Executive Director, Field Skills & Capability-Development-Remote

Major Responsibilities:

• Oversee the design, delivery, and measurement of strategic capability development plans that address critical organizational knowledge and skills to enhance field force impact. 
• Drive principles of educational excellence across his/her team to achieve the organization’s commitment to exceptional customer engagement
• Leads and is viewed as a strategic thought partner to the business for skill development and capability enhancement
• Leverages significant market, competitor, industry, and cross-functional business knowledge to foresee and manage potential business challenges and opportunities
• Influences overall business strategy and decisions within own department and with key stakeholders and drives business impact by constantly aligning with business’ top and bottom-line objectives.
• Consults partners and peers on key industry and leading practices and help solve complex issues and provide strategic direction by keeping a perspective and balance on external and internal view.
• Makes strategic investments by allocating resources according to departmental and organizational priorities.
• Defines new ways to leverage the organization’s resources to support the needs of the business.

Role Expectations:

A successful Executive Director models the way for all associates by inspiring a shared vision, communicating clear expectations, promoting an environment of accountability, enabling others to act, and optimizing or advancing processes by challenging the status quo. Other key responsibilities for the ED include the following:

• Accountable for all Customer Engagement Skills (non-leadership) development curriculum.
• Strategically defines separate Functional and Transformational (future) curriculum strategies that align to the field organization’s Engagement vision.
• Owns a well-developed sense of evolving L&D trends and standards, and appropriately applies them.
• Plays a leadership role on the extended team that determines the future skillsets engaging personnel will need in the future.
• Identifies and implements novel methods for insuring skill obtainment is occurring on the job; defines skill obtainment metrics and analytics.
• Leads a skill development team of Directors/Associate Directors/Managers, ensuring all skills training is aligned to high impact curriculum and learning transfer processes.
• Responsible for administrative management of the Skills Training team (i.e. budgets, capital, headcount) as well as the performance management of assigned Directors/Associate Directors/Managers (i.e. goals, objectives, and appraisals).  Manages the administration of the assigned budget.
• Strategically partners with key Executive Directors within the training function (i.e., Leadership Excellence, Product Training, Operations) to ensure an integrated and holistic approach to increasing skill development & learning engagement.
• Leads as a change agent, constantly seeking and defining novel ways to improve coordination, efficiency, and impact success of skills training.
• Collaborates across different regions/global functions to share/obtain best practices and industry-leading approaches to skills training.
• Constantly assesses opportunities to gain performance, operational, and financial efficiencies.
• Build internal and/or external networks to enhance talent replacement processes for the Skills Training team.
• Build a deep understanding of internal customers and key stakeholders and use the knowledge to design learning strategies that drive field performance.
• Ability to embrace and instill test-and-learn mind-set in order to implement, learn, and iterate with speed and agility.

• Determine the level of resources required to execute skill development strategies as part of the budgeting process.
• Allocate budgeted resources to meet regional sales targets, improve ROI, and adjust according to identified opportunities and risks through the fiscal year.
• Provide strong leadership and direction to maximize coaching capabilities of people leaders.
• Build a best-in-class diverse Customer Experience team through talent acquisition, succession planning and development of associates.
• Create inclusive and patient-focused culture built on Novartis Values & Behaviors. Ensure full team alignment to and ownership of Code of Conduct and all Legal, Ethics and Compliance Policies.

Leadership & Functional Responsibilities:

• Deep understanding of and ability to collaborate and adapt to multiple stakeholders with diverse thinking to meet business needs.
• Proven ability to build alignment and influence.
• Ability to lead through change and ambiguity.
• Comfort with decisiveness and risk taking; has ability to manage through a crisis.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and presentation skills with the ability to interface seamlessly with other parts of the organization.
• A strong leader who can serve as a role model for the organization; outstanding interpersonal skills; a track record in successfully fostering teamwork and developing team members; collaborative style.
• Motivates and inspires others to do their best.
• Leads with an enterprise hat and makes strategic decisions for the Business Unit.
• High intellect: creativity, a willingness to think outside the box to create positive change.
• Emotional maturity: self-confidence, ability to manage effectively in the changing, complex organizational structure.
• Ability to advance to roles of greater potential.
• Unquestionable ethics, values, and professional integrity.

