Associate Director - Finance and Operations Business Partner

About the Department 

At Novo Nordisk, our Finance and Operations team is the engine that elevates holistic commercialization of our products. The Finance and Operations team works closely with the business across the organization to guide enterprise wide resource allocations, investment choices, drive core operations and develop insights to drive growth and operational excellence across the value chain while innovating for future capabilities. We regulate accounting, uphold workplace safety, manage our supply chain and sampling, support technology, provide commercial operations, insights & analytics, maintain our facilities and assure the integrity and completeness of all business transactions. At Novo Nordisk, you will have the opportunity to build a life-changing career in a global business environment. We encourage our employees to make the most of their talent. And we reward hard work and dedication with the opportunity for continuous learning and personal development. Are you ready to realize your potential?

The Position

Be a part of Novo Nordisk Inc's (NNI) high performing in-house consultancy, which is operationalizing NNI's strategy through project excellence. This role is the dedicated consulting business partner to the executive area Finance & Operations (F&O). The right person will need to build a strong relationship with key stakeholders across F&O, NNI and the global organization. At any time, they will lead one or more high complexity projects within F&O. It is paramount to be able to remain nimble while driving key projects successfully, and providing the support needed to ensure F&O meets their strategic objectives.

Relationships

Reports to the head of NAO CFO Executive Office.

Key stakeholders include:

• SVP, Finance & Operations

• Finance & Operations Executive Support network

• Finance & Operations Leadership Team

Essential Functions

• Organizational:

  • Ability to successfully navigate and build relationships with senior level stakeholders

  • Be a trusted advisor to the F&O SVP and F&O Leadership Team

  • Represent and develop NNI brand, especially with F&O SVP and within F&O

• Department tasks:

  • Part of NAO CFO Executive Office, with responsibility for driving department vision

  • Supports the execution of Finance and Operations strategy/business plan development and implementation key business initiatives/strategic priorities

  • Assesses project opportunities and manages project pipeline

  • Supports project team in preparing project proposals and engagement letters

  • Participates and drives Senior Team meetings within F&O

  • Drives and contributes to department meetings and other internal Novo Nordisk wide activities

• Projects:

  • Owns the relationship with F&O and proactively helps identify, scope, and drive key projects

  • Ability to independently lead one or more projects at a time. Assumes full project delivery responsibility for large-scale F&O projects with high complexity

  • Takes full project ownership and successfully manages complex projects in terms of time and issue handling even when the project does not run as originally intended

  • Becomes a trusted advisor to senior management (SVPs/VPs) by identifying the root cause of the issue and providing actionable recommendations to solve them

  • Independently prepares project plans with clear milestones, delegates responsibilities and meets commitments

  • Drives discussions around a strong problem-solving logic to ensure that the project can be solved most effectively

  • Prepares storyline using conscious application of structured communication approaches (e.g.top-down vs. bottom-up)

  • Ensures that the team always produces well-structured and well-argued end-products with clear and precise messages

  • Coaches junior members and motivates many different kinds of people

  • Structured top-down written and oral communication

  • Proactively leverages F&O Project Sponsors (FO LT) and project Steering Group for sparring and direction setting

  • Independently drives anchoring of solution with key stakeholders

• Other areas of responsibility:

  • Develops and motivates Novo Nordisk colleagues (indirect reports as well as permanent and temporary members of the department)

  • Participates in internal and external training

  • Prepares and presents individual project ratings on junior colleagues

  • Provides upwards feedback and takes responsibility for own development e.g. by responding constructively to feedback

  • Challenges colleagues in a constructive way at the right time to achieve results, demonstrate drive, initiative, and a can-do attitude (both internally and in project settings)

Physical Requirements

0-10% overnight travel required.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's degree is required, preferrablty in the Economics, Engineering, Scientific, Commerce or a related reelvant fields.         

• Eight (8) years of relevant experience is required. A Master’s and/or advanced degree (preferably an MBA) can be substituted for up to 2 years of work experience when appropriate

• Four (4)+ years proven internal/external strategy consulting experience required

• Prior proven and documented Project Management experience required

• Pharmaceutical industry experience is strongly preferred

• Expert understanding of general business processes (marketing, access, manufacturing, supply chain, etc.)

• Prior experience from tier 1 life science consultancies is strongly preferred

• Significant proven experience working with consulting frameworks and approaches

• Exemplary leadership and interpersonal skills

• Structured top-down written and oral communication

• Assertive and inspirational presentation skills

• Expert analytical visualization skills

• Expert skills in using MicroSoft PC tools (PowerPoint and Excel) is required

• Strong language skills in English (written and orally)

• Highly agile in terms of working under tight deadlines and ambiguity/ changing circumstances

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.

Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.

If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.