Associate Director, Solution Architect Innovation & Delivery

This job is with Novartis, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community. Please do not contact the recruiter directly.

Summary

As a Solution Architect in Innovation & Delivery, you are responsible for not only designing and planning, but actively guiding thru execution end-to-end solution architectures that enable scalable, integrated, and high-impact digital systems supporting Biomedical Research. Working at the intersection of delivery segment teams and engineering teams, you translate business, scientific, and portfolio strategy into clear, actionable architectural direction that informs design, engineering, and delivery outcomes.

Leveraging strong domain awareness and architectural expertise, you oversee the landscape of scientific and informatics capabilities and how they map to digital solutions. You ensure these capabilities are consistently represented across data platforms, AI solutions, and shared services, and that they integrate into cohesive, scalable ecosystems serving thousands of users.

Operating as an expert individual contributor, you bridge domain intent with technical implementation, delivering solution design, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards as well as data and AI strategies, and driving consistent adoption of architectural patterns across the organization.

About the Role

#LI-HybridThis role is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role: please only apply if this location is accessible for you.

Major Responsibilities

Solution Architecture & Direction

Translate portfolio and product strategy into actionable solution architectures spanning data, AI, application, and integration layers. Define end-to-end architectures that connect SaaS/commercial products, enterprise platforms, and custom engineering components into cohesive solutions. Ensure architectures enable secure, stable, scalable, maintainable and cost efficient.

Integration & Ecosystem Architecture

Own and maintain a clear, evolving view of scientific and informatics capabilities, and how they map to existing and future digital solutions. Ensure these capabilities are consistently layered across solutions, with clear boundaries, responsibilities, and interactions, enabling a coherent and interoperable ecosystem.

Design and govern integration patterns across heterogeneous ecosystems, including APIs, event-driven architectures, and shared data services. Enable interoperability across data platforms, AI services, laboratory systems, and external partner environments. Ensure solutions support scalability to thousands of users and high-volume data processing.

Bridging Domain and Engineering

Act as the primary interface between delivery segment teams and engineering/platform teams. Translate research and scientific workflows into actionable technical designs. Provide clear architectural guidance that is consumable by engineering teams while ensuring alignment with domain needs.

Influence & Architectural Governance

Provide architectural oversight and governance, ensuring solutions align with standards, compliance, and strategic objectives. Promote reuse, consistency, and adoption of architectural standards across teams. Ensure consistency in how scientific and informatics capabilities are represented, reused, and governed across solutions.

Collaboration & Delivery Enablement

Partner with product, data, AI, and engineering leaders to shape roadmaps and delivery sequencing. Balance near-term delivery requirements with long-term sustainability and architectural integrity. Enable high-quality delivery through pragmatic, context-specific guidance.

What Youll Bring

Minimum 5+ years experience in the life sciences / pharmaceutical industry

Advanced degree in a relevant field (e.g., Life Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline)

Technical & Architectural Expertise

Strong experience in solution and platform architecture across cloud-native, distributed, and data-intensive systems. Deep understanding of integration patterns, APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures. Familiarity with AI/ML model integration, agentic systems and operationalization within enterprise environments.

Research Domain Experience

Experience working in scientific or research-driven environments such as biomedical research or life sciences. Ability to quickly understand domain workflows and translate them into digital, data, and AI-enabled solutions.

Bridging & Communication

Excellent communication and influence skills, with the ability to operate across domain experts, delivery teams, and engineering teams. Ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable guidance.

Strategic & Systems Thinking

Ability to connect solution architecture decisions to broader delivery strategy, data strategy, AI strategy, and digital transformation initiatives. Strong systems thinking to balance scalability, reusability, and delivery speed.

Novartis Compensation and Benefit Summary:

The salary for this position is expected to range between $152,600.00 - 218,000.00 - 283,400.00 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.

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?

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EEO Statement:

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Accessibility & Reasonable Accommodations

The Novartis Group of Companies are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call View phone number on click.appcast.io and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.