Associate Director Applied Generative Artificial Intelligence Tech Lead

Job Description Summary

Within RX, the Engineering department delivers excellence in software, data, and infrastructure engineering. It is responsible for building powerful, functional, beautiful, and secure scientific and IT software solutions that accelerate scientific research and deliver a fully integrated and frictionless user experience. The Engineering department is also responsible for providing engineering resources that create and maintain these software solutions in line with the priorities and roadmaps defined by the product teams and our business stakeholders.
As Tech Lead of Applied Generative Artificial Intelligence, you play a leading role in the co-leadership team that will define, build, and support Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) capabilities for drug discovery. Your role is crucial in bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI technology partners and scientific research, ensuring that our pioneering efforts in AI-driven drug discovery translate into tangible advancements in medicine. You will build and guide a team of onshore and offshore engineers.

Job Description

Major accountabilities:

You combine your knowledge of GenAI and drug discovery with your leadership and technical skills to engage with an external technology partner in shaping a strategic initiative that aims at building a GenAI platform to answer scientific questions in a drug discovery context. You will coordinate with key internal and external experts and stakeholders of all levels – collaboratively defining priorities and implementation plans across the drug discovery informatics ecosystem. Together with a Product Manager, a Product Operations Manager, a business program lead and a strategy lead, you will guide the implementation of a GenAI platform to increase the value to drug discovery in BR in a scalable and sustainable fashion. 

Specifically: 

• Strategic Collaboration: You collaborate closely with external technology partner(s) to provide context our ecosystem and focus, and to ensure alignment on focus and prioritization of activities as well as good decision-making practices.  

• Cross-Functional Leadership: You effectively manage dependencies with, connect to, and align with, product teams managing our core data platforms required by the GenAI platform.  

• Stakeholder Engagement: You actively and transparently manage, and communicate to, key stakeholders to co-create visions, roadmaps, and delivery plans for the initiative you lead, and you collaborate in how we define and measure success and value delivery.  

• Innovation and Excellence: You will identify and prioritize further opportunities for GenAI to speed-up, streamline, and innovate drug discovery; with a focus on providing requirements and data access to technology experts and partners. 

• Platform Operationalization: You will be accountable for operationalization of the GenAI platform for drug discovery.  

Key performance indicators:

You are a quick learner and enjoy rapidly developing new expertise and establishing new connections and relationships. You are passionate about and experienced in product development in complex business environments and have an intrinsic drive to improve the quality, speed, and impact of scientific research by applying GenAI and corresponding agents. 

In addition, you bring many of the following expertise and capabilities, and the drive to grow into the rest: 

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a strong track record of successfully managing large-scale high-visibility collaborations among multiple internal and external stakeholders. 

• Ability to effect change, manage conflict, and create consent through direct and indirect influence. 

• Leading effectively in a co-leadership model within the context of a global matrix organization. 

• Previous pharma research informatics development experience on enterprise scale initiatives.   

• Previous experience with drug discovery and corresponding data flows, data architecture, and ecosystem.  

• Familiar with recent developments in AI and Machine Learning.
• Hands-on experience with GenAI applications including:
  • Large Language Models
  • Model fine-tuning
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation
  • Agentic AI frameworks (LangChain or similar). 

• Expertise in cloud services and technologies.

• Creativity in identifying, encouraging, and accelerating innovative solutions. 

• Agile mindset with experience in agile value delivery.  

• 7+ years’ experience in a research informatics environment, ideally in a drug discovery environment. 

Novartis Compensation and Benefit Summary: The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $132,300 and $245,700 per year; however, while salary ranges are effective from 1/1/25 through 12/31/25, 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.

You’ll Receive: You can find everything you need to know about our benefits and rewards in the Novartis Life Handbook. https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards
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.

EEO Statement:

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers who are focused on building and advancing a culture of inclusion that values and celebrates individual differences, uniqueness, backgrounds and perspectives. 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. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace that reflects the world around us and connects us to the patients, customers and communities we serve.

Accessibility and 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 +1(877)395-2339 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

Salary Range

$132,300.00 - $245,700.00

Skills Desired

Apache Hadoop, Applied Mathematics, Big Data, Curiosity, Data Governance, Data Literacy, Data Management, Data Quality, Data Science, Data Strategy, Data Visualization, Deep Learning, Machine Learning (Ml), Machine Learning Algorithms, Master Data Management, Proteomics, Python (Programming Language), R (Programming Language), Statistical Modeling