Global Head of Corporate Philanthropy & Social Impact Foundations

Summary

We’re a team of dedicated and smart people united by a drive to achieve together. You will be responsible for designing and delivering social impact innovation initiatives, local community giving and employee giving, matching & volunteering, including humanitarian aid/disaster relief through the management of corporate teams and three social impact foundations.

You will steer the overall Corporate Philanthropy Strategy delivery, ensuring that philanthropic investments are strategically targeted, well-governed, auditable and aligned with the broader SI&S ambition. Overseeing grant and donation operations, partnership management and program execution across multiple regions, ensuring that giving programmes are impactful, compliant and connected to corporate and stakeholder expectations.

You will partner closely with SI&S Strategy & Integration and Execution, SI&S Operations & Engagement, SI&S Impact Measurement, Corporate Affairs, Finance, Legal, Ethics, Risk & Compliance and country teams to build a coherent, high-impact global philanthropy portfolio.

About the Role

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the design and delivery of the philanthropic social innovation initiative portfolio that narrows health equity gaps for underserved populations.
• Set strategic direction for innovative initiatives, ensuring they generate measurable health system and community value aligned with the Corporate Philanthropy Strategy.
• Define and own frameworks for selecting, funding and governing philanthropic partners and donations through governance design and partnership management standards in collaboration with SI&S Operations and Engagement.
• Oversee investment management decisions for philanthropic portfolio, ensuring resources are strategically allocated and auditable.
• Deliver SI&S unit strategy and standards developed by Operations, for community giving programmes while enabling local relevance and responsiveness.
• Oversee the design, delivery and performance of employee giving, company matching and volunteering programmes.
• Set direction for skills-based volunteering initiatives that align with SI&S partnership strategy and deliver positive employee experience.
• Partner with Impact Measurement to define indicators, methods and evidence standards for assessing philanthropic programme performance.

What you'll bring to the role:

Essential Criteria:

• Advanced degree in Public Health, Social Sciences, Medicine, International Development, Non-profit Management or a related field, or equivalent senior-level experience
• Significant leadership experience in philanthropy, global health, social impact, international development or related domains.
• Extensive experience with governance, due diligence, compliance and risk management for donations and partnerships. A proven track record in designing and managing large-scale grant and donation portfolios, partnerships and social impact programmes.
• Ability to design clear frameworks, make disciplined investment choices and lead through complexity and ambiguity.
• Experience working across cultures and regions, ideally in a complex matrix or multinational context.
• Strong strategic and systems thinking; able to balance innovation with governance and risk.
• Fluency in English both written & verbal.

Desirable Criteria:

• Pharmaceutical industry experience.

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

Accessibility and accommodation:

Novartis is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to all individuals. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the recruitment process, or in order to receive more detailed information about the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

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

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers and take pride in maintaining a diverse environment. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. We are committed to building diverse teams, representative of the patients and communities we serve, and we strive to create an inclusive workplace that cultivates bold innovation through collaboration and empowers our people to unleash their full potential.