Director, Data and AI Architecture

Job description

Ballerup, Denmark Bal Do you combine broad data and AI architecture expertise with hands-on engineering experience? Join Novo Nordisk to shape the architecture and build the foundations that enable secure, scalable data, analytics and AI solutions, including Generative AI (GenAI). Your new role You will set the architectural direction for data and AI platforms and solutions, connecting business priorities with a coherent target architecture and a practical technology roadmap. Working across a federated organisation, you will guide designs from data ingestion and modelling through analytics, machine learning and GenAI to integration with business applications. You will combine this breadth with hands-on technical leadership: validating key decisions through prototypes, reviewing code and helping engineers solve complex implementation challenges. Your main responsibilities • Shape the target architecture. Define architecture principles and the technology roadmap across data platforms, analytics and AI. Connect shared capabilities with business needs, plan transitions from existing solutions and balance global standards with local requirements. • Design and build end-to-end solutions. Translate priority use cases into architectures spanning data ingestion, modelling, storage, APIs and AI deployment. Define integration patterns across cloud platforms and business applications, and implement key components alongside engineers. • Engineer GenAI capabilities. Build reusable patterns for large language model integration, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and tool-using agents, with evaluation, observability and appropriate human oversight. • Take solutions into production. Guide implementation through code and design reviews, automated testing and CI/CD. Resolve reliability, performance and cost issues across data pipelines and AI services. • Lead architecture decisions. Establish reference architectures and reusable patterns. Review solution designs with platform and product teams, assess build-versus-buy choices and test trade-offs in interoperability, scalability, security and cost through working prototypes. • Embed security and controls. Work with security, governance and quality teams to implement access controls, data protection and AI guardrails, including validation and traceability where required. • Lead across architecture and engineering. Coach architects and engineers, resolve design dependencies across teams and communicate technical choices to business and technology leaders. Turn architectural direction into clear implementation guidance. Your skills and qualifications • Degree in computer science, software engineering or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. • Substantial experience spanning data and AI architecture and software or data engineering, with a track record defining target architectures and roadmaps and delivering production solutions. • Recent, demonstrable hands-on experience in Python and SQL, APIs and data pipelines, supported by Git, automated testing and CI/CD. Ability to prototype critical designs, review code and troubleshoot implementation issues. • Practical GenAI delivery experience, including LLM integration, RAG and evaluation. Experience with agent workflows and tool integration is an advantage. • Architectural breadth across data modelling, integration, cloud data platforms, analytics, machine learning and GenAI, with implementation depth in at least one major cloud and modern data platform. Ability to assess interoperability, scalability, security and cost. • Experience deploying and operating AI or machine learning services, with monitoring, versioning and troubleshooting across the application and data layers. • Strong architecture judgement: translate business needs into technical designs, evaluate build-versus-buy options and guide distributed teams towards reusable solutions. Show your personal contribution to both architectural decisions and working implementations. • Ability to influence business and technology stakeholders and align decisions across a federated organisation. Experience with regulated delivery, data governance and security, ideally in life sciences, is an advantage. 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. What we offer There is, of course, more on offer here than the uniqueness of our culture and the extraordinary results we produce. Being part of a global healthcare company means opportunities to learn and develop are all around us, while our benefits are designed with your career and life stage in mind. Salary: The placement within the salary range will be assessed during the recruitment process based on the candidate’s skills, competencies, knowledge, and relevant experience. Further details will be shared during the recruitment process. Incentives and Benefits: The salary package may include short-term and/or long-term incentives as well as other employee benefits based on position level, location, functional area, and relevant market benchmarks. Learn more about our Reward Philosophy here. Deadline Apply before 26 October. Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis. To submit your application, please upload your CV. We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants. At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and preventing diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.