Novartis Posted July 5, 2026

Validation Lead

Morrisville (North Carolina), United States FULL_TIME
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Novartis is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Location: Morrisville, North CarolinaJoin Novartis and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of pharmaceutical manufacturing at our growing Morrisville site. As the Validation Lead, you will drive the site’s validation strategy across process, cleaning, packaging, and ongoing verification activities, ensuring products are delivered with the highest standards of quality, compliance, and patient safety. This is a unique opportunity to build and influence validation programs from the ground up, partner with cross-functional experts, and contribute directly to successful product launches, technical transfers, and regulatory readiness in a dynamic and innovative manufacturing environment.

Key ResponsibilitiesLead the site validation strategy across process, cleaning, packaging, and ongoing process and cleaning verification activities.Own and maintain the Validation Master Plan, ensuring timely execution and inspection readiness.Establish, monitor, and improve validation performance metrics to support compliance and operational excellence.Provide technical leadership for validation risk assessments, investigations, and complex validation challenges.Partner with Engineering, Quality, Analytical Science & Technology, and IT to define the interfaces to equipment qualification / utilities qualification, system qualification, analytical method validation.Support product launches and technical transfers by defining robust validation approaches and delivering required data.Represent the site during audits, inspections, and validation governance activities while maintaining compliance standards.Essential RequirementsBachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Pharmacy, Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Technology, or a related scientific discipline.8 years of experience in manufacturing / manufacturing science and technology / technical development / quality in oral solid dosage pharmaceutical manufacturing.5 years of experience executing process validation, including experience leading and managing validation projects.Proven expertise leading process validation, cleaning validation, and ongoing process verification programs.Strong knowledge of quality systems applied statistics, and global regulatory requirements.Demonstrated success managing complex cross-functional projects and authoring technical validation documentation.Desirable RequirementsPhD Chemistry, Pharmacy, Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Technology, or equivalent. The salary for this position is expected to range between $126,000 and $234,000 per year. The final salary offered is determined based on factors like, but not limited to, relevant skills and experience, and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically. Novartis may change the published salary range based on company and market factors. Your compensation will include a performance-based cash incentive and, depending on the level of the role, eligibility to be considered for annual equity awards. US-based eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. In addition, employees are eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves.To learn more about the culture, rewards and benefits we offer our people click here.#LI-Onsite

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Morrisville (North Carolina), United States
Employment type
FULL_TIME

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Manufacturing & CMC role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 3753 comparable Manufacturing & CMC roles across 173 biopharma companies.

3753Comparable roles tracked
3372Currently active
173Companies hiring similar roles
64Countries represented

Salary context

920 of 3753 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject $126,000/yr – $234,000/yr
Lowest disclosed · Biologics Support Operator I (3rd Shift) · AbbVie $14/hr – $26/hr (≈ $29,099–$54,122/yr)
Highest disclosed · Head of Analytical Development · ModernaTX, Inc. $272,200/yr – $490,100/yr
Peer group range $41,610 – $381,150 (median $125,375)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 3753 comparable roles

United States1738
Germany251
India166
France146
Ireland137
China123

+ 58 more countries

Seniority mix

1670 of 3753 peers have a known seniority level

Senior431
Manager381
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc259
Associate162
Principal138
Associate Director119
Director115
Senior Director57
Executive/VP8

Therapeutic area mix

24 of 3753 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Vaccines & Infectious Disease15
Rare Disease3
Oncology3
Respiratory1
Dermatology & Aesthetics1
Immunology1

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.

40%similar
AstraZeneca New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
Same function Same country
40%similar
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Director
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Director
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Same function Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Manufacturing & CMC job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

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.

40%
Development Scientist III, Analytical Development and Clinical Quality Control
AstraZeneca · New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Director - Analytical Chemistry
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Director - BRD Analytical Development
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Analytical R&D Fellowship – Formulation and Solubility Studies (Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellow)
Merck · West Point, Pennsylvania, United States · Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 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.