Associate Director - Cohort and Disease Understanding

About the Department
You will be leading the Cohort and Disease Understanding (CDU) team within the Novo Nordisk Artificial Intelligence and Digital Research (AIDR) Computational Biology department. AIDR Computational Biology is a global department with colleagues in China, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Our scientists have significant expertise across a diverse set of disciplines in computational biology, bioinformatics, and machine learning, including multi-omic data analysis, functional genomics, systems biology, and biomarker analysis. CDU team's mission is to characterise patients in a real-world context by leveraging human cohort and randomized clinical trial (RCT) omics and clinical data to better understand chronic cardiometabolic diseases.
The AIDR team sits within the wider Digital Science & Innovation (DSI) organisation. DSI is supporting the digital journey across all our therapy areas in Novo Nordisk Research and Early Discovery (R&ED). In DSI, we work in multidisciplinary teams and participate in drug development projects from early discovery to pre-clinical development. We engage in external collaborations to ensure access to the latest research and technology enablers and we focus on developing and retaining top talent.
The Position
As Head of the CDU Department, you will have line management responsibilities for a global team of computational biologists located in Denmark, UK and the US. You will have a mandate to set the scientific research and operational strategy for the team in collaboration with the VP of Computational Biology and other global Computational Biology department heads. You will lead the team's mission to use computational analysis and machine learning to better understand patients using human cohort and RCT data in Novo Nordisk's key therapy areas, including diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
Relationships
The Head of CDU reports to the global VP of Computational Biology. The role will work closely with the heads of the AIDR Computational Precision Health and Machine Intelligence teams to develop new computational methods to understand patients as well as Novo Nordisk's Global Drug Discovery teams to execute projects in specific disease areas. The Department Head will also build external relationships including collaborations with industry and academia on human cohort-based disease understanding. In leading the CDU team you will have familiarity with building a constructive feedback culture as well as a strong commitment to fostering an environment of psychological safety to ensure productive scientific discussions.
Essential Functions

• Line management of a team of computational biology professionals
• Set objectives for the Cohort and Disease Understanding department and deliver results that have a significant impact on the results of AIDR, DSI, and Global Drug Discovery. Help team members translate department objectives into individual goals and evaluate performance in reaching goals
• Prepare and present written and oral reports/presentations and proposals
• Support and mentor team members' progress along their career path using Individual Development Plans and foster a strong culture of constructive feedback within the team and in collaborations across the organization
• Understand and apply cutting edge computational biology and machine learning techniques to diverse multi-omics data types including RNASeq, scRNASeq, proteomics, and metabolomics for disease understanding in human cohorts
• Propose and guide computational biology projects in collaboration with disease biologists. Interpret and present results of complex analyses to diverse teams of scientists and stakeholders
• Develop relationships with key stakeholders in Global Drug Discovery to ensure alignment with the global Novo Nordisk drug discovery strategy and portfolio
• Provide input to the global AIDR Computational Biology strategy, including scientific direction, resourcing discussions, and operations. Guide the AIDR and GDD strategies for acquisition of new human cohort data
• Up to 10% overnight travel required, potentially international

Qualifications

• Master's degree required; PhD is preferred. Degree within a computational biology discipline, such as bioinformatics or genomics preferred
  • A master's degree with 9+ years' relevant experience, or PhD with 5+ years' relevant experience (can be a combination of academic and industry roles)
• Relevant experience includes some combination of
  • Leadership of computational research teams in the field of human cohort studies within industry or academia (required)
  • Experience with people management, including goal setting and performance evaluation, IDP mentoring, and conflict resolution. (required)
  • Experience of applying computational biology and machine learning to disease understanding through human cohort and RCT data, preferably in disease areas with relevance to Novo Nordisk R&ED strategy
  • Experience working in multidisciplinary, global teams and environments; comfortable with remote teams and asynchronous work and communication
  • Experience in stakeholder management and priority alignment in a multi-disciplinary context
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to present complex data analysis results and conclusions to project and leadership teams; with an emphasis on presentation abilities

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.
At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we're life changing.
Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.
If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.