Director PHAD India

Job Description Summary

Key leadership role within PHAD (Pharmaceutical Development Unit in the global CMC organization), accountable for PHAD India deliverables, with significant strategic and operational responsibility. Lead the PHAD India organization comprising of multiples units (Pharmaceutical development of oral and parenteral drug products, external partner management, and lead optimization and pre-clinical formulation development).

Shape and develop its strategic direction and drive operational excellence in line with the Global PHAD vision and strategy. Drive people development/growth of PHAD India associates and Diversity and Inclusion goals. Foster a culture of innovation, empowerment, trust, learning, and high performance. Nurture cross-functional collaboration between PHAD, TRD (Technical Research and Development) and Development India teams.

 

Job Description

Major accountabilities:

Strategy & Direction

• Set and evolve the PHAD India strategy for science and technology, aligned to global business needs and the organizational vision.
• Ensure alignment with the end‑to‑end drug development process, and with the global PHAD functions.

Portfolio, Planning & Operational Excellence

• Plan and allocate resources to meet timelines and key milestones across the global oral and parenteral portfolio, keeping schedules realistic and delivery focused.
• Drive operational excellence to deliver high‑quality products and solutions, embedding continuous improvement practices.
• Ensures local execution of global initiatives, priorities, and objectives
• Ensures best practice sharing, knowledge exchange and cross functional support within the global PHAD and the PHAD & ARD (Analytical Research and Development) India Organizations across all units/departments
• Financial responsibility: Ensure project and lab spending within line function budget and financial competency. Propose and prepare business cases for investments, in line with global PHAD.

Science, Quality & Compliance

• Generate, review, and hand over high‑quality scientific documents to partners (Operations, authorities, other companies), ensuring clarity and regulatory readiness.
• Influences/persuades others and work according to appropriate SOPs. GLP, GMP, OQM, HSE, ISEC and Novartis Guidelines
• Ensures alignment with all required regulation and guidelines in Operations and Projects to guarantee permanent regulatory readiness

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

• Lead multiples teams to deliver on project and business objectives, reinforcing collaboration mechanisms.
• Represent the unit with internal and external stakeholders, acting as the strategic liaison in initiatives and partnerships.

People, Capability & Culture

• Role‑model PHAD values—collaboration, entrepreneurship, courage, innovation—Achieves a true culture of empowerment and innovation, diversity and inclusion, trust, high performance, and continuous improvement mindset
• Actively coach and develop direct reports
• Drive people development/growth of PHAD IN associates, in line with Global PHAD ambitions, D&I goals, and the site culture and climate.
• As a member of the PHAD global leadership team, actively contribute to PHAD strategy, vision and operations; represent PHAD at cross-functional decision-/governance boards

Minimum Requirements:

• >10 years of experience in pharmaceutical industry, preferably in functions with exposure to drug product development in pharmaceutical development or technical operations at NVS or at similar functions in other companies
• >10 years of experience in people management, in multi-disciplinary drug development teams.
• Leadership experience in the delivery of complex programs and managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong interpersonal, networking, and strategic partnering skills
• Energetic, can-do attitude
• Excellent written and verbal communication/ presentation skills coupled with scientific / technical skills and with negotiation and conflict resolution skills

Work Experience:

• Managing Crises.
• People Challenges.
• Collaborating across boundaries.
• Operations Management and Execution.
• People Leadership.

Skills:

• Budget Management.
• Coaching Skills.
• Data Science.
• Experiments Design.
• Laboratory.
• Npi (New Product Introduction).
• People Management.
• Problem Solving Skills.
• Process Simulation.
• Project Management.
• R&D.

 

Skills Desired

Budget Management, Coaching Skills, Data Science, Experiments Design, Laboratory, Npi (New Product Introduction), People Management, Problem Solving Skills, Process Simulation, R&D, Waterfall Model