Associate Director, Governance & Portfolio Lead

Novartis • East Hanover, NJ

8d • $138,600 - $257,400 • Onsite

About The Position

This position is based in East Hanover, NJ and will not have the ability to be located remotely. Please note that this role would not provide relocation and only local candidates will be considered. The expectation of working hours and travel (domestic and/or international) will be defined by the hiring manager. This position will require up to 20% travel. Reporting into the ED, US Strategy Prioritization & Governance Lead, this role manages the operating mechanics of enterprise portfolio governance: intake, triage, portfolio analytics, decision preparation, dependency management, action tracking, and follow-through across assigned strategic initiative domains. The Associate Director, Governance & Portfolio Lead is responsible for owning assigned portfolio segments or governance forums; managing intake quality, initiative profiles, scoring, issue / risk logs, action tracking, and portfolio dashboards. This role is the operating backbone for the new US governance model and will convert strategic intent into portfolio discipline and executive-ready visibility.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field
• 7+ years of experience in portfolio management, strategic planning, program management, business operations, consulting, pharma commercial strategy, or drug development operations.
• Experience preparing governance materials, project / portfolio dashboards, senior stakeholder updates, and decision logs.
• Strong analytical, facilitation, project-management, and written communication skills.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree (Master of Science and/or MBA)
• Experience with pharma governance, portfolio processes, or commercial strategy planning.
• Experience with portfolio tools, KPI dashboards, executive cadence management, and dependency management.

Responsibilities

• Manage initiative intake and ensure submissions include problem statement, strategic rationale, expected value, resource ask, owner, risks, dependencies, decision needed, and success metrics.
• Apply prioritization criteria consistently; surface weak cases, duplicative work, sequencing conflicts, and capacity gaps.
• Prepare governance pre-reads, dashboards, executive summaries, and decision logs for portfolio forums.
• Track portfolio health across milestones, risks, resource assumptions, and strategic outcomes.
• Coordinate with project owners and Strategy Associates to maintain accurate portfolio data and follow-up actions.
• Escalate unresolved dependencies and decisions before they become delivery drag.

Benefits

• health, life and disability benefits
• a 401(k) with company contribution and match
• a variety of other benefits
• a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level