE) is a highly autonomous strategic advisor, thought leader, and transformation architect within US Medical Affairs. Operating with minimal day-to-day leadership oversight, the Director independently identifies enterprise-critical opportunities, frames complex and ambiguous challenges, develops original points of view, and creates executive-ready strategies from concept to measurable value realization.

About The Role

Key Responsibilities:

• Operate as a trusted, highly autonomous advisor to the respective Vice President and leadership team, setting the strategic agenda within the role’s mandate and advancing priorities with minimal day-to-day oversight.
• Independently frames ambiguous business questions, identify root causes, establish hypotheses, and develops original, evidence-based points of view that challenge conventional thinking and expand strategic options.
• Lead strategic planning across MSTs, Disease Clusters, portfolios, and/or COEs, translating enterprise and US Medical Affairs priorities into clear choices, integrated plans, decision rights, and measurable outcomes.
• Draft and create high-quality strategies, business cases, roadmaps, frameworks, and executive recommendations from a blank page if required, using subject-matter expertise, sound judgment, relevant data, and rapid iteration.
• Anticipate emerging needs and risks, make timely recommendations with incomplete information, and maintain momentum in fast-changing environments without waiting for detailed direction.

Transformation Leadership and Strategic Orchestration

• Own and orchestrate complex, cross-functional transformations from opportunity identification and strategy through design, activation, adoption, and multi-year value realization.
• Design future-state operating models, decision rights, capability architecture, and implementation roadmaps that introduce leading practice while remaining practical, scalable, and fit for Medical Affairs.
• Apply fit-for-purpose, proven transformation, capability, and change methodologies including design, capability maturity assessments, and behavior-change approaches beyond applying models mechanically.
• Establish clear strategic hypotheses, stage gates, dependencies, risk boundaries, and course-correction mechanisms to accelerate progress while managing quality, compliance, and enterprise risk.
• Mobilize senior leaders and cross-functional partners around outcomes, choices, accountabilities, and critical decisions as a credible thought leader and integrator beyond tactical execution.

Value Realization and Impact Measurement

• Define the value thesis for each priority, linking strategic choices and activities to stakeholder outcomes, organizational performance, and patient impact.
• Build practical value-realization frameworks, linkage to KPIs, leading and lagging indicators, adoption measures, and executive dashboards; use data to test assumptions and make impact visible.
• Integrate quantitative analysis, qualitative insight, external evidence, and stakeholder feedback to surface patterns, assess progress, and identify emerging risks or opportunities.
• Translate insight into action by recommending trade-offs, stopping or redirecting low-value work, scaling what works, and establishing ownership for sustained benefits.

AI Integration and Future-Focused Enablement

• Continuously scan emerging healthcare, technology, data, AI, and industry developments; translate relevant trends into original points of view, strategic implications, and actionable opportunities for US Medical Affairs.
• Independently identify, prioritize, and shape high-value AI, automation, analytics, and digital use cases based on business need, data readiness, feasibility, scalability, adoption potential, risk, and expected value.
• Design and prototype practical AI-enabled workflows, decision-support tools, and scalable solutions in partnership with AI, data, digital, analytics, technology, and functional experts with established human accountability.
• Build organizational AI fluency by translating complex concepts into practical applications, informed decisions, and new ways of working across the US and NOCCs.

Change Leadership, Adoption, and Capability Building

• Develop and lead integrated change and adoption strategies for complex transformations, including stakeholder engagement, leadership alignment, communications, readiness, capability building, reinforcement, and value sustainment.
• Apply fit-for-purpose, proven change, capability, and behavior-adoption models to diagnose barriers and design targeted interventions—using judgment rather than applying frameworks mechanically.
• Equip leaders and teams with clear narratives, practical tools, decision support, and capability-building experiences that accelerate adoption and embed sustained behavior change.
• Establish adoption indicators, feedback loops, and course-correction mechanisms as elements of orchestrating implementation across functions, clarifying ownership, dependencies, and successful change accountabilities.

