Associate Director-SAP Security & Authorizations

Organization: Novo Nordisk Global Business Services(GBS) Bengaluru, Karnataka

Function: SAP Platform Management & Tech. Services

About the Role

At Novo Nordisk, we are committed to driving digital transformation that ultimately supports better outcomes for patients. As Associate Director – SAP Security & Authorizations, you will play a key role in ensuring that our SAP ecosystem is secure, compliant, and scalable, enabling reliable and efficient business operations globally.

Reporting to the Director of the SAP & Ecosystems GBS unit, this role operates with significant exposure to senior leadership, contributing to decision-making across Enterprise IT and business functions. You will combine strategic oversight with hands-on expertise, leading the SAP security domain across our various critical SAP platforms while supporting major transformation initiatives such as the SAP role redesign.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Direction

• Define and drive the SAP Security & Authorizations strategy in alignment with the SAP & Ecosystem and Enterprise platform priorities.
• Provide subject matter leadership to senior stakeholders, including input into CXO-level discussions on risk, controls, and security design to future proof our SAP security landscape.
• Support the head of the unit in shaping a scalable, global operating model for SAP security services.
• Lead and develop a high-performing global team with a span of 10-12 members, fostering collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Quality, Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure SAP security controls support a robust, audit-ready environment, aligned with internal policies and external regulatory expectations (e.g., SOX and relevant GxP considerations).
• Own and govern the Segregation of Duties (SoD) framework, ensuring effective risk identification, mitigation, and monitoring.
• Partner with Quality, Platform Risk & Compliance, and Internal Audit teams to proactively manage risks and address findings.
• Apply a risk-based and pragmatic approach to balancing compliance with business needs.

Architecture & Secure Design

• Define and maintain the SAP authorization and role design framework across S/4HANA, Fiori, BTP platform and other SAP solutions.
• Ensure security and compliance are embedded by design in all SAP initiatives.
• Provide oversight of integration with enterprise identity and access management (IAM) capabilities (e.g., SSO, MFA, identity provisioning).
• Guide secure architecture decisions across SAP cloud and hybrid environments, including SAP BTP and SaaS platforms.

Operational Excellence

• Oversee end-to-end access lifecycle management, ensuring efficient, compliant, and user-centric processes.
• Drive standardization, simplification, and automation across SAP security operations.
• Manage escalations, complex authorization issues, and security incidents with clear ownership and resolution.
• Define and monitor KPIs and service levels to ensure continuous improvement.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with business stakeholders, product teams, SAP functional experts, SAP architects, SAP design authority and information security teams.
• Translate complex security topics into clear, actionable insights for business and IT leaders.
• Contribute actively to enterprise transformation programs, ensuring security and compliance are integrated from the outset.

Qualifications & Experience Required

• 15+ years of experience in SAP Security & Authorizations, combining leadership and deep technical expertise.
• Strong knowledge of S/4HANA, ECC, and SAP Fiori security models.
• Proven experience with SAP GRC Access Controls and SoD frameworks is an advantage.
• Experience working in a global, matrixed organization.
• Ability to engage with senior stakeholders, including exposure to executive-level discussions.
• Solid understanding of compliance and quality-driven environments, including SOX and GxP-relevant controls.
• Experience integrating SAP with enterprise IAM solutions (e.g., SailPoint, Entra ID/Azure AD, SSO, MFA).

Preferred

• Experience in life sciences or other regulated industries.
• Exposure to SAP BTP security and Cloud identity services.
• SAP certifications in Security or GRC.

Leadership & Behavioural Competencies

• Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to operate effectively between strategic and hands-on levels
• Pragmatic approach to risk, compliance, and business enablement
• Drives simplicity and continuous improvement in complex environments
• Builds trust through accountability, transparency, and delivery

Your new department

In Enterprise IT & Quality, you will be part of a business area that drives impact across the full Novo Nordisk value chain. We strive to stay close to our stakeholders in the business to ensure we deliver on their needs, helping reach millions of people living with serious chronic diseases..

You’ll join the SAP Emerging Tech and Authorizations team at Novo Nordisk, responsible for SAP security architecture and governance across our global SAP landscape. Our SAP environment underpins critical business and regulated processes spanning Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality, and R&D — making security excellence both a business imperative and a compliance priority.

Working at Novo Nordisk

You will be part of a global organization where quality, compliance, and patient focus are integral to how we work. This role offers the opportunity to shape SAP security at scale, contribute to key transformation initiatives, and collaborate across functions to deliver secure, reliable, and efficient digital solutions.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and preventing diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.