Associate Director, Incentive Compensation

Job Description Summary #LI-Remote This position can be based remotely anywhere in the U.S. (there may be some restrictions based on legal entity). The expectation of working hours and travel (domestic and/or international) will be defined by the hiring manager. This position will require 10% travel. Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role: please only apply if this location is accessible to you. Company will not sponsor visas for this position. As a pivotal leader within the Incentive Compensation team, the Associate Director, Incentive Compensation will play a crucial role in supporting the Sales Leadership team, Incentive Compensation, and Customer Engagement Operations leadership to achieve key business objectives. This position entails comprehensive ownership of Incentive Compensation for assigned therapeutic areas, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery. The Associate Director, Incentive Compensation will provide thought leadership and subject matter expertise, demonstrating strong technical and communication skills. Additionally, this role involves partnering with Field leadership, HQ leadership, stakeholders, and the team, while adhering to Novartis Incentive Compensation policies, including governance processes, legal and compliance guardrails, field motivation, and fiscal responsibility. Job Description Key Responsibilities: Demonstrate thought leadership across the Incentive Compensation (IC) function, encompassing IC Design, IC Analytics, IC Operations, IC Communication, and IC Project Management Office (PMO). This involves providing strategic direction and innovative solutions to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the IC processes, ensuring alignment with organizational goals. Establish and maintain excellent relationships with HQ leadership, Sales leadership, stakeholders, and external partners to ensure seamless collaboration and alignment, including fostering strong partnerships, facilitating open communication, and building trust to achieve collective success in achieving business objectives. Design IC Plan options, presenting pros and cons, and making well-founded recommendations with clear rationale, requiring a thorough analysis of various IC plan alternatives, evaluating their potential impact, and providing insightful recommendations to guide decision-making. Develop IC performance KPIs for health checks and provide actionable insights from IC Plan performance evaluations by creating key performance indicators to monitor the health of IC plans, conducting regular evaluations, and delivering data-driven insights to inform strategic adjustments. Create innovative solutions to various IC challenges while ensuring compliance with Novartis policies which entail identifying and addressing complex IC issues with creative approaches, while rigorously adhering to established policies and regulatory requirements. Independently run IC modeling and simulation analytics, provide detailed technical guidance to the team, and review their work to ensure accuracy and quality. This includes performing advanced analytical tasks, mentoring team members on technical methodologies, and conducting quality control to maintain high standards. Engage with Sales Leadership Team to present IC recommendations, performance results, and insights, foster informed decision-making, and involves preparing and delivering comprehensive presentations to the Sales Leadership Team, highlighting key findings and strategic recommendations to support business goals. Collaborate within the IC team to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, motivation, learning, development, and retention, driving overall team success, including promoting a collaborative work environment, encouraging continuous improvement, and supporting the professional growth and retention of team members. Essential Requirements: Bachelor’s degree required from 4-year college or university. 8+ years’ experience of analytics experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, or similarly structured industries with large, geographically dispersed sales teams; including 4+ years’ experience in an Incentive Compensation role with excellent achievements. We also welcome candidates from other complex environments such as medical devices, diagnostics, life sciences services, insurance, consumer health, or B2B sectors, especially where strong leadership and customer engagement are central to success. Strong functional and technical subject matter expertise in IC design, analytics, operations, processes, and business acumen. Robust solutioning skills with an innovative approach grounded in field optics and technical feasibility. Adherence to organizational policies, guardrails, ways of working, processes, and timelines. Hands-on technical skills in all aspects of IC, including the ability to run analytics (modeling and simulation) and generate insights. Strong knowledge of IC pharmaceutical data, including specialty and rare diseases, and familiarity with data suppliers such as IQVIA, Symphony, and specialty pharmacies. Desirable Requirements: Knowledge of associated Sales Operations functions such as forecasting, sizing, targeting, alignment, and call planning. Novartis Compensation Summary: The salary for this position is expected to range between $145,600 and $270,400 per year. The final salary offered is determined based on factors like, but not limited to, relevant skills and experience, and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically. Novartis may change the published salary range based on company and market factors. Your compensation will include a performance-based cash incentive and, depending on the level of the role, eligibility to be considered for annual equity awards. US-based eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. In addition, employees are eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves. EEO Statement: The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. Accessibility and reasonable accommodations The Novartis Group of Companies are 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 application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to or call +1(877)395-2339 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message. Salary Range $145,600.00 - $270,400.00 Skills Desired Business Dashboards, Business Performance Management, Coaching, Commercial Excellence, Customer Engagement, Customer Satisfaction, Data Analytics, Merchandising, Project Planning, Sales Operations