Associate Director, Data Operations and Issue Management Lead

About the role

Novartis is looking for an Associate Director, Data Operations and Issue Management Lead in East Hanover, New Jersey, where the preferred location is the East Hanover site but remote work may be possible subject to restrictions. The role leads efforts that keep enterprise data products stable, trusted and business-ready, driving issue resolution, operational governance and continuous improvement across critical data products. It partners with data engineering, data quality, analytics and business teams. Relocation is not provided.

Key responsibilities

• Lead enterprise data operations and issue management across certified data products and critical data capabilities.
• Manage issue intake, triage, prioritization, escalation, tracking and resolution to ensure operational stability.
• Monitor SLAs, issue trends, remediation progress and operational performance metrics.
• Partner with data engineering teams to resolve pipeline failures, delivery issues and production incidents.
• Work with data quality teams on quality issues, root causes and corrective actions.
• Coordinate resolution across business, technology, vendor and data teams, and escalate critical risks and service disruptions to leadership.
• Lead operational reviews, issue governance forums, remediation checkpoints and post-incident follow-ups.
• Produce dashboards and reports on risks, service levels and performance.
• Drive continuous improvement by finding automation opportunities and reducing recurring issues.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Data Management, Information Systems, Business, Computer Science, Engineering, Analytics or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in data operations, issue management, data governance, data quality, data engineering operations, service management or program operations.
• Experience managing issue logs, incident workflows, SLA tracking, escalations and remediation plans.
• Strong understanding of data products, pipelines, data quality controls, metadata, lineage, data governance and production support.
• Experience with cross-functional teams across data engineering, governance, analytics, business and vendors.
• Desirable: post-go-live support, hypercare, incident management or service transition experience, and familiarity with regulated data environments or pharma commercial data.

Required skills

• Familiarity with Jira, ServiceNow, Confluence, Smartsheet, Excel, Power BI, Tableau or similar.
• Ability to analyze issue trends, root causes, SLA performance and operational risks.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication and organizational skills.

What we offer

• Expected salary range of $152,600 to $283,400 per year, with a performance-based cash incentive and possible annual equity awards.
• US-based eligible employees receive health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a time-off package including vacation, personal days and holidays.