PhD Graduate Program - Principal Biostatistician

This job is with Novartis, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community.

Summary

#LI-Remote (possibility to work either remotely or in a hybrid work arrangement)

Location: United Kingdom or Ireland

Kickstart your career in biostatistics with a distinctive 15-month PhD Graduate Rotation Program, paving the way for a permanent role as a Principal Biostatistician. At Novartis, we are accelerating faster than ever in the data and digital space. As part of our ongoing expansion, we are seeking ambitious PhD graduates to join our Advanced Quantitative Sciences community. With our unique Graduate Program, you will start your role with 15 months rotating across 3 key areas of the Novartis Advanced Quantitative Sciences organization. During this time, you will have the opportunity to work in different disease areas and phases of drug development. Once you have completed your rotations, you will have a strong voice in selecting the area in which you will work permanently!

We are thrilled to offer this unique opportunity to join a group of curious PhD graduates working in our Virtual Analytics Network across the UK and Ireland. During your rotations, you will use your quantitative skills to support clinical trials in early or late phase clinical development and/or exploratory analysis. Rest assured, you won’t be alone on this journey. We cultivate an environment of learning, facilitated by a structured training and buddy system. Plus, you will have the chance to network and collaborate with colleagues in different locations.

Once you have completed your rotations, you will transition into your permanent role as a Principal Biostatistician, in which you will be responsible for all statistical work relating to one or more assigned trials in collaboration with the Clinical Trial Team. You may also, with appropriate supervision, support program level goals. Embark upon this exciting journey towards creating a meaningful impact within clinical research at Novartis. Don’t miss the opportunity to redefine your career like never before!

About the Role

Key responsibilities:

• All statistical tasks on assigned trials, where you will be expected to perform these tasks independently, seeking peer input/review as required. Tasks may include: protocol and statistical analysis plan development; reporting activities; contributing to the planning and execution of exploratory analyses and/or PK, PK/PD analyses; exploratory biomarker and diagnostic analyses; statistical consultation.
• You will be responsible for initiating, driving and implementing novel methods and innovative trial designs in alignment with the Lead Statistician.
• Explaining statistical methodologies and interpreting analysis results. You will provide statistical expertise to support submission activities and documents, meetings with and responses to Health Authorities and other drug development activities.
• Contributing to interactions with external review boards, ethics committees, external consultants, and other external parties with oversight. You may represent Novartis in statistical discussions at external congresses, conferences or scientific meetings.
• Representing the Advanced Quantitative Sciences line function in multi-functional teams for the assigned trials. You will have responsibility for ensuring functional alignment and line function awareness of the status and issues related to the assigned trials.
• Collaborating with other line functions. You will explain statistical concepts in a manner that is easily understood by non-statisticians and provide adequate statistical justifications for actions/decisions/statements.
• Establishing and maintaining sound working relationships and effective communication with the Clinical Trial Team and Advanced Quantitative Sciences team.
• Overseeing all Biostatistics resources and work for assigned trials and/or related non-clinical activities, and ensuring work is timely and of adequate quality.

Essential Requirements:

• PhD (in Statistics, Mathematics, Computational Sciences, Data Science, or equivalent)
• Proven knowledge and expertise in statistics and its application to clinical trials or public health
• Proficiency in statistical software packages (e.g. R)
• Ability to influence decisions that directly impact the assigned clinical trial and team ability to deliver objectives
• Good communication and presentation skills, ability to work on and collaborate seamlessly with a multidisciplinary team to achieve team objectives
• Proficiency in English (oral & written)

Desirable Requirements:

• Depending on your assignment, it may be helpful to have expertise in one or more of the following areas: Bayesian statistics, causal inference, clinical trial design, data exploration, estimands, evidence synthesis, pharmacokinetics, machine learning, missing data, modelling approaches.

Benefits and Rewards

For UK: Competitive salary, Sales incentive bonus, Pension scheme, Share purchase scheme, Health insurance, 25 days annual leave, Flexible working arrangements, subsidized dining facilities, Employee recognition scheme, learning and development opportunities.

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.