Director, Innovation & Human Centered Experience

Job Description Summary

#LI-Hybrid
Primary Location: United Kingdom - Remote
Other Locations: Brussels, Belgium; Dublin, Ireland; East Hanover, United States; Prague, Czech Republic - Hybrid
Relocation Support: This role is based in London, United Kingdom. Novartis is unable to offer relocation support: please only apply if accessible.
You will step into a pivotal role where you shape how employees experience People & Organization (P&O) by bringing human centered design thinking, service design and innovation into everyday ways of working. This is a highly influential opportunity to uncover what truly matters to employees, help leaders see challenges through a fresh lens, and design solutions that make work simpler, more connected and more meaningful. You’ll guide teams through discovery, co‑creation and iteration, building confidence and capability as you partner with Global Process Owners (GPOs) and stakeholders to deliver human-centered experiences that are intuitive, integrated and grounded in real needs. In this role, your curiosity, empathy and strategic design mindset directly contribute to transforming how P&O delivers value across Novartis.

 

Job Description

Key responsibilities:

• Assess and frame complex business, people and process challenges to determine the right innovation and design approach.

• Identify insights, blind spots and experience opportunities across processes, interactions and supporting systems.

• Conduct research using Human Centered Design and service design methods to understand user needs, pain points and moments that matter.

• Translate complex or ambiguous challenges into clear problem statements and opportunity areas.

• Partner with Global Process Owners (GPOs) to redesign processes informed by human centered insights and employee priorities.

• Coach teams to apply human centered design methods including journey mapping, synthesis, prototyping and testing.

• Identify integration opportunities that streamline experiences and reduce friction across end‑to‑end journeys.

• Ensure process changes connect to real employee needs and moments that matter, avoiding siloed or purely operational improvements.

• Create or co‑create journey maps, prototypes and experience concepts when deeper design expertise is required to accelerate progress.

• Contribute to internal playbooks, methods, tools and frameworks that help teams apply human‑centered practices.

• Coach GPOs, P&O teams and cross‑functional partners to apply human‑centered and design‑led approaches in their work.

• Facilitate alignment sessions and co‑creation activities to build shared understanding and stronger solutions.

• Lead or support innovation and experience design efforts from early discovery through pilot execution.

• Translate insights and ideas into tangible concepts, prototypes and validated recommendations.

Essential Requirements:

• Extensive experience in innovation, HCD, service design, digital experience, customer/employee experience, or transformation.

• Degree in innovation, design, digital experience, business, behavioral science or related fields, or equivalent experience.

• Proven ability to translate insights into journeys, concepts, prototypes and actionable recommendations.

• Experience enabling, coaching, or influencing others in design or innovation practices.

• Demonstrated ability to simplify complexity and uncover underlying problems and opportunities.

• Excellent facilitation, communication and storytelling capabilities.

• Ability to influence without authority and build trusted partnerships across diverse stakeholders.

• Experience working in global, complex or matrixed environments or within consulting settings.

• Experience integrating multiple processes or journeys to create streamlined, connected end‑to‑end experiences.

• Ability to apply systems thinking to align processes, policies, tools and behaviors into cohesive solutions.

Benefits & Rewards

Czech Republic: Monthly pension contribution matching your individual

contribution up to 3% of your gross monthly base salary; Risk Life Insurance (full

cost covered by Novartis); 5-week holiday per year; (1 week above the Labour Law requirement); 4 paid sick days within one calendar year in case of absence

due to sickness without a medical sickness report; Cafeteria employee benefit

program – choice of benefits from Benefit Plus Cafeteria in the amount of 7,500 CZK per year; Meal vouchers in amount of 105 CZK for each working day (full tax covered by company); Public Transportation allowance; MultiSport Card, Employee Share Purchase Plan. Find out more about Novartis Business

Services: https://www.novartis.cz/

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion / EEO paragraph:

Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.

Accessibility and Accommodation:

Czech Republic: Novartis is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to all individuals. If, because of a medical condition

or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, or in order to receive more detailed information about the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

 

Skills Desired

Agility, AI Solutions, Business Partnering, Change Management, Coaching, Communication Skills, Consulting, Data Analytics and AI Integration, Digital Literacy, Facilitation, Governance frameworks, Influencing Without Authority, Organizational Development (OD), Organization Design, Relationship Building, Resilience, Stakeholders Management, Strategic Workforce Planning, Talent Management