Associate Director - Team Leader

Cardiometabolic Comorbidities Therapeutic Area

Måløv, Denmark

Are you a scientific leader ready to shape the future of cardiometabolic drug discovery? This is a unique opportunity to lead a highly skilled in vivo team driving and supporting early-stage projects from target validation to clinical development. Join us and play a central role in developing transformative therapies for people living with serious chronic diseases.

Your new role

As Associate Director - Team Leader, you will lead a team of in vivo scientists and technicians responsible for delivering high quality in vivo data across the portfolio within the Cardiometabolic Comorbidities Therapeutic Area (CCTA). Your role spans from scientific leadership to strategic oversight and people leadership, ensuring strong contributions from portfolio entry of projects to identification of clinical candidates.

In this role, you will:

• Lead, coach, and develop an experienced and engaged team, fostering a culture of scientific excellence, collaboration, and continuous growth.
• Define and drive in vivo strategies in alignment with the CCTA strategy and portfolio objectives, ensuring access to state-of-the-art in vivo cardiometabolic disease models (HF, ASCVD, CKD, MASH).
• Support team members in design, execution and interpretation of in vivo studies supporting target validation, model development, pharmacodynamic and early pharmacokinetic studies. Collaborate closely with project managers and cross-functional stakeholders across Research and Development (R&D) to ensure high-quality deliveries, resource allocation and strategic alignment.
• Ensure full compliance with ethical standards, regulatory requirements, and internal animal welfare guidelines.

Your new department

You will join the Early Project Department within the CCTA. The department plays a pivotal role in overseeing and advancing drug discovery projects within cardiometabolic comorbidities (ASCVD, HF, CKD, and MASH diseases). The in vivo team is a dynamic environment where in vivo excellence, scientific curiosity and empowerment come together to drive impactful portfolio progress.

In Research & Development, you will be part of a unit that explores bold scientific ideas and advances them into clinical testing. We combine curiosity, AI tools, and human data to develop transformative therapies. Through collaboration and operational excellence, we shape and deliver an innovative pipeline to meet future patient needs.

Your skills and qualifications

To succeed in this role, you bring strong scientific expertise combined with proven people leadership capabilities. You have:

• A PhD (or equivalent) in pharmacology, biology or a related discipline, and extensive experience in in vivo pharmacology within pharma or biotech industry.
• Deep expertise in in vivo model development and selection, study design, execution and data interpretation. Experience in rodents is required; experience with higher species is an advantage. Experience with outsourcing is also an advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, inspire and develop scientific teams.
• A strong strategic mindset with the ability to connect experimental work to broader project and portfolio goals.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence without authority and convey complex science clearly.
• Experience with at least one CCTA focused indication (HF, ASCVD, CKD, MASH) is strongly preferred.

As a leader, you demonstrate a growth-oriented approach to leadership, actively developing own leadership capabilities while fostering a culture of empowerment, trust, and transparency within your team and with partners. With your pragmatic approach, you can easily make decisions and guide the team effectively.

Working at Novo Nordisk

Every day we seek the solutions that defeat serious chronic diseases. To do this, we approach our work with determination, constant curiosity and a commitment to finding better ways forward. For over 100 years, this dedication has driven us to build a company focused on lasting change for long-term health. One where diverse thinking, shared purpose and mutual respect come together to create extraordinary results. When you join us, you are not just starting a job – you are becoming part of a story that spans generations.

What we offer

There is, of course, more on offer here than the uniqueness of our culture and the extraordinary results we produce. Being part of a global healthcare company means opportunities to learn and develop are all around us, while our benefits are designed with your career and life stage in mind.

Deadline

15 April 2026. Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis.

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.