Director, Business Applications & AI Products

Role Summary

This position will be located at the East Hanover, NJ location and will not have the ability to be located remotely. We are recruiting for two roles. The Insights and Decision Science (IDS) team is dedicated to enabling improved decision-making at Novartis by leveraging data and advanced analytics capabilities to generate actionable insights that drive business growth. We collaborate closely with the US business, bringing insights and challenging ideas to empower smarter, data-driven decision-making. The Director of Business Applications & AI Products is responsible for centrally managing and optimizing business applications that support various functions within Novartis US, consolidating user bases into a standardized set of applications, driving efficiency and maximizing adoption across different personas, and modernizing the business application landscape by integrating AI features, automation, and intelligent decision science capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage business applications that support the needs of different functions within Novartis US, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives
• Maximize application efficiency & adoption across user personas by consolidating and maintaining various user bases into a set of standard applications, while proactively identifying opportunities for enhancement (including AI & automation)
• Develop and execute a product roadmap for business applications, ensuring alignment with business needs, evolving technology, and industry trends; oversee the end-to-end development lifecycle of applications, from idea to implementation, leveraging agile methodologies
• Lead the integration of AI capabilities into business applications—such as predictive analytics, intelligent automation, and generative AI—to improve user experience, insights, and decision-making
• Actively manage the product backlog, prioritizing initiatives that provide the highest strategic value and scalability
• Collaborate with third-party vendors to influence product and application roadmaps based on changing business needs and technology advancements
• Drive the vision for consolidating technology products into evolved platforms, ensuring efficiency and interoperability
• Ensure product development efforts align with broader organizational strategies, acting as a link between teams and stakeholders
• Engage with different business units to develop a unified view of technology platforms required to meet business needs
• Work closely with DDIT and other IDS teams to ensure robust product planning, integration, and execution
• Track product adoption, gather feedback, and refine strategies based on user needs and business performance and ensure smooth onboarding, training, and communication for stakeholders using business applications

Education

• Bachelor's or master’s degree in business administration, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field

Qualifications

• Required: Experience in leading product management and development operations within the pharmaceutical or healthcare industry, with a focus on AI transformation, digital enablement, and next-gen applications
• Required: Bachelor's or master’s degree in business administration, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• Required: Minimum of 8+ years of experience in product management, application development, or related roles, preferably in the pharmaceutical or healthcare sector, with a focus on vendor relationships and aligning with product goals
• Required: Strong understanding of product lifecycle management, agile frameworks, and best practices in product development, including integrating vendor contributions
• Required: Proven track record of delivering complex product portfolios that align with business objectives and user needs, coordinating with vendors to enhance product offerings (ideally with embedded data or AI features)
• Required: Familiarity with AI technologies (predictive modeling, NLP, or generative AI) and how they can be embedded into enterprise applications
• Required: Excellent leadership, strategic thinking, communication, and stakeholder management skills to engage cross-functional teams and external partners
• Required: Ability to drive change and innovation in a dynamic environment, leveraging vendor partnerships to support strategic initiatives
• Required: Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to use data insights to inform product decisions and optimizations, including vendor performance assessments
• Desirable: Certification in product management or agile methodologies, with any additional experience in vendor management