Vice President - Data Discovery

About the Department

Our Research & Development organization brings together the best minds in life science innovation. The teams located in facilities in Lexington, Watertown, Cambridge (MA) and Seattle (WA) reflect the full R&D continuum, from early research through late-stage clinical development.

Here, we are building for the future, creating a distinct R&D community based on collaboration, partnerships, and cutting-edge research across multiple modalities and therapeutic areas.

We recognize that improving human health starts here and that patients rely on us. Our R&D hub merges biotech speed and agility with large pharmaceutical company quality, resources, and stability, uniting the best of both worlds to develop new medicines for patients.

The Position

The Vice President (VP) is responsible for creating and leading a team of science and technology experts, spanning three digital research objectives :

Data Product Creation : Develop data products used in Research and Early Development (R&ED) to gain insights impacting the drug portfolio.

This includes identifying relevant internal and external scientific data, automating data processing pipelines, ensuring access to high performance computing, and implementing data management with a focus on AI model training.

• Aligned Approach for Data and Knowledge Discovery (DKD) area : Support Boston area research sites with research informatics needs, such as scientific data registration tools and data management strategies.
• Emerging Technologies : A minor responsibility will be to monitor and engage selectively in assessing and testing emerging disruptive technologies relevant to early research digitization (new platforms, data, technologies).

This strategically important and complex role interfaces with multiple parts of the R&ED organization. It will focus on ensuring consistent data registration approaches at the Boston area research sites, providing high quality data to answer critical research questions, and supporting the data foundation for project needs and AI approaches locally and globally.

The data, often high dimensional and phenotypic, will support global research efforts, particularly advanced data science methods such as generative AI.

Responsibilities include ensuring consistent data registration approaches at the Boston area research sites, rapidly providing new data to the scientific community, and facilitating flexible data integration for novel use cases.

In addition, the role involves implementing data governance and disseminating policies and guidelines related to data use.

The VP area will host employees from other groups in DKD and Digital Science and Innovation (DSI) for extended business trips and job rotations, ensuring strong integration and connectivity between these units and other R&ED areas at the Boston area research sites.

Relationships

Reports to the Corporate Vice President (CVP), Data and Knowledge Discovery (DKD). Interacts with leaders and scientific specialists across R&ED, project leaders for scientific projects in R&ED, DSI leadership team, DKD leadership peers and key specialists.

Also proven ability to network to external opportunities of interest.

Essential Functions

Develop Strategy and Plans : Create a strategy and plans for building a strong team of data engineers, product owners, and data management specialists to support R&ED data capture management and creation of data products.

This involves managing a global matrixed organisation and Boston area research sites. The strategy will also include augmenting internal staff with contractors.

Leadership : Lead a department in line with the Novo Nordisk Way. Set goals and individual development plans for team members, coach leadership teams and high potentials, ensure workforce engagement, and maintain work life balance.

Understand the technical skills required for team members.

• Strategy Implementation : Develop and implement the Data Discovery strategy, including :
• Delivering data products to fuel large scale AI model training and facilitating access to compute.
• Prioritizing requirements for building, buying or collaborating on scientific data registration applications for the Boston area research sites and supporting local mergers and acquisitions.
• Aligning work with R&ED strategy and local / global needs.
• Implementing data governance strategies for people, processes, and technology, adhering to DKD guidelines.
• Resource Allocation : Resource the development of prioritized data products and support the implementation of scientific data capture and data management practices at the Boston areas research sites.

Understand the roles and responsibilities of peers and others units to deliver value to R&ED locally and globally.

Leadership Team Contribution : Contribute to the DKD Leadership Team with technical, scientific and leadership experience.

Development and refine strategies for DKD and DSI, and collaborate with the Digital, Data and Information Technology (DDIT) organization.

• Relationship Building : Build strong relationships with DSI units, DDIT units and R&ED stakeholders to ensure the delivery of impactful data products and support Boston area research sites activities from DKD.
• Advocacy : Advocate for DSI within Novo Nordisk and in external forums.

Physical Requirements

The candidate would be expected to travel to conferences and other Novo Nordisk sites up to 10% of the time. This will include some international travel.

There are no physical requirements, e.g. ability to lift 50 lbs. A driver’s license is not required.

Development of People

Supervisory

Ensure that reporting personnel have individual development plans (IDP), with annual goals and measurements that are consistent with the priorities of the business, and that interim reviews are held so that their work is focused on those priorities, and they understand their level of accountability for results and the measurement process.

Ensure that the IDP forms include completed learning and aspiration plans and are in place for all reporting personnel to enable the achievement of goals and capability to assume increased levels of responsibility.

Manage the application and communication of all Novo Nordisk policies, procedures, and Novo Nordisk Way.

Qualifications

• Master's degree required, PhD preferred degree within relevant computational / scientific disciplines preferred
• 12+ years’ relevant experience required with a Master’s degree, 10+ years’ relevant experience with a PhD
• Relevant experience includes :
• Experience in different efficient delivery methods associated with digital transformation
• Experience and understanding in delivery of data registration systems and data products
• Experience in coaching and monitoring line managers or team members
• Foundation in life science and digital technologies and strong drug discovery understanding, preferably from early pharmaceutical research, biotechnology or big tech environments
• Strong understanding of state-of-the-art technologies and approaches relevant for digitalization of early pharmaceutical research
• Understands and can recognize potentially disruptive emerging technologies, with potential and ability to lay out a plan for how to engage with these
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues and teams in a global organisation
• Strong communication skills to convey information clearly and efficiently
• Willingness to make well-informed decisions and take clear actions
• Capacity to drive meaningful impact in one's role
• Adaptability and openness to change, with the ability to work in complex, dynamic environments
• A track record of building and leading an effective department or team

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures.

We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in.

Together, we’re life changing.

Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.

If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290.

This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.