Executive Director, US Strategic Projects Lead

Novartis; East Hanover (NJ); On-site; USD 237,000 - 439,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, life and disability benefits

401(k) with company match

Generous time off

Job summary

Novartis seeks an ED, US Strategic Projects Lead based in East Hanover, NJ. This role leads a cross-functional team to frame, resource, govern, and deliver high-priority US commercial strategic projects with measurable business impact.

Reporting into the VP, Head of US Strategy & Execution, the role owns the strategic project portfolio delivery model, sponsor alignment, and governance handoffs, with up to 20% travel as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Advanced degree (MS/MBA) preferred.
• 12+ years in strategy consulting, corporate strategy, enterprise transformation, commercial strategy, strategic operations, or large-scale program leadership.
• Proven ability to lead multiple high-profile strategic initiatives in a matrix environment with senior stakeholders and no direct authority over functions.
• Strong project portfolio leadership, executive communication, facilitation, problem framing, change navigation, and business impact orientation.

Responsibilities

• Define the US Strategic Projects operating model, engagement intake standards, staffing model, project cadence, stage gates, and quality bar.
• Select, scope, and mobilize priority strategic projects with sponsors, ensuring each has a clear problem statement, measurable outcome, decision path, and execution owner.
• Lead the portfolio of strategic projects, managing throughput, capacity, risks, dependencies, and leadership escalations.
• Guide Directors and project teams through ambiguous, high-stakes work requiring structured problem solving, data-backed recommendations, and cross-functional alignment.
• Ensure project outputs move beyond recommendations to implementation-ready roadmaps, KPIs, owners, and governance handoffs.
• Build internal strategy project capability and reduce reliance on external consultants for recurring strategic work.

Skills

Strategy leadership

Executive communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Change management

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Master of Science or MBA

Job description

Novartis seeks an ED, US Strategic Projects Lead based in East Hanover, NJ. This role leads a cross-functional team to frame, resource, govern, and deliver high-priority US commercial strategic projects with measurable business impact.

Reporting into the VP, Head of US Strategy & Execution, the role owns the strategic project portfolio delivery model, sponsor alignment, and governance handoffs, with up to 20% travel as needed.