Associate Vice President, R&D Process Orchestration

The Position

As Associate Vice President, R&D Process Orchestration, you will play a pivotal role in accelerating the way Novo Nordisk develops medicines by improving how the work flows across the entire R&D value chain; from early development strategy through protocol development, clinical studies, and submission.

Reporting to the Group Vice President of Portfolio Strategy & Project Leadership, you will lead the newly established R&D Process Orchestration function and act as a strategic partner to the R&D Leadership Team. Your mission is to simplify complexity, improve speed, strengthen collaboration, and enable data-driven decision-making across R&D.

You will work across organisational boundaries to redesign workflows, optimise processes, and introduce digital and AI-enabled solutions that improve productivity and reduce time to market.

Position to be based in Søborg, Denmark.

Your Key Responsibilities

You will:

• Define the strategic direction for process orchestration area across R&D.

• Own and continuously improve key portfolio management processes and optimise the Global Project Framework.

• Drive and facilitate process excellence by redesigning workflows, simplifying handovers, manage interdependencies, and improving end-to-end process efficiency.

• Partner with senior leaders and subject matter experts across R&D, Quality, CMC, Digital, and other business areas to drive enterprise-wide alignment and change to accelerate development of asset strategy, clinical trial planning, execution and submission.

• Work with our AI and Digital area to accelerate digital transformation of how we set asset strategy and enable seamless and fast downstream execution

• Build organisational capability by developing a high-performing team and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• Represent Novo Nordisk externally in relevant industry forums and benchmark emerging best practices in R&D operations.

Qualifications

To succeed in this role, you are likely to bring:

• A master's degree or other advanced degree in Life Sciences, Engineering, Business, or related discipline, preferred.

• Senior leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

• A strong track record of leading enterprise-wide transformation and operational excellence initiatives across a complex pharmaceutical organisation

• Demonstrated success delivering cross-functional transformation across complex value chains, aligning teams, processes, and outcomes.

• Experience redesigning operating models, workflows, or business processes with measurable business impact for R&D functions of a pharmaceutical company

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and lead cross-functional initiatives without direct authority.

• Experience implementing digital solutions such as AI, automation, process mining, or advanced analytics to improve business performance.

• Strong program and portfolio management capabilities.

• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.

About You

We imagine that you:

• Are a strong communicator with excellent collaboration skills.

• Think strategically while remaining highly execution oriented.

• Are naturally curious, and challenge established ways of working.

• Enjoy solving complex organisational challenges through collaboration and influence.

• Build trust quickly and create alignment across diverse stakeholders.

• Lead change with confidence and inspire others to embrace new ways of working.

• Have a passion for continuous improvement, innovation, and creating lasting organisational impact.

Deadline

Sunday 17 September 2026.

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