Associate Director, Statistical Programming
About this opportunity
Associate Director Statistical Programmer #LI-Hybrid Location: London, UK Remote working can be consideredTherapy Area - CRMThis role is based in London, UK. Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role. Please only apply if this location is accessible for you. Step into a high-impact leadership role where your expertise will shape the future of drug development. As Associate Director Statistical Programming, you will lead a high-performing community of programmers, driving innovation, quality, and efficiency across complex clinical programs. You’ll play a critical role in delivering timely, high-quality insights that enable life-changing treatments to reach patients faster, while empowering teams, advancing technology adoption, and influencing global strategy across Novartis.
Key responsibilities: Lead statistical programming activities as a Lead/Program Programmer for a large-sized or complex project or group of projects globally or locally, or disease area with phase I to IV clinical studies in Novartis Global Drug Development.Co-ordinate activities of programmers either internally or externally. Make statistical programming decisions and propose strategies at project or disease level. Develop statistical programming strategy and scientific documentation for the project(s) or disease area together with the Biostatistician(s). Accountable for the assignment of resources and workload within his/her TA community and ensures sharing of resources between groups in order to meet company objectives and priorities.May act as functional manager of local/global associates including providing supervision and advice to these programmers on functional expertise and processes.Build and maintain effective working relationships with cross-functional teams including Biostatistics and Data Management counterparts, able to summarize and discuss status of deliverables and critical programming aspects, such as,timelines, scope, and resource planning. SP representative at project level and in the Submission team, or in local leadership team.Develop programming strategy to drive standardization across studies or programs and effectively adopt R packages (e.g. Tidyverse), R Shiny Applications, AI-enabled tools etc. to support data visualization, version control (e.g. Git-based), and reproducible workflows. Partner with the functional mentors to support capability development, appropriate tool adoption, and alignment with standards and business needs.Accountable for timely and quality development and validation of all statistical programming components on assigned project(s). Responsible for quality control and audit readiness of all assigned statistical programming deliverables as well as accuracy and reliability of statistical analysis results.Provide authoritative technical and professional recommendations as representative of the statistical programming function at project level or for a major non-clinical initiative. Provide thought leadership level support and guidance.Essential Requirements: University or college degree in life science, computer science, data science, pharmacy, statistics, nursing or equivalent relevant degree.Proven leadership, collaboration and organizational skills with demonstrated ability to successfully manage simultaneous trials and meet deadlinesExcellent understanding of clinical trials methodology, GCP and medical terminologyMust be able to anticipate challenges and risks and proactively suggest/implement solutionsAbility to work under pressure demonstrating agility through effective and innovative team leadershipExcellent interpersonal skills and proven ability to operate effectively in a global environment. Foster a team environment that values learning, adaptability, and continuous improvement. Ability to influence and communicate across functions and to external stakeholdersExperience in Drug Development with experience in Statistical ProgrammingManagement or leadership experienceBenefits & RewardsAt Novartis, we’re committed to reimagining medicine together - and rewarding the people who make it happen.Expected Annual Base Salary Range for role: £67,900.00 - £126,100.00The base salary offered is determined based on gender-neutral objectives, such as relevant skills, competencies and experience in accordance with the Novartis pay setting policy and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically.In addition to your base salary, you may be eligible for a performance-based bonus depending on certain performance parameters.The rewards of being part of our team go far beyond base pay and incentives. We also offer a variety of competitive benefits in kind to help you thrive personally and professionally, such as insurance plans, retirement plans, wellbeing resources and global recognition programs. In addition, we provide flexible and hybrid working options, where possible, and minimum 14 weeks paid parental leave.Pay equity is a fundamental principle of our employment policy and reflects our commitment to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment that treats all employees with dignity and respect, as outlined in our Code of Ethics.Read our brochure to learn more about our global total rewards offering:https://www.novartis.com/sites/novartis_com/files/novartis-life-handbook.pdfNote: Benefits and compensation may vary by country and are subject to local legal requirements, including provisions of collective bargaining agreements where applicable. A full overview of your compensation package, including any relevant collective bargaining agreement details applicable to your role based on your employment location and Novartis employer entity, will be communicated separately to you during the application process.Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion / EEO paragraphNovartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams’ representative of the patients and communities we serve.
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Biostatistics & Data Science role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 61 comparable Associate Director Biostatistics & Data Science roles across 17 biopharma companies.
Salary context
22 of 61 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 61 comparable roles
+ 6 more countries
Seniority mix
61 of 61 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
9 of 61 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.