Director, Business Applications Product Owner 1 of 2

Role Summary

The Director, Business Applications Product Owner is responsible for centrally managing and optimizing business applications that support various functions within Novartis US. This role consolidates user bases into a standardized set of applications, drives efficiency, maximizes adoption, and modernizes the business application landscape by integrating AI-powered features, automation, and intelligent decision science capabilities. Collaborates with business units, IT, and external vendors to align application roadmaps with evolving business needs and technology advancements, and leads efforts to streamline and integrate technology platforms to create a cohesive and scalable application ecosystem.

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.

Essential Requirements

• Extensive experience in leading product management and development operations within the pharmaceutical or healthcare industry, with a forward-looking perspective on AI transformation, digital enablement, and next-gen applications
• Education: Bachelor's or master’s degree in business administration, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
• Minimum of 8+ years of experience in product management, application development, or related roles, preferably within the pharmaceutical or healthcare sector, with a focus on managing vendor relationships and ensuring alignment with product goals
• Strong understanding of product lifecycle management, agile frameworks, and best practices in product development, including the ability to integrate vendor contributions effectively
• Proven track record of successfully managing and 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
• Familiarity with AI technologies such as predictive modeling, natural language processing, or generative AI, and how they can be embedded into enterprise applications
• Excellent leadership, strategic thinking, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage and influence cross-functional teams and external partners
• Ability to drive change and innovation in a dynamic and complex organizational environment, leveraging vendor partnerships to support strategic initiatives
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to leverage data insights to inform product decisions and optimizations, including vendor performance assessments
• Certification in product management or agile methodologies is desirable, with any additional experience in vendor management