Associate Director, Global Patient Advocacy

x

Are you a highly experienced public affairs professional ready to drive patient advocacy initiatives that advance care and access to innovative medicines for people living with chronic diseases? If you're passionate about empowering patients and ready for a new challenge, we want to hear from you.

The position

As Associate Director, Global Patient Advocacy, you will be responsible for fostering partnerships to advance care and access to innovative medicines for people living with chronic diseases. This role plays a pivotal part in shaping the future direction of our patient advocacy model.

The position is based in Søborg, Denmark. This is an office-based role and requires on-site attendance five days per week.

Key responsibilities: 

Patient Advocacy Excellence:

• Analyse and anticipate trends and challenges in the patient advocacy landscape
• Provide guidance and support to colleagues working in strategic markets around the world
• Represent the company in relevant international forums, conferences or roundtables where engagement with patient advocacy groups is critical

Advocacy Partnership development: 

• Build, maintain and deepen collaborative and transparent relationships with key patient organisations and patient advocates across relevant therapeutic areas
• Define and develop advocacy strategies aligned with BU goals
• Lead and co-create advocacy initiatives with patient groups and communities that advance common goals i.e care pathway improvements, access to innovative medicines
• Monitor and evaluate impact of advocacy efforts on patient outcomes and company reputation

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in public affairs, patient advocacy or medical affairs within the pharmaceutical, biotech or healthcare industry, in-house or through consultancies
• Demonstrated experience in building and sustaining robust partnerships with patient advocacy groups across diverse therapeutic areas and geographies.
• Ability to assess and articulate the business and reputational impact of patient advocacy
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication (written and verbal), and presentation skills, with the ability to engage and influence diverse stakeholders at all levels
• Proven strategic thinking capabilities, with the ability to translate complex information into clear, actionable plans
• High degree of empathy, integrity, and patient-centricity.
• Strong understanding of compliance requirements and ethical guidelines governing pharmaceutical-patient group interactions.
• Ability to work effectively in a complex, fast-paced global matrix environment
• Fluency in English required; additional language skills are a plus

About the department and team 

The Patient Experience and Advocacy department is a newly formed team within Global Medical Affairs, which oversees Novo Nordisk’s commitment to patient centricity, overseeing external advocacy and embedding patient strategies across the entire value chain, from early research to market. The department’s remit includes Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) to support regulatory claims, patient preference studies, and engagement with regulatory bodies, as well as strategic partnerships with patient communities to co-create solutions that deliver health system impact, champion patient-generated evidence, and ensure ethical, outcome-focused engagement throughout the healthcare journey. The Patient Advocacy team is responsible for designing and executing advocacy programmes in partnership with disease communities, supporting policy change and care pathway improvements,

Working at Novo Nordisk

Every day we seek the solutions that defeat serious chronic diseases. To do this, we approach our work with an unconventional spirit, a rare determination and a constant curiosity. For over 100 years this unordinary mindset has seen us build a company unlike any other. One where a collective passion for our purpose, mutual respect and a willingness to go beyond what we know delivers extraordinary results.

Deadline 

Please apply by 17th December 2025

At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we’re life changing.