Executive Director, Market Research

Job Description Summary

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. Reporting into the VP, Head, Human Insights & Analytics, this role is crucial in shaping the strategic direction of the organization by harnessing the power of insights to drive informed decision-making.

This role is dedicated to understanding the perceptions and behaviors of HCPs, patients and payers, ensuring that the organization is fully aware of the evolving market dynamics and customer needs. By leading a team of researchers, the ED Market Research fosters a culture of innovation and collaboration, working closely with cross-functional teams to identify and integrate comprehensive insights around stakeholder perceptions, market barriers, and product positioning that support the development of tailored engagement strategies and optimized marketing efforts across HCPs, patients, and payers.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee and guide a team to conduct / implement market research projects to understand HCP market perception, sentiment, and awareness of treatments. Proactively collect ongoing feedback from HCPs on product use, clinical outcomes, and patient impact

  • Oversee research to understand how patients attitudes and perception of Novartis products, their awareness of treatments and the impact of patient support programs on brand perception

    • Drive identification and prioritization of initiatives where MR can support internal business priorities and establish yearly goals for teams supporting therapeutic areas, ensuring focus on high-impact opportunities

      • Inform inputs for forecast models through opportunity assessment and demand estimation research

        • Develop insights to support Field teams research on patient and provider needs, and to support any material creation

          • Develop insights to support Market Access research on payer needs, pricing strategies, rebate structures, and market access barriers, including regulatory and pricing challenges, to inform engagement and access efforts

            • Serve as POC to ensure research projects conducted by external vendors are designed to derive insights that meet the needs of specific business partners

              • Drive collaboration with Provider I&A and Human Insights & Behavior Science teams to identify key drivers influencing HCP and patient beliefs, behaviors, and barriers to adoption to understand and support creation of customized engagement strategies

                • Support Marketing team in optimizing content, positioning and measuring omnichannel DTP / DTC engagement​ through message and concept testing

                  • Establish and implement best practices for market research including standardized and effective templates for instrument design and consistency in approach to analysis and insight generation to answer the key questions and support business objectives for the IPST / TA / functional teams

                    • Establish sustained, flexible cross-functional collaboration with IPST and TA portfolio teams, functional teams (e.g., Medical, NPS, Marketing, Market Access), IDS stakeholders (Decision Scientists) and external vendors to run specific research initiatives

Essential Requirements:

Education (minimum/desirable):

Bachelor's degree in related field is required; Master of Science and/or MBA strongly preferred

Novartis seeks an experienced and dynamic leader to spearhead market research initiatives, design and derive insights that address the key business questions and objectives of functional NVS and IDS teams to drive data-driven decision-making. The ideal candidate will have an extensive understanding of the pharmaceutical landscape, with expertise in guiding application of different research methodologies to understand market perceptions and sentiment among HCPs, patients and payers. This role requires a leader who fosters collaboration across cross-functional teams, develops talent, and drives a culture of innovation and thought leadership, and establishes a solid foundation of delivering actionable insights through primary research that can be integrated with secondary analytics to empower strategic initiatives, marketing, and outreach efforts.

Additional qualifications are as follows:

• 10+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical or healthcare industry, with a strong focus on HCP, patient and payer strategic insights and analytics

  • A bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Life Sciences, Data Science, or a related field; an MBA or advanced degree is strongly preferred

    • 5+ years of domain expertise in these areas are highly desired: primary market research, secondary data analytics, data science, field analytics and insights, market access and patient service analytics, or other related strategic analytics and management consulting

      • 5+ years of people management experience. Proven track record of enabling data-driven decision-making at a senior leadership level, including addressing complex business challenges and shaping organizational strategy particularly in therapeutic areas.

        • Strong analytical background, strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights and aligning them with business priorities to drive impactful results

          • Excellent communication skills, capable of effectively collaborating with leadership across NVS and IDS functions to translate strategic objectives into the right research metrics and present complex insights effectively to diverse audiences

            • Experience in leading cross-functional and matrixed teams, with demonstrated ability to collaborate across functions including marketing, provider and patient engagement, to drive strategic alignment

              • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and adapt to changing business needs and priorities

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $204,400.00 and $379,600.00 a 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.

EEO Statement:

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. 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.

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 us.reasonableaccommodations@novartis.com 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

$204,400.00 - $379,600.00

Skills Desired

Agility, Brand Awareness, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Engagement, Customer Experience, Customer Insights, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Go-To-Market Strategy, Influencing Skills, Inspirational Leadership, Marketing Strategy, People Management, Product Positioning, Product Roadmap, Sales, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Marketing

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