Global Program Safety Lead (Director Level)

About the role

Novartis is looking for a passionate senior leader to drive patient safety across global clinical programs. The role operates at director level and can be based in London, Basel or Barcelona, providing expert safety input and leading cross‑functional teams.

Key responsibilities

• Provide expert safety input to clinical development programs and actively participate in Global Program Team, Global Clinical Team and Clinical Trial Team.
• Lead the Safety Management Team and manage safety issues throughout the product life‑cycle.
• Own and develop the safety strategy for assigned projects, producing medical safety deliverables and core labeling information.
• Oversee signal detection, monitoring, evaluation and appropriate management of safety data from all sources.
• Lead preparation of safety strategies for health‑authority responses and address regulatory or healthcare professional inquiries.
• Contribute to departmental and functional goals and help develop competencies across the Medical Safety function.

Required profile

• Medical degree, PhD, PharmD or equivalent graduate‑level health‑care professional qualification.
• Minimum 3 years post‑doctoral clinical experience.
• At least 5 years experience in drug development within a major pharmaceutical company, including ≥2 years in a global role and ≥2 years in drug safety (operational or medical).
• Experience with clinical trial methodology, regulatory requirements, scientific methodology, statistics and publication writing.
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional, multicultural teams.
• Fluent English (spoken and written).

Required skills

• Clinical safety assessment preparation.
• Regulatory safety reporting and submissions.
• Signal detection and safety issue management.
• Medical safety strategy development.