Associate Director, Data Operations and Issue Mangement Lead

Job Description Summary

#LI-Hybrid

Location: East Hanover, New Jersey

The preferred location for this role is East Hanover, New Jersey site but remote work may be possible (there may be some restrictions based on legal entity). Please note that this role would not provide relocation as a result. If associate is remote, all home office expenses and any travel/lodging to specific East Hanover, New Jersey site for periodic live meetings will be at the employee’s expense. The expectation of working hours and travel (domestic and/or international) will be defined by the hiring manager.

If you're energized by improving systems, solving critical issues, and helping teams succeed through reliable data, this role could be your next opportunity. As the Associate Director, Data Operations & Issue Management, you will lead efforts that ensure enterprise data products remain stable, trusted, and business-ready. In this highly visible role, you'll drive issue resolution, operational governance, and continuous improvement across critical data products, partnering with data engineering, data quality, analytics, and business teams to maintain operational excellence and deliver trusted data at scale. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment, enjoy solving complex challenges, and are motivated by creating meaningful business impact, you'll find an exciting opportunity to shape the future of data operations at Novartis.

Job Description

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 service level agreements, issue trends, remediation progress, and operational performance metrics.

• Partner with data engineering teams to resolve pipeline failures, delivery issues, and production incidents.

• Collaborate with data quality teams to address quality issues, root causes, and corrective actions.

• Coordinate cross-functional resolution efforts across business, technology, vendor, and data teams.

• Escalate critical risks, dependencies, and service disruptions to ensure timely leadership visibility.

• Lead operational reviews, issue governance forums, remediation checkpoints, and post-incident follow-ups.

• Produce dashboards and reporting that provide insight into risks, service levels, and operational performance.

• Drive continuous improvement by identifying automation opportunities, reducing recurring issues, and enhancing operational processes.

Essential Requirements

• 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 operational issue logs, incident workflows, SLA tracking, escalation routines, and remediation plans.

• Strong understanding of data products, data pipelines, data quality controls, metadata, lineage, data governance, and production support processes.

• Experience working with cross-functional teams across data engineering, governance, analytics, business, vendors, and technology platforms.

• Familiarity with tools such as Jira, ServiceNow, Confluence, Smartsheet, Excel, Power BI, Tableau, or similar.

• Ability to analyze issue trends, root causes, SLA performance, operational risks, and recurring gaps.

• Strong stakeholder management skills with ability to coordinate across teams and influence timely resolution.

• Strong communication skills, including ability to summarize operational risks and issues for leadership.

• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, follow-through, and comfort managing multiple priorities.

Desirable Requirements

• Experience with post-go-live support, hypercare, incident management, or service transition.

• Familiarity with regulated data environments, pharma commercial data, or compliance-driven operations.

The salary for this position is expected to range between $152,600 - $283,400 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. 

To learn more about the culture, rewards and benefits we offer our people click here. 

EEO Statement:

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. 

Accessibility and reasonable accommodations

The Novartis Group of Companies are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call +1(877)395-2339 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

Salary Range

$152,600.00 - $283,400.00

Skills Desired

Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Engagement, Customer Insights, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Market Research, Media Campaigns, Product Marketing, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Team Leadership, Waterfall Model