Director/Associate Director Corporate Alliance Management (Maternity Cover - 12 months)

For a century, we’ve partnered with leading scientists to transform ideas into ground-breaking therapies. As we expand into new areas, we are more than ever in search of high-potential innovation and strategic partnerships to complement our existing capabilities.

Global Business Development is where we continue our founders’ quest for bold ideas and outside perspectives. Embodying the same pioneering spirit, we seek partnerships with the potential to revolutionise life science and scout the world for sparks of innovation that we can turn into solutions for patients.

Do you like to build relations and partnerships with the brightest scientific minds and innovators? Would you like to help manage alliances that may create tomorrow’s breakthrough medicines to improve the lives of people living with chronic disease? Then you might be our new Director/Associate Director in Corporate Alliance Management in Global Business Development.

The job level Director/ Associate Director will be assigned to the final candidate according to their experience and expertise level. This is a 12-month maternity cover position, with main workplace at our office in Bagsværd close to Copenhagen. 

Bring your expertise to Novo Nordisk and apply now for a life-changing career!

The Position
As our new Director/Associate Director in Corporate Alliance Management, you will have an important and very independent role in supporting the execution of Novo Nordisk’s external innovation strategy. 

Your main responsibilities will be focused on:

• Managing a portfolio of strategic alliances by ensuring the execution of contractual obligations and mutual agenda, building, and maintaining an interactive relation with the external partners as well as the internal Novo Nordisk teams
• Having the overall facilitating responsibility of securing value generation through our partnerships and alliances and preparing and leading strategic recommendations to senior management and be on top of risk mitigation plans
• Being responsible for alliance kick-off meetings, facilitation of steering committees, alliance terminations, conflict resolutions, driving identification and execution of alliance amendments
• Developing tools and best practices for portfolio management across all our strategic alliances, ensuring operational excellence by setting the benchmark for industry standards
• Representing Corporate Alliance Management as a centre of excellence, connecting stakeholders and sharing knowledge across, within, and outside of our organisation to ensure consistent and excellent Alliance Management  

Qualifications
To succeed in this role, you have:

• A master’s degree with content focus on e.g., international business, stakeholder management, business communication, or natural sciences and strong knowledge of the pharma value chain and business with 8+ years of relevant experience in pharmaceutical or biotechnology organisations
• A demonstrated track record of managing pharma collaborations / alliances and the ability to create and maintain strong professional networks with external partners and internal stakeholders
• An in-depth understanding of contracts and ability to translate complex contract terms and conditions into simple outlines to support strategic and operational elements
• Excitement to drive end-to-end Alliance Management with Project Management best practices
• A firm understanding of multicultural impact on business relationships including experience in working in an international context and environment
• The ability to balance strategic & big picture thinking with an eye for details in day-to-day operations

As a person you show strong interpersonal skills, empathy, and can collaborate cross-functionally, across organisations and cultures. You enjoy taking initiative and have a strong personal drive and dedication to your work and to people. You have a strong ability to manage and resolve complex issues and conflicts and bring a can-do attitude. 

You are a strong communicator and demonstrate proactive stakeholder management at all levels. You understand the value of structure and systematization. You like to challenge current perceptions and drive change.
Ability to travel up to 10% of the time, including internationally is required.

About the Department
Corporate Alliance Management handles a complex portfolio of strategic external alliances across the value chain with focus on clinical and commercial stage across all therapeutic areas in Novo Nordisk. Responsibilities include leading the strategic discussions and decision-making processes to effectively lead external collaborations and partnerships. The Corporate Alliance Management team is anchored in Integration & Strategic Alliances in Global Business Development based in Novo Nordisk’s Headquarters in Bagsværd, Denmark.

Global Business Development is the main business development unit of Novo Nordisk. Here, we gather best-in-class strategists, analysts, dealmakers, and specialists in post-deal management to form a team of future-focused experts. We forge external collaborations and bring in innovation and companies that share our purpose, mission, and values. Our culture of teamwork, transparency, and accountability drives our work to enable leaps of transformation beyond ordinary incremental changes. That’s why we embrace the transformative power of partner-ships and collaboration. For us, alliances come down to creating more value than we could accomplish independently. More scientific breakthroughs. More discoveries. More expertise. More impact.

Working in Novo Nordisk
At Novo Nordisk, we don’t wait for change. We drive it. We’re 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 more information, please contact VP of Corporate Alliance Management, Lasse Funch Hamza Jacobsen, at [email protected]

Deadline
16 March 2025

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.