Head of Discovery Biology

The Position The Head of Discovery Biology will be responsible for both scientific and personnel management leading a team of highly skilled scientists. The role requires close cross-functional collaboration with computational, genetics, and in-vitro stakeholders within Novo Nordisk Oxford, Boston, Denmark, and across the larger global organization to achieve a high level of scientific and therapeutic innovation in all areas of cardiometabolic diseases. You will interact with internal and external stakeholders, including senior management, academic collaborators, and contract research organizations, to ensure the delivery of high-quality data packages and strategic recommendations. An important part of the role is to support and manage the progression of validated targets through the organization and help advance targets into formal programs in the Novo Nordisk early pipeline. You will help in conducting due diligence ensuring scientific drive and value generation of ongoing and new external collaborations. The scientific leadership responsibilities encompass: proposing, managing, and progressing scientific programs into the Novo Nordisk pipeline scientifically influencing and executing strategy for metabolic disease areas, driving state-of-art drug discovery, and challenging the scientific rationale, hypothesis, and result interpretation of projects in pipeline working together with therapy area heads and lead teams to identify and reduce scientific gaps. As part of your line management duties, you will: define annual goals and objectives for team and team members and oversee year-end performance reviews. conduct a team follow-up on employee survey results (e.g., evolve) and ensure team skills and competences are in line with the business objectives. assign team members to global and local cross-functional teams, matching skills with business requirements and drive continuous improvements. be responsible for performance management, the onboarding of new employees as well as coaching and mentoring of junior scientists. The role requires onsite presence in our Oxford office. As part of the role, you’ll be expected to travel circa 4-5 times per year. Qualifications A successful candidate will have a PhD in a relevant field, together with relevant experience within industry and academia, including prior experience leading and managing research programs. They will be a role model in encouraging a culture of engagement and dedication. Additionally, we are looking for: An experience in target identification through to clinical trial entry. A subject matter expert in a field related to cardiometabolic disease, with a high level of creativity, innovation, and inquisitiveness. Deep interest and talent create and establish strong interpersonal relations, with excellent situational leadership and change management skills. Strong communication skills and cross-cultural understanding to interact in the global organization. Flexibility and the ability to work in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment are required. Fluency in spoken and written English. About the Department The Target Discovery Engine (TDE) is a part of the Global Drug Discovery (GDD), with sites in Oxford and Boston. In Oxford the TDE teams’ remit is to accelerate target discovery through technology and scientific innovation, implementation of high-throughput target validation assays, scalable processes, standardization, and automation of functional genomics screens to generate large scale multimodal data layers. Working closely with systems biology, genetics, DDIT (Digital Data & IT) and colleagues we use in-vitro and in-silico data sources for AI-powered predictions and target identification, with an ambition to discover novel targets that differentiate from current therapies and provide significant added benefits to patients. The Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford (NNRCO) is a part of Research and Early Development that has become a state-of-the-art cardiometabolic disease research centre, responsible for identification of novel targets in our diseases of interest. The centre uses innovative and unbiased in-silico and in-vitro human-centric approaches to identify new therapeutic opportunities in cardiometabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, NASH, chronic kidney disease, atherosclerosis, heart failure, and associated co-morbidities. NNRCO also drives productive collaborations within academia (particularly the University of Oxford), as well as with biotechnology partners. NNRCO works closely with Novo Nordisk Research Centre in China as part of the Target Discovery Engine (TDE), and with our partners in the Global Drug Discovery (GDD) Therapy Areas to take forward novel targets. We offer: Competitive compensation package Company sponsored private medical, life and disability insurance. Top tier pension matching scheme Inclusive culture and much more Working at Novo Nordisk We are a proud life-science company, and life is our reason to exist. We’re inspired by life in all its forms and shapes, ups and downs, opportunities, and challenges. For employees at Novo Nordisk, life means many things – from the building blocks of life that form the basis of ground-breaking scientific research, to our rich personal lives that motivate and energise us to perform our best at work. Ultimately, life is why we’re all here - to ensure that people can lead a life independent of chronic disease.