Attributes for Success:

• Customer Centric - No matter what stakeholder or customer we’re working with we put the patient first. We listen to their stories and walk in their shoes We understand what they want from us. We are problem solvers; we anchor our work in customer insights, and we pivot to meet their needs.
• Experimenter - To be a self-adapting business, we can no longer take linear paths. Instead, we make dynamic plans and take iterative approaches. We go beyond the first set of ideas and bring in outside inspiration. We are vulnerable and have a safe environment to engage in trial and error. We have the confidence to learn from our mistakes and support others who do the same.
• Agile Learner - Change is how we thrive and to thrive we are willing to change ourselves. We know ourselves or ask for feedback to keep learning. We have a growth mindset and adapt to stay relevant. We are open about sharing our successes and failures to help others learn along the way.
• Co-Creator - In an agile organization, teams are no longer bound by job titles or organizational structure Instead, we bring together the right people, those who have the right expertise or acumen, to create something new or solve problems for patients and customers. We innovate by collaborating. We integrate by collaborating. We deliver by collaborating.
• Enterprise Thinker - As we work in more agile and connected ways, it’s important to understand the Novartis ecosystem and interdependencies. To do this, we understand the big picture, connect the dots, see where individual pieces fit into the value chain and think across, over, up and down. We think about tradeoffs and take an enterprise approach that can be scaled and adapted for the last mile.
• Decisive - To be agile, decision making needs to devolve. We trust and empower people to make smart decisions We bring the right people to the table and step out when we’re not needed. We have decisive conversations and are clear on who is going to make the decision We minimize bureaucracy and move decisions to action.
• Accountable Contributor - The work we do on behalf of patients requires everyone to contribute. We need to know what we’re accountable for, have clarity on the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ and own the outcome. At all levels, to have a passion for excellence, and drive results while our managers enable us and help us measure our impact.
• Deep Expert - Personal acumen underpins all of what we do for our patients and customers. We bring our deep domain expertise and specialized insights into innovative plans, internal and external conversations, and collaborative work. While we are not bound by our expertise, we know that it’s important to continually replenish our expertise so we can contribute to our collective success.

Role Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required from 4-year college or university; advanced degree preferred (i.e., Curriculum Design, Behavioral Science, Organization Psychology)
• Minimum 10 years of experience in leading a skills development function or larger Commercial Training/Learning organization.
  • Department design
  • Budgeting
  • Needs identification at a business/national scale
  • Business partnership with senior organizational leaders
• Minimum 5 years direct manager experience.
• Strong understanding of the skills “marketplace”, especially how key business skills are identified and woven into curriculum development.
• Strong relationships with leadership-focused training providers/vendors.
• Deep expertise in adult learning models, measurement standards, and curriculum design.
• Proven self-starter with high standards of excellence and an innovative mind
• Demonstrated success as an innovator with proven track record of leading ideas from concept to execution
• Demonstrated leadership and expertise in building an organization
• Demonstrated leadership skills; decision maker, effective problem solver; strategic thinker. Strong interpersonal, communication, influencing and analytical skills
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize information to develop recommendations, and ability to persuade / influence organization pursuit of recommended path
• Ability to manage multiple projects and consistently meet deadlines
• Excels at interacting with a diverse group of people, all levels of management, including senior leadership

COVID-19 Vaccine Policy (customer-facing roles only): While Novartis does not require vaccination for COVID-19 or proof of a recent negative test result for COVID-19 at this time, employees working in customer-facing roles must adhere to and comply with customers’ (such as hospitals, physician offices, etc.) credentialing guidelines, which may require vaccination. As required by applicable law, Novartis will consider requests for reasonable accommodation for those unable to be vaccinated. This requirement is subject to applicable state and local laws and may not be applicable to employees working in certain jurisdictions. Please send accommodation requests to [email protected].

Novartis Compensation Summary:

The salary for this position is expected to range between $204,400.00 and $379.600.00 per year.

The final salary offered is determined based on factors like, but not limited to, relevant skills and experience, and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically. Novartis may change the published salary range based on company and market factors.

Your compensation will include a performance-based cash incentive and, depending on the level of the role, eligibility to be considered for annual equity awards.

US-based eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. In addition, employees are eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves.