Executive Director, AI Forward Deployed Engineering Lead - Remote

Executive Director, AI Forward Deployed Engineering Lead

This position can be based remotely anywhere in the U.S. Please note that this role would not provide relocation as a result. The expectation of working hours and travel (domestic and/or international) will be defined by the Hiring Manager.

About the Role

The Strategy, Platforms & Transformation team is dedicated to enabling improved decision-making at Novartis by leveraging data and advanced analytics capabilities to generate actionable insights that drive business growth. We work within the US business, bringing insights and challenging ideas to empower smarter, data-driven decision-making. This role is crucial in driving AI transformation by bringing the best in AI and tech to unlock opportunities for growth and improve patient outcomes.

The Executive Director, AI Forward Deployed Engineering Lead will lead the engineering delivery of agentic AI solutions embedded within business functions, with responsibility across solution architecture, development, implementation, operations, and continuous improvement. This role will be critical to transforming existing processes, products, and services into agentic AI products and intelligent workflows by partnering closely with business teams to design and deploy practical, scalable solutions that address high value use cases. The ideal candidate will bring strong engineering leadership, solution orientation, and cross functional execution skills to guide the development of fit for purpose AI applications, oversee deployment into real world operating environments, and ensure solutions are reliable, maintainable, and aligned with enterprise standards. Working closely with product leaders, platform teams, data partners, business stakeholders, and transformation leaders, this role will help accelerate AI adoption, drive measurable business impact, and ensure solutions continuously evolve based on operational feedback and emerging needs.

Major Accountabilities:

• Define and lead the engineering strategy, delivery model, and execution approach for forward deployed agentic AI solutions across business functions.
• Oversee the design, development, implementation, and ongoing support of AI solutions that transform business processes and products into agentic workflows.
• Partner directly with business stakeholders, product teams, and domain experts to identify requirements, shape technical solutions, and ensure adoption in operational environments.
• Lead engineering teams in building, deploying, and maintaining scalable, reliable, and user centered AI applications aligned with enterprise architecture and standards.
• Drive integration of AI solutions with existing systems, data sources, workflows, and operational processes to enable effective end to end execution.
• Establish engineering practices, support models, and feedback loops that promote quality, reliability, operational performance, and continuous improvement.
• Coordinate closely with platform, data, security, and infrastructure teams to ensure solutions leverage shared capabilities and comply with enterprise requirements.
• Communicate engineering priorities, solution progress, business impact, risks, and resource needs to senior leadership and key stakeholders.

Essential Requirements:

• Bachelor degree required and advanced degree preferred, ideally in business, engineering, computer science, data science, or a related field.
• 15 plus years of progressive product management experience, including significant leadership over senior product leaders, with a strong track record of defining and scaling enterprise level product strategy and execution.
• Deep expertise in AI driven product management, including experience bringing innovative data, machine learning, and generative AI products from concept to commercialization in complex enterprise environments.
• Proven people leadership and organizational development capability, with experience leading directors and senior product teams, building high performing organizations, and establishing effective product operating models and governance.
• Strong cross functional and executive influence skills, with demonstrated success partnering across Engineering, Innovation, Commercial, Data Science, and business leadership to align strategy, prioritize investments, and drive outcomes.

The salary for this position is expected to range between $225,400.00 and $418,600.00 annual 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.