Executive Director, Trans Med for Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration

The location of the position will be at our Cambridge, MA site and will not have the ability to be located remotely.

Hundreds of millions of people globally are negatively impacted by neurodegenerative diseases. Among these, disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases limit independence, often shortening the lives of patients and place enormous burdens on family and society. Novartis is exploring new frontiers to treat neurodegenerative disorders.

In the role of Executive Director you will provide medical and scientific leadership and expertise in a role that significantly impacts the entire Novartis Neurodegenerative drug development pipeline.

In this key position you will:

• Drive success of early global programs, develop and implement strategies to achieve clinical Proof of Concept
• Drive success of late global programs when appropriate by developing and implementing strategies that lead to clinical pharmacology, design of mechanistic studies and profiling packages that meet regulatory requirements and support differentiated and competitive drug labeling
• Provide scientific expert assessments and support for in-licensing opportunities, including due diligences

In collaboration with your Translational Medicine (TM) Therapeutic Area Head or other TM Experts, your responsibilities will include:
• Develop high value decision-strategies for the TM component of drug development projects from Research to clinical Proof of Concept or Proof of Mechanism in single or multiple indications, including Parallel Indication Expansion-Proof of Concepts
- Represent TM and lead global project teams through First in Human and Proof of Concept phase to drive implementation of the Proof of Concept strategy
- Convene relevant internal and external leaders together to consider the proposed approach to Proof of Concept
- In collaboration with research scientists, contribute to the proposal of new targets or indications for existing compounds; identify, develop, and implement strategy for preclinical support of clinical program-related scientific objectives. This includes assessment of medical need, proposal of clinical development pathways, and review of preclinical data for clinical implications, and other relevant activities
- Responsible for implementing studies during the Proof of Concept phase by providing medical and scientific leadership and expertise to all line functions on the project team. This may include methodology studies to identify and validate novel endpoints for early decision making in Proof of Concept studies.
- Responsible for clinical portions of the Integrated Development Plan, including the Clinical Development Plan and Clinical Pharmacology Plan
• Accountable for compound and disease related biomarker strategies, working closely with Biomarker Experts in implementation
• Develop and implement study protocols for different types of clinical studies (First in Human, Proof of Concept, mechanistic and safety studies), and other documents such as investigators brochures.
• Responsible for clinical monitoring and integrated safety data review during and after the live phase of a study
• Provide medical and scientific leadership and expertise to all line functions on the study team
• Represent clinical TM aspects to Health Authorities and other stakeholders (e.g. payers, patient advocacy groups)
• Represent clinical TM in reviews of external opportunities
• Oversee publication and external presentation of study results
• Innovation: Champion and drive new clinical compound characterization opportunities and profiling approaches
• Contribute to initiatives that drive innovation, quality, and efficiency across TM

In this role you may have people management responsibility with 1-3 direct reports and matrix people responsibility per project: 5-8 cross-functional members from within TM plus other functions per project team.

Novartis Compensation and Benefit Summary: The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $284,000 - $426,000/year; however, while salary ranges are effective from 1/1/24 through 12/31/24, fluctuations in the job market may necessitate adjustments to pay ranges during this period. Further, final pay determinations will depend on various factors, including, but not limited to geographical location, experience level, knowledge, skills, and abilities. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a sign-on bonus, restricted stock units, and discretionary awards in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.