Job Description Summary
#LI-HybridLocation: Mexico City, Insurgentes
Contract Type: This role is based in Mexico City, Insurgentes. Novartis is unable to offer relocation support: please only apply if accessible.
Reimagining Medicine Starts With Our People
The Associate Director, Marketing Program Governance (MPG), is responsible for leading and growing the NOCC-based MPG team that supports US Marketing Operations. This role oversees operational delivery, talent development, resource planning, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement initiatives across the MPG portfolio.
As a senior people leader, the Associate Director serves as the primary NOCC leader for MPG operations, ensuring the team is positioned to provide high-quality, scalable, and compliant support while driving operational excellence and business outcomes. The role partners closely with US MPG leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to align priorities, optimize service delivery, build organizational capabilities, and support the expansion of MPG services within the NOCC model.
Job Description
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership & Capability Building
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team supporting Marketing Program Governance activities.
- Establish team priorities, performance expectations, and development plans aligned with organizational goals, including succession planning and employee engagement.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and operational excellence.
- Build and scale MPG capabilities within NOCC to support evolving business needs and strategic objectives.
Operational Leadership
- Oversee day-to-day delivery of MPG services and operational support activities.
- Manage workload distribution, resource planning, capacity management, and delivery performance.
- Monitor operational metrics to assess delivery performance, efficiency, quality, and stakeholder satisfaction.
Stakeholder Partnership
- Serve as the primary NOCC leadership contact for MPG operational activities.
- Partner closely with US MPG leaders to align priorities, staffing needs, and strategic objectives.
- Build strong working relationships across Marketing, Marketing Operations, Marketing Technology (MarTech), Studio Operations, Regulatory, Compliance, Legal, Privacy, Medical, and Commercial teams.
- Facilitate effective communication between US and NOCC teams to ensure transparency, alignment, and successful execution.
Marketing Program Governance & Content Approval Excellence
- Lead cross-functional governance to enable compliant marketing programs, channel capabilities, and technology.
- Apply enterprise execution requirements consistently across digital and channel marketing, balancing compliance, quality, speed, and business needs.
- Translate technical, regulatory, and operational requirements into practical guidance and decision frameworks for the NOCC MPG team and business partners.
- Simplify and standardize content approval and digital engagement using Agile practices, defining requirements, process inputs and outputs, stakeholder roles, technical specifications, testing, and deployment readiness.
- Oversee the Material Approval Process and related systems and workflows before, during, and after review to improve effectiveness, consistency, and compliance.
- Maintain centralized channel requirements, content standards, process maps, playbooks, standard operating procedures (SOPs), working-practice documents, system instructions, and quick-reference guides.
Continuous Improvement & Transformation
- Lead continuous-improvement initiatives to streamline MPG processes, strengthen operating models, and enhance service delivery.
- Support implementation of new technologies, automation opportunities, and AI-enabled solutions that improve operational efficiency.
- Promote adoption of best practices through training materials and knowledge management.
Risk Management & Quality Oversight
- Ensure operational processes are executed in accordance with Novartis standards, policies, and governance requirements.
- Identify risks, issues, and operational challenges and lead appropriate mitigation strategies.
- Maintain quality, consistency, and documentation standards across team deliverables.
- Partner with relevant functions on internal and external audits, inquiries, remediation, and inspection readiness.
Required Experience
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required; concentration in Business, Marketing, Digital Media, Communications, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field preferred.
- 8+ years of experience in Marketing Operations, Program Management, Governance, Shared Services, or related business functions.
- 3+ years of people leadership experience managing managers and/or professional teams.
- Proven experience leading global or offshore operational teams.
- Experience working within complex, matrixed organizations.
- Demonstrated ability to build, develop, and scale high-performing teams.
- Digital Media, Communications, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field preferred.
- Fluent English communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to work effectively across regions and functions.
- Working knowledge of pharmaceutical advertising and promotion requirements, content review and approval processes, privacy expectations, and digital-channel governance.
- Experience with US - Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) review or Material Approval Process (MAP) workflows and systems such as Veeva Vault PromoMats, Aprimo, or comparable digital asset management and workflow platforms; familiarity with channel-execution platforms is preferred.
- Strong facilitation, executive communication, process mapping, project management, risk management, and change leadership capabilities.
- Ability to lead through ambiguity, challenge current ways of working constructively, build consensus, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat; experience using automation, analytics, and AI-enabled tools to improve operations is preferred.
Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.
Accessibility and accommodation
Novartis is committed to work with and provide reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to tas.mexico@novartis.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.
Novartis tiene el compromiso de trabajar y proporcionar adaptaciones razonables para personas con discapacidad. Si, debido a una condición médica o discapacidad, necesita una adaptación razonable para cualquier parte del proceso de contratación, o para desempeñar las funciones esenciales de un puesto, envíe un correo electrónico a tas.mexico@novartis.com y permítanos conocer la naturaleza de su solicitud y su información de contacto. Incluya el número de posición en su mensaje.
Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture
Benefits and Rewards: Read our handbook to learn about all the ways we’ll help you thrive personally and professionally: https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards
Skills Desired
Change Agility, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Engagement, Customer Experience (CX), Customer Insights, Data Analytics, Data Strategies, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategies, Market Research, Media Campaigns, Product Marketing, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Team Leadership, Waterfall Model