Executive Director of Applied AI / Executive Director of Applied AI

Job ID

REQ-10084252

Date

August 14, 2026

Location

Basel, Switzerland

#LI-Hybrid 3 days/week in office

Internal Job Title: Executive Director, Applied AI Lead

Summary

Novartis is making a significant long-term investment in becoming an AI-first organization, with sponsorship at the highest levels of the company. This is a rare opportunity to shape how generative AI and agentic systems are engineered, deployed, and adopted across a global enterprise whose work ultimately supports patients and healthcare systems worldwide. As the Executive Director of Applied AI, you will combine technical depth, product thinking, and enterprise influence to turn high-value business challenges into secure, scalable AI products and intelligent workflows. You will lead a small, globally distributed team of applied AI engineers and work directly with senior business and technology leaders to deliver measurable value at scale.

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead the applied AI deployment strategy, execution roadmap, and business integration model across enterprise business units.
• Act as a forward-deployed AI engineering leader, partnering directly with business teams to translate strategic priorities into deployable products, intelligent workflows, and redesigned processes.
• Lead technical solution architecture for specific complex AI deployments, partnering with IT to make hands-on decisions on application architecture, system integration patterns, model orchestration, APIs, security controls, and production infrastructure.
• Oversee end-to-end implementation, customization, integration, and scaling of generative AI, agentic systems, and workflow automation solutions in production environments.
• Build, lead, and coach a small, globally distributed team of forward-deployed AI engineers, establishing engineering excellence.
• Establish delivery frameworks and engineering standards that support scalability, reliability, security, maintainability, and sustained operational adoption in partnership with IT.
• Create reusable AI services, accelerators, evaluation frameworks, blueprints, and integration patterns that reduce time to value across business domains.
• Collaborate with data, infrastructure, information security, architecture, compliance, and business teams to align solutions with enterprise priorities and regulated environment requirements.
• Monitor solution performance, adoption, and business value through feedback loops, user analysis, and continuous service optimization.
• Guide modernization of existing systems and processes to integrate with agentic AI products, applied AI models, and enterprise technology platforms.
• Communicate business impact, technical transformation vision, delivery progress, risks, and investment needs to senior executives and key stakeholders.

Essential Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, data science, or a related field.
• At least 15 years of progressive experience in technology leadership, enterprise AI transformation, or complex solution delivery, including leadership of senior technical and cross-functional teams.
• Deep, hands-on expertise in applied AI delivery, including taking machine learning, generative AI, and agentic solutions from concept through production and enterprise-scale adoption.
• Strong software and product engineering grounding, with experience integrating AI into complex enterprise platforms, data environments, and operational workflows.
• Hands-on proficiency with modern AI engineering stacks, including Python, cloud platforms (e.g., AWS), LLM orchestration frameworks, vector databases, MLOps/LLMOps, and software delivery practices.
• Demonstrated success defining and scaling enterprise-level AI initiatives, yielding measurable business value, automation, or performance outcomes.
• Experience leading forward-deployed, solutions engineering, or technical consulting teams, translating ambiguous business problems into production-grade software systems in enterprise environments.
• Consulting or professional-services experience partnering with senior technology and business leaders on enterprise transformation, operating models, or technology strategy.
• Proven people leadership and organizational development capability, including building high-performing teams, developing leaders, and establishing effective governance.
• Strong executive communication and cross-functional influence skills, with the ability to align priorities, investment decisions, and delivery across a complex matrixed organization.

Desirable Requirements

• Master of Science, engineering postgraduate degree, or MBA.
• Experience delivering AI solutions in healthcare, life sciences, or another complex regulated environment, or prior zero-to-one startup experience.

Benefits & Rewards

At Novartis, we are committed to reimagining medicine together and rewarding the people who make it happen.

**Expected Annual Base Salary Range for role: CHF 164,500.00 to CHF 305,500.00 Annual

**

The 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 will be reviewed periodically upon joining Novartis.

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, including insurance plans, retirement plans, wellbeing resources, and global recognition programs. Furthermore, we provide flexible and hybrid working options, where possible, and a minimum of 14 weeks paid parental leave.

For a detailed overview of our global total rewards offering, you can read our brochure at: Total Rewards Handbook.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.

Accessibility and Accommodation

Novartis is dedicated to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to all individuals. If, due to a medical condition or disability, you require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, please send an email to diversity.inclusion_ch@novartis.com and let us know the nature of your request along with your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

Why Novartis

Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It requires a community of smart, passionate individuals like you, who collaborate, support, and inspire each other to achieve breakthroughs that transform patients' lives. Ready to create a brighter future together?

Apply online using the form below.

Note: Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.