Location
Basel, Switzerland (Onsite)
Additional locations: Menges, Slovenia and Schaftenau, Austria
Position Overview
As a Scientific Project Consultant (SPC) within TRD Biologics, you will enhance scientific rigor and contribute to the success of our early development portfolio. This role entails providing end-to-end scientific leadership, structured problem-solving, and strategic guidance. As a trusted scientific advisor in a highly matrixed environment, you will connect research decisions with process development needs to improve the quality and efficiency of decision-making, facilitating knowledge flow across projects and functions.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide early scientific and technical input to research teams, offering leadership and guidance on candidate selection while addressing safety, efficacy, and developability concerns.
- Enable portfolio oversight and cross-project knowledge flow by connecting learnings, identifying platform-level issues, and facilitating scientific exchange across projects and functions (drug substance, drug product, and analytical development).
- Apply structured scientific thinking to address critical technical questions, defining options and trade-offs while offering clear recommendations to drive timely conclusions.
- Strengthen governance and decision-making at key development gates by applying scientific rigor, enterprise thinking, and a holistic portfolio perspective.
- Influence stakeholders across Novartis and different sites to align diverse interests (research, development, technical operations, regulatory, quality) and enable execution of the agreed scientific strategy.
- Coach and mentor teams and individuals by sharing experiences and best practices, helping them build scientific capacity and fostering a consultative, collaborative work culture.
- Enable innovation for novel and complex modalities (e.g., conjugates/AOCs, bispecific antibodies, therapeutic proteins) by initiating early scientific exchange, benchmarking external advances, and translating insights into actionable guidance.
- Assess, escalate, and communicate critical risks urgently, proposing mitigations and driving alignment while maintaining scientific rigor and balanced judgment.
- Collaborate with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to capture prior knowledge in referenceable documents that support risk assessments and enhance the quality of regulatory submissions.
- Ensure the timely establishment of new formats or technology platforms from research for transfer and scaling in development.
What You’ll Bring to the Role
- Advanced degree (PhD preferred) in a relevant scientific discipline (e.g., biochemistry, chemistry, bioengineering, pharmaceutical sciences) with a strong scientific credibility.
- Extensive experience (preferably 15 years) across the full development spectrum, enabling end-to-end thinking and risk-based guidance.
- Cross-disciplinary expertise with a deep understanding of at least one area, capable of connecting analytical, drug substance, and drug product considerations.
- Strong internal and external networks, demonstrating the ability to influence within a complex matrix with resilience and determination.
- Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills, with the capacity to coach and mentor across various levels and functions.
- Sound judgment and a sense of urgency regarding critical risks, able to escalate appropriately and implement balanced mitigations.
- Fluent in English (written and spoken).
Desirable Requirements
- Experience with biologics and/or complex modalities (e.g., conjugates/AOCs), with the ability to translate innovations into practical development choices.
- Demonstrated ability to drive execution through others—transitioning from recommendation to implementation in a matrix organization.
- Comfort working across multiple projects with competing priorities, maintaining a consultative mindset and focus on scientific rigor and quality.
- This position may be appointed at either the Director or Associate Director level, contingent upon the candidate’s experience and seniority.
Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
Novartis is committed to fostering an outstanding and inclusive work environment while building diverse teams that reflect the patients and communities we serve.
Accessibility and Accommodation
Novartis is dedicated to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to all individuals. If you need assistance or accommodations during the recruitment process due to a medical condition or disability, please email inclusion.switzerland@novartis.com and share the nature of your request along with your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.
Apply online using the form below. Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.