Associate Director - CRM Innovation Labs

Associate Director - CRM Innovation Labs

Job Description Summary

Novartis is on a mission to transform medicine and improve lives worldwide. As a global leader in healthcare, we leverage advanced technology, data, and digital capabilities to deliver patient-centric solutions, enhance customer engagement, and drive innovation. Within this context, the US CRM organization is advancing customer engagement through data, digital capabilities, artificial intelligence, and differentiated CRM experiences. CRM Innovation Labs provides a structured environment to shape, prototype, and validate promising opportunities before enterprise commitment.

The Associate Director, CRM Innovation Labs leads the Hyderabad extension of this capability and serves as a strategic partner to US CRM Innovation Labs and CRM leadership. Reporting to the Director, CRM Enablement, Hyderabad, the role shapes the innovation portfolio, establishes experimentation governance, develops internal and external capabilities, and drives evidence-based decisions to advance, redirect, transition, or stop opportunities.

Job Description

Associate Director - CRM Innovation Labs

Location – Hyderabad #LI Hybrid 

Major Accountabilities:

• Lead the Hyderabad CRM Innovation Labs extension by defining its operating model, governance, ways of working, reusable practices, and collaboration interfaces with US Labs, Product Owners, and delivery teams.
• Shape and manage a focused CRM innovation portfolio aligned to business priorities, customer and user needs, emerging technologies, strategic feasibility, and measurable value.
• Build internal innovation capability by fostering a culture of curiosity, disciplined experimentation, transparency, continuous learning, and accountable decision-making.
• Establish clear opportunity intake and governance mechanisms to assess whether ideas should enter Labs, leverage existing CRM capabilities, or be redirected to the appropriate accountable teams.
• Guide opportunities through structured experimentation stages including discovery, shaping, prototyping, proof of concept, validation, and evidence-based decisions to advance, pivot, pause, stop, or transition.
• Develop and leverage an external innovation ecosystem across startups, technology partners, academia, specialist providers, and industry trends in CRM, AI, automation, analytics, experience, and life sciences.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders across business, Product, DDIT, architecture, engineering, UX, analytics, data, privacy, security, legal, compliance, and procurement to de-risk opportunities and influence informed decisions.
• Ensure validated concepts transition effectively into value realization with clear ownership, roadmap or adoption paths, delivery and support plans, compliance controls, success measures, reusable insights, and structured handover.

Essential Requirements:

• Strategic relevance and balance of the CRM innovation portfolio.
• Quality and timeliness of intake, prioritization, and portfolio decisions.
• Business value, strategic learning, or risk reduction generated through Lab's activities.
• Stakeholder confidence in Lab's governance, evidence, and -recommendations.
• Quality of transition into owned product roadmaps, operational capabilities, or other agreed adoption pathways.
• Capability maturity, effective external partnerships, internal knowledge growth, and compliance with applicable controls.

Desirable Requirement:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, technology, life sciences, engineering, or a related field is required; MBA or relevant master’s degree preferred

Minimum Experience:

• 11+ years of experience in innovation, product management, digital transformation, consulting, emerging technology, CRM, or related disciplines.
• Experience establishing or scaling innovation capabilities, operating models, or experimentation portfolios.
• Proven success leading discovery, prototypes, proofs of concept, and evidence-based investment decisions.
• Experience evaluating emerging technologies and managing internal teams, external partners, startups, or specialist providers.
• Strong senior-stakeholder influence, strategic problem solving, and cross-functional leadership.
• Experience transitioning validated concepts into product roadmaps, funded delivery, or operational capabilities.
• Experience in global, healthcare, pharmaceutical, life-sciences, or other regulated environments is desirable.

Skills Desired

Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Engagement, Customer Insights, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Market Research, Media Campaigns, Product Marketing, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Team Leadership, Waterfall Model

Experience Level

Mid Level