摘要
This role is critical to meeting our corporate responsibility under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and ensuring sustainable, ethical sourcing through high-impact engagement with external partners. The Associate Director will be accountable for identifying, assessing, and mitigating labor rights risks across Novartis value chain.
This is a senior role requiring strong leadership, analytical depth, and the ability to influence both internal stakeholders and external partners. The successful candidate will combine risk expertise with exceptional communication skills and a track record in human and labor rights, ideally within a corporate context.
About the Role
Key Responsibilities:
- Act as the regional lead and go-to expert for the business and external partners on labor rights risk management.
- Lead risk assessments & due diligence on labor rights and raw material certification for all in-scope external partners, including developing, tracking, and closing mitigation actions/corrective action plans (CAPAs), in line with Novartis global labor rights risk management protocols.
- Design and deliver capability-building programs for external partners using a maturity model framework.
- Lead training efforts across internal stakeholders, external partners, and workers to deepen understanding of the Third-Party Code (TPC).
- Integrate digital risk monitoring tools (e.g., worker voice surveys, grievance platforms) into routine assessments and remediation.
- Investigate and close relevant SpeakUp cases related to external partners.
- Contribute to the design and continuous improvement of global risk protocols, including TPQs, audit methodologies, and remediation frameworks.
- Build and maintain influential relationships with senior leaders across relevant functions viz. Procurement, External Partner Risk Management (EPRM), Legal and others and with external partners to co-develop ethical sourcing solutions.
- Track KPIs that measure external partner compliance and program effectiveness and provide data analytics and reporting as required.
- Engage with civil society, unions, and industry bodies to align Novartis labor rights approach with best practices.
- Actively contribute to broader Human Rights team strategy and cross-functional collaboration.
Requirements:
- Degree or equivalent experience in law, human rights, supply chain management, international relations, international development, or related fields.
- Experience in labor rights risk management, including hands-on engagement with external partners on labor rights compliance with international labor standards.
- Proven expertise in external partner transformation (from low to high compliance) and labor rights risk mitigation approaches.
- Experience with digital tools for labor rights monitoring and technology-enabled risk assessment.
- Fluency in English; additional languages relevant to the APMA region are a plus.
Key Skills and Attributes:
- Strong influencing and negotiation skills to drive external partner compliance.
- Skilled in effective risk assessments, data interpretation, and independently generating actionable insights for informed decision-making in complex risk scenarios.
- Excellent communication abilities to effectively convey labor rights concepts to diverse stakeholders (internal and external) supporting clear, informed decision making.
- Agile and adaptable to regional complexity and evolving regulatory landscapes.
- Strong ownership mindset with the ability to lead multiple initiatives independently and deliver high-impact results with minimal supervisor insight.
- Commitment to a people-first, risk-based approach that prioritizes worker well-being.
Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together?https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture
Benefits and rewards: Read our handbook to learn about all the ways we’ll help you thrive personally and professionally: https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards
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
Join our Novartis Network: Not the right Novartis role for you? Sign up to our talent community to stay connected and learn about suitable career opportunities as soon as they come up: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network
Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture
Join our Novartis Network: Not the right Novartis role for you? Sign up to our talent community to stay connected and learn about suitable career opportunities as soon as they come up: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network
Benefits and Rewards: Read our handbook to learn about all the ways we’ll help you thrive personally and professionally: https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards
Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams' representative of the patients and communities we serve.
