Manager - Internal Audit for Research & Development and Strategy & Growth

Manager, Internal Audit – R&D and Strategy & Growth

Job Description Summary

#LI-Hybrid

Location: Hyderabad, India

Are you passionate about shaping how a science-led organization manages risk, assurance, and value creation? As Manager, Internal Audit – R&D / Strategy & Growth, you will play a pivotal role in delivering high-quality audit and advisory engagements that support Novartis’ most critical innovation and growth priorities. Partnering closely with senior leaders, you will bring data-driven insights, independent challenge, and a simplification mindset to help strengthen governance, improve processes, and enable confident decision-making across Research & Development and Strategy & Growth functions.

Job Description

Key responsibilities:

• Lead and deliver audit and advisory engagements across Research and Development and Strategy & Growth functions.

• Partner with senior stakeholders to provide independent challenge while maintaining audit objectivity and integrity.

• Assess business and information technology risks and evaluate the effectiveness of internal controls.

• Identify control weaknesses, investigate root causes, and co-create pragmatic improvement actions with stakeholders.

• Apply data, analytics, and evidence-based approaches to enhance audit quality, insights, and impact.

• Contribute to enterprise risk assessment and annual audit planning through strong stakeholder relationships.

• Influence change by challenging existing practices and championing simplification and enterprise-wide thinking.

Willingness to travel for this role: 15%

Essential requirements:

• Proven experience in internal audit or advisory roles within an international organization or professional services environment.

• Professional certification such as Certified Internal Auditor or Certification in Risk Management Assurance is preferred.

• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or healthcare operations, ideally within Research and Development.

• Demonstrated ability to assess risks, evaluate internal controls, and deliver high-quality audit or advisory outcomes.

• Excellent stakeholder management skills, influencing and constructively challenging senior leaders in a matrix environment.

• Experience applying data and evidence-based approaches to inform risk assessment and deliver actionable insights.

• Strong communication, organization, and project management skills to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.

Accessibility and accommodation

Novartis is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to diversityandincl.india@novartis.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

Skills Desired

Building Effective Teams, Compliance And Controls, Continuous Process Improvement, Critical Thinking, E2E Process View, Employee Engagement, Esg Data Management, Financial Accounting, Financial And Management Reporting, Giving And Receiving Feedback, Interpersonal Savvy, People Development, Process Optimization, Rapid Problem Solving

Experience Level

Entry Level