Head of Phenomics

Role

Full-time

Permanent

Senior

Science & Research

Logistics

Basel (City)

Hybrid

60–100%

Expected Annual Base Salary Range for role: 146,300 to 271,700 CHF

Closes in 30 days

Requirements

10+ yrs exp

PhD

EU/EFTA permit

Skills

Clinical phenotypesReal world data analyticsHuman geneticsGWASFeature engineeringMachine learningPhenomicsData42Variant annotationCohort constructionMultimodal ModelsComputational Biology

Compensation

Expected Annual Base Salary Range for role: 146,300 to 271,700 CHF

Description

Job Description Summary Location: Basel, Switzerland; #LI-Hybrid 3 days/week in office Internal job title: Head of Phenomics About the Role: The Head of Phenomics will lead strategy and execution for phenomics initiatives that integrate Data42-enabled real world data and human genetics to accelerate target identification, patient stratification, and translational evidence generation across the Novartis portfolio. This leader will build high-impact partnerships across research, development, and BR Data & Digital, delivering scalable analytics products, robust scientific insights, and measurable decision impact.

Responsibilities

Set phenomics strategy leveraging Data42 capabilities to connect real world data and human genetics to clinical phenotypes to support therapeutic area programs across Drug Development stages.
Defines where and how human genetics and RWD are most impactful across the portfolio.
Leads multidisciplinary teams of data scientists, statisticians, computational biologists, data engineers to delivering end-to-end analyses from question framing to validated outputs.
Develop and operationalize pipelines for phenotype curation, cohort construction, feature engineering, and multimodal modeling across structured and unstructured real world data sources.
Integrate human genetics evidence (e.g., GWAS, rare variant analyses, PRS, eQTL and colocalization where applicable) with real world phenotyping to support: target discovery and prioritization, causal inference and mechanistic hypotheses, biomarker discovery and patient segmentation, repurposing and indication expansion opportunities.
Drive cross-functional decision support by translating analytic results into clear program recommendations, assumptions, limitations, and impact on go/no-go decisions.
Partner within Data42 to define requirements for data assets, metadata, governance, and scalable compute and tooling; influence roadmap based on scientific needs.
Ensure scientific rigor and reproducibility through strong study design, validation approaches, documentation, and standards for analytic code and model lifecycle management.
Champion responsible use of data and AI aligned with privacy, compliance, and ethical expectations; contribute to governance forums and risk reviews as needed.
External engagement and scientific leadership including collaborations, publications, conference presentations, and thought leadership in phenomics, real world evidence, and genetics.
Talent development through hiring, mentoring, performance management, and building an inclusive culture that values scientific excellence and collaboration in a global team.

Requirements

Education: PhD or MSc in Statistical Genetics, Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, or a related quantitative discipline.
Experience: 10+ years (or equivalent) in human genetics, real world data analytics, phenomics, translational data science, or related domains, including people leadership.
Genetics experience: variant annotation and QC concepts; association testing frameworks; integrating functional genomics evidence; interpretation of genetic effect sizes in clinical context.
Demonstrated experience applying human genetics to translational questions (target validation, causal inference, biomarker discovery, patient stratification).
Strong hands-on familiarity with real world data (e.g., claims, EHR, registries, lab, imaging-derived variables, clinical notes-derived phenotypes) and the biases/limitations inherent to observational data.
Proven track record building scalable analytics and delivering decision-impacting insights in a matrixed R&D environment.
Strong quantitative toolkit: experience in statistical modelling, machine learning, study design, confounding control, validation, and sensitivity analyses (method selection appropriate to question).
Excellent communication and exceptional ability to manage stakeholders and influence decision-making at the executive level.
Business acumen and a focus on value creation, ensuring technology serves as a lever for business growth.

Tech stack

Agile (Programming Methodology)Artificial Intelligence (AI)Data GovernanceData ScienceMachine Learning (ML)Statistical AnalysisData Visualization

Benefits

In addition to your base salary, you may be eligible for a performance-based bonus depending on certain performance parameters.
The rewards of being part of our team go far beyond base pay and incentives.
We also offer a variety of competitive benefits in kind to help you thrive personally and professionally, such as insurance plans, retirement plans, wellbeing resources and global recognition programs.
In addition, we provide flexible and hybrid working options, where possible, and minimum 14 weeks paid parental leave.
Long-term equity awards granted at group level may also be part of your package.

Company

Novartis

Pharmaceuticals

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!