Associate Director, Custom Applications Technology & Engineering Manager

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Job Description Summary

Job Description

Internal Job Title: Associate Director

Position Location: Prague, CZ

This role is based in Prague, CZ. Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role: please only apply if this location is accessible for you.

As Associate Director, BR Data & Digital Software & Workflows Custom Applications Technology & Engineering Manager, you will lead a team of Technical Leads and external engineering resources to drive predictable, high-quality execution across time-bound product initiatives delivering internally developed cloud and on-prem software applications. This role ensures technical excellence, strengthens delivery practices, mitigates legacy technical debt, and embeds modern, secure, scalable, and AI-accelerated engineering approaches across all custom applications work.

Key responsibilities:

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of Technical Leads and external engineers by setting clear priorities, cultivating skills, and ensuring consistent end-to-end engineering excellence in designing, building, scaling, integrating, releasing, and sustaining custom solutions, including long-term quality and operational ownership.

• Champion and accelerate adoption of modern, scalable, AI-enabled and agentic engineering practices.

• Maintain a strong technical ownership mindset across application lifecycle stages, from build to long-term sustainability, and oversee and mitigate technical debt across both legacy and modern custom applications, regardless of their origin.

• Partner closely across BR Data & Digital as well as corporate functions to collaborate and align engineering execution with organizational objectives and initiative timelines.

• Manage effective, predictable, and high-quality engineering delivery across time-bound initiatives, ensuring alignment with enterprise platforms, architectural standards, security, compliance, and AI governance requirements.

• Oversee deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management of the delivered software solutions, including performance optimization, cost optimization, and operational readiness.

• Foster a “team before self” culture rooted in urgency, clarity, trust, and shared ownership.

Essential Requirements:

You are passionate about and experienced in leading and inspiring people and helping them reach their potential. You have an intrinsic drive to transform scientific research with technology by overseeing and elevating technical solution delivery excellence for a broad portfolio. You thrive on working collaboratively in a complex life science environment. You have:

• Expertise and experience in people leadership with demonstrated ability to set direction, align teams, develop talent, and continuously improve productivity.

• 5+ years experience in leading technical and/or engineering teams.

• Excellent skills in communicating and translating complex technical concepts and delivery priorities for varied audiences.

• Proven experience in building strong relationships across organizational and divisional boundaries.

• Deep expertise in architecting and implementing custom applications integrated into large enterprise ecosystems using modern, agentic engineering practices.

• Strong background in managing and reducing technical debt and modernizing application architectures.

• Proven track record in leading time-bound engineering initiatives with predictable, high-quality outcomes.

Desirable Requirements:

In addition, you bring many of the following capabilities and the drive to grow into the rest:

• Ability to create cultures of empowerment, learning, and mutual support.

• Creativity and courage to challenge the status quo, encourage innovation, and take smart risks.

• Experience in pharma and/or life science research environments

Benefits & Rewards (Applicable for Prague)

Monthly pension contribution matching your individual contribution up to 3% of your gross monthly base salary; Risk Life Insurance (full cost covered by Novartis); 5-week holiday per year; (1 week above the Labour Law requirement) ; 4 paid sick days within one calendar year in case of absence due to sickness without a medical sickness report; Cafeteria employee benefit program - choice of benefits from Benefit Plus Cafeteria in the amount of 17,500 CZK per year; Meal vouchers in amount of 105 CZK for each working day (full tax covered by company); Car Allowance; MultiSport Card, Employee Share Purchase Plan. Find out more about Novartis Business Services: https://www.novartis.cz/

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 committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to all individuals. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, or in order to receive more detailed information about the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

Skills Desired