Department Manager of Structure & Interactions

Are you passionate about leading and growing both individuals and teams? Do you have the leadership skills to foster a culture of collaboration, trust and curiosity? Are you excited about using your scientific expertise to shape the future of drug discovery and structural biology, working closely with your co-leader and team members? If so, you could be the new people leader in the Centre for Structure & Interactions.
Join us today and contribute to Novo Nordisk’s mission of enhancing lives through innovative pharmaceutical solutions.

The Position
You will work in synergy with your co-leader, with tasks, roles and responsibilities divided based on motivation and skills. A key strategic objective will be to establish a future-ready organization that integrates modeling, structural biology, and interaction characterization into design thinking to ensure competitive drug candidates. Using your people leadership competencies, collaborative skills and scientific background, you will guide your team and engage in cross-organizational collaborations to maximize impact in the early-stage project portfolio.

Working in tandem with your co-lead and your team, your key responsibilities will include:

• Ensuring seamless collaboration across sister departments, creating a strong sense of belonging to the Centre for Structure & Interactions
• Delivering on shared responsibilities and executing overall departmental strategies (co-leading)
• Cultivating a motivating and empowering work environment, focusing on individual development and accountability
• Developing a future-ready setup for drug discovery in the protein and peptide modality space using cutting-edge technologies
• Overseeing and prioritizing resources in cross-portfolio projects from ideation to early clinical stage, transferring knowledge to colleagues in CMC

We provide an inspiring and ambitious work environment where you can feel empowered to challenge the status quo and experiment with new ways of working, culture and development of the area and employees.

Qualifications
We see people as our most important asset to achieve success and therefore expect you to have a genuine interest in people leadership. In addition, you must be ready to enter a close collaboration in the co-leadership model together with your peer lead in the Centre for Structure & Interactions. 

To thrive and succeed in this role, you should have:

• Demonstrated leadership experience in nurturing psychological safety and promoting the development of a team, preferably in a biotech or pharma background
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to adjust strategies and approaches to suit evolving circumstances, fostering a sense of stability and confidence within the team
• A talent for driving innovation while aligning with business strategies and objectives
• Experience in cross-functional team collaboration and stakeholder management at various levels
• A Ph.D. in life sciences, with a scientific background in drug discovery

As a person, you: 

• Excel in actively listening to team members' concerns, acknowledging diverse perspectives, and fostering open dialogue and feedback
• Understand the importance of leading and supporting people to deliver their best
• Quickly build trust and have a natural ability to build relationships and influence others
• Have demonstrated resilience in the face of challenges, setbacks, and ambiguity, serving as a source of strength and inspiration for the team and your peers while providing support and encouragement
• Thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment

About the Department
The Centre for Structure & Interactions consists of 13 skilled scientists at various levels of seniority and 5 experienced lab technicians. The Centre focuses on the intersection of interaction characterisation and structural biology to select and advance our future drug candidates. To achieve this, it employs state-of-the-art techniques to understand the molecular interactions and three-dimensional structures of drug targets and their ligands. 
The Centre is anchored in Assay, Analysis and Characterisation, Global Research Technologies. We work in a flexible, highly collaborative, and cross-functional setting with a continuous focus on developing innovative technologies and personal competencies. We strive to build a learning culture with a focus on psychological safety as the core leadership principle to ensure everyone feels valued, motivated, and proud of their work and takes responsibility for their actions. 

Working at Novo Nordisk
At Novo Nordisk, we do not wait for change. We drive it. We are a dynamic company in an even more dynamic industry, and we know that what got us to where we are today is not necessarily what will make us successful in the future. We embrace the spirit of experimentation, striving for excellence, without fixating on perfection. We never shy away from opportunities to develop: we seize them. From research and development, through to manufacturing, marketing, and sales – we’re all working to move the needle on patient care.

Contact
For further information, please contact Vice President, Assay, Analysis and Characterisation, Louise Hjerrild Zeuthen at +45 3079 2972.

Deadline
20th of February 2025.

If you see yourself in the description above, please apply sooner rather than later, as we review applications and schedule interviews on an ongoing basis.  

You do not need to attach a cover letter to your application – just include a few sentences in your CV explaining why you are applying. Please also avoid the use of photos in your CV to ensure a fair and unbiased process.
 

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.