Senior Director, Medical Affairs Portfolio & Program Management

Novartis
London
Summary

Are you ready to shape the future of medical affairs at a global level? As Senior Director, Medical Affairs Portfolio & Program Management, you’ll play a pivotal role in driving strategic portfolio management and operational excellence across multiple therapeutic areas. Acting as a trusted advisor and chief of staff to senior leaders, you’ll influence high-impact decisions, foster cross-functional collaboration, and ensure the successful execution of innovative medical programmes. Your leadership will empower teams, streamline processes, and directly contribute to advancing patient outcomes worldwide.

Locations: Dublin, Ireland / Barcelona, Spain / London, UK

Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role: please only apply if this location is accessible for you.

Responsibilities

About the Role

  • Serve as chief of staff and strategic partner to Therapeutic Area (TA) Head, ensuring meeting management excellence for Therapeutic Area Medical Affairs Teams (TAMATs) and Portfolio Management Advisory Teams (PMATs).
  • Provide portfolio management consultation, delivering actionable insights and recommendations for assigned TA.
  • Drive customer-focused portfolio analysis using data from multiple sources to inform strategic planning.
  • Harmonise operational strategy and standards for portfolio management, ensuring risk identification and mitigation.
  • Lead process improvements, define and track KPIs, and enable effective portfolio reviews.
  • Oversee meeting management for Therapeutic Area Medical Affairs Teams (TAMATs) and Portfolio Management Advisory Teams (PMATs), ensuring agendas, minutes, and follow-ups are executed.
  • Consolidate and maintain accurate plans and forecasts, aligning medical budget builds across GMA and IMA.
  • Oversee collaboration with core development functions to ensure high-quality portfolio reporting.
  • Lead, coach, and develop a team of portfolio managers and associate directors, fostering operational excellence.
  • Support process improvement, change management, and best practice sharing across the Medical Affairs organisation.

Essential For The Role

  • Advanced degree in life sciences or healthcare; PharmD or PhD preferred.
  • At least 12 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in global development, clinical operations, and portfolio management.
  • Minimum 5 years of people management and development experience in a global organisation.
  • Demonstrated leadership and project management expertise in clinical development or portfolio management.
  • Strong understanding of medical affairs activities, functions, and responsibilities.
  • Proven strategic, analytical, organisational, and planning skills with a track record of effective strategy implementation.
  • Solid knowledge of financial processes related to clinical trials and budget management.
  • Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills.

Desirable For The Role

  • Significant recent experience (3+ years post-2015) working in the US market with local customers and healthcare systems.
  • Proven ability to drive organisational change and sustain a culture of high ethical standards and compliance.

Commitment To Diversity & Inclusion

Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams 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?

Benefits and Rewards: Read our handbook to learn about all the ways we’ll help you thrive personally and professionally:

Posted 2025-12-27

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