Director, Translational Medicine Expert, Clinical Pharmacology

Summary

As a Director, Translational Medicine Expert (TME), Clinical Pharmacology (CP TME), you will serve as the primary medical and scientific leader for FiH and Clinical Pharmacology studies. You will partner closely with cross functional Clinical Pharmacology Trial Teams, project level TMEs, and CRO collaborators to ensure the highest standards of medical supervision, participant safety, and scientific quality.

TM Clinical Pharmacology is a cross‑functional expert group responsible for the design, execution, and reporting of First‑in‑Human (FiH) and Clinical Pharmacology studies across all therapeutic areas. Operating through a strategic outsourcing model, we partner with qualified CROs while maintaining strong sponsor oversight of all strategic elements, including study design, regulatory engagement, and timelines.

About The Role

Location: This role is based in London, United Kingdom. Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role: please only apply if this location is accessible for you.

Role Overview

As a Director, Translational Medicine Expert (TME), Clinical Pharmacology (CP TME), you will serve as the primary medical and scientific leader for FiH and Clinical Pharmacology studies. You will partner closely with cross‑functional Clinical Pharmacology Trial Teams, project‑level TMEs, and CRO collaborators to ensure the highest standards of medical supervision, participant safety, and scientific quality.

This role directly shapes early and full development programs across the BR portfolio and plays a critical part in delivering high‑quality data that informs program decisions and regulatory submissions.

Your Responsibilities

• Clinical Pharmacology Portfolio Leadership
• Lead and manage multiple FiH and Clinical Pharmacology studies simultaneously with medical, scientific, and operational excellence

Provide expert Clinical Pharmacology input into Study Concept Sheets, protocols, Informed Consent Forms, Statistical Analysis Plans, and TLF shells

Oversee medical and safety aspects of studies, including Site Initiation Visits, ongoing safety reviews, medical coding, and safety reporting

Drive development of Clinical Study Reports and contribute to dissemination of study results (e.g., abstracts, posters, manuscripts, plain‑language and technical summaries)

Clinical Pharmacology Strategy & Cross‑Functional Collaboration

Provide strategic Clinical Pharmacology guidance to ensure optimal study design aligned with program objectives

Partner with project‑level TMEs to align on compound background and program strategy

Lead or contribute to strategic initiatives, process optimization, and capability‑building efforts within TM Clinical Pharmacology

Strengthen collaborations with internal stakeholders across early and full development, as well as with external CRO partners

Impact of the Role

This role significantly influences the success of the Novartis development pipeline by:

• Enabling efficient and high‑quality execution of FiH and Clinical Pharmacology studies
• Delivering key data supporting program milestones and regulatory submissions
• Strengthening Clinical Pharmacology as a Novartis Center of Excellence across all BR therapeutic areas
• Elevating scientific and medical expertise within TM and across development teams
  
  

Minimum Requirements

• Medical degree (MD) combined with a PhD/post‑doctoral training, board certification, or relevant Clinical Pharmacology research experience
• Significant experience in FiH and Clinical Pharmacology studies—either in biotech/pharma, as a PI/sub‑investigator at a CRO, or at an academic medical center
• Proven track record of contributions to drug development, regulatory submissions, or high‑quality scientific publications

Experience within a TM therapeutic area is an asset

Full professional proficiency in English (spoken and written)

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.

Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

Join our Novartis Network: Not the right Novartis role for you? Sign up to our talent community to stay connected and learn about suitable career opportunities as soon as they come up: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network

Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

Benefits and Rewards: Learn about all the ways we’ll help you thrive personally and professionally.

Read our handbook (PDF 30 MB)