Planning Lead

Job Description Summary

Location: Hyderabad

This role will be responsible for developing and implementing strategic priorities for Novartis Procurement, ensuring alignment with the Novartis Operations Strategy. The main purpose will be the active management and governance of strategic projects to facilitate the operational needs of the organization

Job Description

Major Accountabilities

• Primary responsibility is to plan and support development of Procurement strategy and to lead key business projects for Procurement, with the aim of maximizing value, reducing external spend and securing future competitiveness

• Lead spend transparency from Aladdin and Pandas to generate insights and align the 3-year Procurement strategy and roadmap.

• Collaborate with Procurement towers for various internal and external engagement

• Stakeholder management with other units e.g. Strategy & Growth, Finance BPS, Corporate reporting

• Communicate and support change management where required.

• Support cross-functional Procurement projects and coach other team members

• Maintain procurement KPI tracking for business reviews

• Prepare key updates and strategic deliverables for Procurement leadership

• Help communicate strategic priorities, performance updates, and key highlights to Procurement associates and stakeholders.

• Lead operational excellence initiatives and projects, including standardization, automation, digital/AI enablement, and continuous improvement.

• Organize and facilitate governance forums and leadership workshops to support effective decision-making and execution.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with an MBA (preferably IIMs, ISB, or any other Top Tier)

• Work experience in the pharmaceuticals / life sciences or consulting industry 8–12 years of overall experience

• Advanced skills in Excel and PowerPoint with strong storytelling skills

• Strong analytical, problem solving and organizational skills. Effective communication skills with keen attention to detail.

• Comfortable working in a dynamic, cross-functional team environment.

• Ability to synthesize complex information into actionable insights.

Why Novartis?

Our purpose is to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives and our vision is to become the most valued and trusted medicines company in the world. How can we achieve this? With our people. It is our associates that drive us each day to reach our ambitions. Be a part of this mission and join us!
Learn more here:

https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

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: If this role is not suitable to your experience or career goals but you wish to stay connected to hear more about Novartis and our career opportunities, join the Novartis Network here:
https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network

Skills Desired