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The Position
At Roche, our Global Product Development Safety & Risk Management (PDS) department aims to enhance healthcare for patients by elucidating and communicating the safety profile of Roche medicines to optimise their benefit-risk profile.
The Opportunity
The Associate Group Director (AGD) for Quantitative Safety Sciences (QSS) provides line leadership to a multidisciplinary team spanning Data Science (including AI/ML), Pharmacoepidemiology, and Pharmacovigilance (PV) Literature. Supporting assets across all Roche lifecycles, the AGD guides the team in establishing data-driven analysis strategies, model-based insights, and literature evidence. These efforts support regulatory deliverables (such as PBRER, DSUR, and SAC) and enhance the characterisation of molecule risk profiles for Clinical Safety, PSI, and other PDS partners.
Combining deep technical expertise in quantitative data science with broad knowledge of disease area strategies, the jobholder drives cross-functional collaboration with groups like PD Data Science, pRED/gRED, and PDMA. The AGD balances team resources, recruits and develops talent, and fosters an agile, high-quality delivery culture. Additionally, the role advances innovative analytical approaches to anticipate, manage, and characterise risk across Roche’s portfolio.
Primary Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
Leadership behaviors
- Role models Roche Values and Leadership Commitments while providing effective leadership to an experienced global team of Quantitative Safety Scientists across multiple locations; sets team direction in terms of remit, emphasis, style, behaviours, and culture while driving, embedding, and supporting staff to adhere to agreed organisational models, mindsets, and new ways of working.
- Leads self and others to deliver impactful outcomes, supports team members’ delivery, and brings critical thinking to shape current issues and opportunities into meaningful, deliverable actions while anticipating potential risks and opportunities in the context of the role.
- Focuses on implementing process improvements and adapting the team’s ways of working to achieve continually improving quality and efficiency; sets team and individual goals aligned with the Roche Safety Strategy, holding Quantitative Safety Scientists accountable for their behaviours and actions to encourage optimal mindsets for success.
Functional oversight, delivery & stakeholder relationship management
- Responsible for overseeing the delivery of Quantitative Safety Science—ensuring adherence to defined quality-bound processes and the highest scientific standards—utilising deliverables based on advanced data science, pharmacoepidemiology methodologies, and literature queries across Real World Data, Clinical Trial data, and literature databases while staying abreast of state-of-the-art methodologies and strategies.
- Provides leadership for scientific projects supported by the Quantitative Safety Science team, offering input on strategic and context information for fit-for-purpose solutions and consulting on best methodologies to leverage available data sources for smarter quantitative evidence generation in support of pharmacovigilance and safety risk management.
- Establishes an internal and external connected network to anticipate future opportunities, understand stakeholder needs/ideas, and promote collaborative projects (e.g., PSI, Clinical Safety, PD Data Science, pRED/gRED) while leading/contributing to global cross-functional initiatives and PDS strategic projects to define and implement SAR and PVSD priorities.
Resourcing and staff development
- Assumes responsibility for resource allocation and prioritisation to projects and requests according to individual capabilities, development needs, and project priorities; proactively recruits team members in line with the agreed SAR strategy while ensuring effective onboarding activities and training.
- Responsible for ensuring direct reports have effective line and performance management, being coached, trained, and developed to maximise their personal potential, wellbeing, and contribution to the business; ensures suitable training and education material is available for team members and customers while leading knowledge-sharing activities within the group.
- May deputise for the Group Director, Safety Analytics and Reporting.
Who You Are
- You hold a university degree—preferably an MSc or PhD—in computer science, quantitative science (e.g., Data Science, Statistics, Pharmacoepidemiology), or natural sciences with a specialisation in statistical data analysis.
- You bring extensive data science experience in a scientific and medical context, combining applied working knowledge of relational databases with expert command of modelling techniques.
- You demonstrate excellent leadership, coaching, and project management skills, with a proven ability to direct technical experts (data scientists, pharmacoepidemiologists, literature scientists) and delegate effectively in global line or matrix settings.
- You possess deep familiarity with drug safety data (including FAERS, clinical trials, biomarkers, and Real-World Data), data structures, and the relevant business processes.
- You excel at strategic and analytical thinking in ambiguous situations, translating complex scientific questions into data reporting and analysis strategies, and communicating them clearly both in writing and in presentations.
- You have highly developed influencing skills and a track record of driving decisions without authority, building effective collaborations across business units, and strengthening relationships with internal and external partners.
Scientific rigour and creativity, inclusive teamwork and exceptional delivery are key behaviours that drive our mission of doing now what patients need next. Together, we can be transformative
Location & Travel Requirements
- This position must be based in either Basel, Switzerland or South San Francisco, United States. Although this can be a hybrid role, there is an expectation of ongoing and sustained site presence, in compliance with local company site requirements.
- International business travel may be required. Typically, this will be required around 15% of the time, depending upon the site location of the jobholder and/or the requirements of the role for ongoing leadership or business project-related activities.
Where pay transparency applies, details are provided based on the primary posting location. For this role, the primary location is Basel. If you are interested in additional locations where the role may be available, we will provide the relevant compensation details later in the hiring process.
Who we are
A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.
Let’s build a healthier future, together.
Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.