Director Islet Biology

We are seeking talented and experienced leader to head up our Islet & Insulin Biology Department within the Diabetes Discovery area. The incumbent will lead a team of dedicated and talented scientists and technicians to accelerate and advance our portfolio within Diabetes with a strong focus on beta cell health and transformative insulins.

The position

The successful candidate will join a dynamic and highly collaborative leadership team, responsible for executing and delivering on our Diabetes strategies. With your solid background in leadership and metabolic disease, together with the team you will define and execute the operational strategy within Islet and insulin biology to build and drive the Diabetes portfolio.

Some of your key responsibilities will include:

• Through empowering and purpose driven leadership, deliver world class scientific and technical expertise within diabetes and islet biology with impact across the organisation.
• Ensure well-being, coherence, and productivity within the department.
• Prioritize efforts within department to align with overall priorities and activities.
• Work with colleagues across Global Research to define novel approaches to target discovery leveraging advanced bioinformatics approaches combined with state-of-the-art human in vitro systems.

Qualifications

You hold a Ph.D. degree in human biology, biochemistry, biomedical sciences, or closely related disciplines, with 8+ years of experience working with research, biotech, or industry within the area of obesity and/or diabetes. Prior leadership experience is required.

To be successful in this position you:

• Have a proven track record of leading scientific teams within cardiometabolic diseases preferentially within Diabetes.
• Bring scientific excellence and experience within Diabetes or related biologies.
• Are an empowering leader able to balance high and complex workloads and well-being of your team.
• Have strong analytical skills including proficiency within genetics, omics data and computational biology approaches
• Have project leadership experiences leading to successful gate passages.
• Have a broad international scientific network.
• Can set and drive an agenda across a matrix organisation.

As a person, you are open-minded, and you have a collaborative mindset with strong personal drive and dedication. You have high quality and ethical standards. You value and appreciate people, their differences and what we each can bring to the table. You possess a flexible attitude and the ability to change focus as required by the projects. You are goal oriented with a focus on delivering to the Diabetes portfolio.

About the area

Diabetes Discovery is part of the Diabetes & Obesity Therapy Area in Global Research, Novo Nordisk A/S. Currently, the VP area consists of ~50 employees across 3 departments. We work in a flexible, collaborative, and cross-functional setting, while keeping focus on quality and our pipeline in an informal environment.

Working at Novo Nordisk

At Novo Nordisk, we don’t wait for change. We drive it. We’re a dynamic company in an even more dynamic industry, and we know that what got us to where we are today is not necessarily what will make us successful in the future. We embrace the spirit of experimentation, striving for excellence without fixating on perfection. We never shy away from opportunities to develop, we seize them. From research and development, through to manufacturing, marketing and sales – we’re all working to move the needle on patient care.

Contact

For further information, please contact Christian Pehmøller, Vice President, Diabetes Discovery at cnpq@novonordisk.com

Deadline

7th of January 2026 

Novo Nordisk is currently in the process of adjusting job titles globally. Please note that the job title listed in this advertisement may be subject to change. More detailed information will be provided during the recruitment process.

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

We’re not your typical healthcare company. In a modern world of quick fixes, we focus on solutions to defeat serious chronic diseases and promote long-term health. Our unordinary mindset is at the heart of everything we do. We seek out new ideas and put people first as we push the boundaries of science, make healthcare more accessible, and treat, prevent, and even cure diseases that affect millions of lives. Because it takes an unordinary approach to drive real, lasting change in health.