Executive Communications and Storytelling

• Influence with credibility across the enterprise, building alignment and trusted partnerships that enable collective impact beyond the immediate role or function.
• Translate complex information, data, and strategic choices into concise executive narratives, recommendations, presentations, visual frameworks, decision materials, and impact summaries.
• Independently draft and create executive-ready content from a blank page, integrating diverse inputs into a coherent point of view without relying on detailed direction; deliver crisp strategic updates tailored to audiences at all levels of the organization, making implications, choices, risks, and required actions clear.
• Create functional organization communications, announcements, and change materials including drafting, formatting, stakeholder review, publishing, and execution.
• Design and facilitate senior-leadership discussions, cross-functional working sessions, or programs that result in informed decisions, alignment, accountability, and action.

MST / COE Planning and NOCC Collaboration

• Lead relevant pillar strategic planning, prioritization, and portfolio oversight for the assigned MST, Disease Cluster, portfolio, or COE; translate enterprise and US Medical Affairs priorities into clear outcomes, strategic choices, integrated roadmaps, decision rights, and measures of success.
• Provide execution partners with clear context, strategic direction, timely decisions, and escalation leadership while avoiding unnecessary involvement in day-to-day tactical delivery; retain accountability for strategic coherence, design quality, stakeholder adoption, and value realization while leveraging NOCCs for tactical execution.
• Demonstrate flexibility in providing cross-functional partnering on projects or coverage of peer MVEs during times of planned absence.

Essential Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business or life sciences or healthcare required; advanced degree with organizational leadership, data and analytics, or a related discipline preferred.
• 10 or more years of cross-enterprise experience in pharmaceuticals or healthcare differing roles including strategy, transformation, organizational effectiveness, or capability leadership in a complex matrix environment; prior agency consultancy preferred.
• Demonstrated advanced AI fluency through recognized certification, applied experience, or a portfolio of AI-enabled solutions that improved decisions, workflows, capabilities, or measurable outcomes.
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional transformation from opportunity identification and strategy through design, build, adoption, and measurable value realization.
• Demonstrated ability to independently frame ambiguous challenges, develop evidence-based points of view, create strategies and solutions from a blank page, and advance work with minimal day-to-day oversight.
• Strong strategic-design capability, including operating models, capability roadmaps, change strategies, implementation approaches, and value-measurement frameworks.
• Advanced ability to use quantitative and qualitative data, analytics, external evidence, and stakeholder insight to generate executive-level recommendations and inform decisions.
• Highly agile, adaptable, and composed in fast-paced environments; able to anticipate needs, make sound decisions with incomplete information, and rapidly adjust direction as conditions evolve.
• Demonstrates intellectual and technical curiosity at an advanced level, learning agility, courage, and sound judgment; challenges constructively, reflects on impact, acts on feedback, and strengthens their performance and capability of others through continuous growth.
• Operates in a highly networked, collaborative, transparent, and fluid manner; works effectively through and with others across functions, teams, and organizational boundaries, actively integrating diverse expertise, building shared ownership, and advancing enterprise outcomes rather than operating in isolation.
• Strong knowledge of Medical Affairs strategy, stakeholder needs, and the broader healthcare environment; direct Medical Affairs experience preferred.

The salary for this position is expected to range between $204,400.00 and $379,600.00 per year.

The final salary offered is determined based on factors like, but not limited to, relevant skills and experience, and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically. Novartis may change the published salary range based on company and market factors.

Your compensation will include a performance-based cash incentive and, depending on the level of the role, eligibility to be considered for annual equity awards.

US-based eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. In addition, employees are eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves.

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

Benefits and Rewards:

Learn about all the ways we’ll help you thrive personally and professionally.

EEO Statement

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Accessibility & Reasonable Accommodations

The Novartis Group of Companies are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call [phone] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.