Head Assessment & Selection

Job Description Summary

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Researches and proposes strategy and methods for selection and assessment, ensuring a comprehensive assessment battery which is fully aligned to our overall talent management needs and approach.

• Defines and manages end-to-end process and experience for selection and assessment, ensuring a positive user experience and full integration/hand-offs with other processes and process owners(e.g. hiring, succession planning, leadership development, development discussions).

• Drives consistency of our assessment approach for selection and development across all our business functions in collaboration with Talent & Development Leaders.

• Uses insights from assessments to derive recommendations for broader Talent and Development strategy, as well as to drive continuous improvements.

• Partners with business unit Talent & Development colleagues and P&O BPs to manage ad-hoc assessment needs, including recommendation on methods and vendors.

• Business owner for selection and assessment vendors, including vendor lifecycle management, leading RFPs, quarterly business reviews, ensuring service quality and timely delivery.

• Business owner for executive search vendors, including vendor lifecycle management, leading RFPs, quarterly business reviews, ensuring service quality and timely delivery.

• Works in collaboration with other CoE team members on projects and deliverables including (but not limited to) success profiles, experience pathways for executive leadership roles.

• Responsible for capability building for P&O colleagues to ensure findings from assessments can be addressed appropriately through development plans.

• Applies Human-Centered Design principles and an AI-first approach to all the above.

Essential Requirements:

• I/O psychology degree or equivalent professional experience.

• Assessment & selection expertise: Deep knowledge of structured interviews, psychometric tools ( e.g. Hogan), and selection methodologies across leadership levels. Experience of running or working with different selection and assessment methods.

• Strategic thinking: Ability to design and evolve enterprise-wide selection and assessment strategies aligned with broader talent and development goals.

• Human-Centred Design and AI fluency: Applies design thinking and AI-Frist principles to create intuitive, scalable and future -ready experiences.

• Vendor & stakeholder management: Strong capability to lead vendor lifecycle (RFPs, QBRs, performance) and collaborate with internal stakeholders (e.g. P&O BPs, CoEs, business units).

• Data driven insights & influence: Uses assessment data to shape talent strategies, influence senior stakeholders, and drive continuous improvement.

• Process design & integration: Designs seamless, end to end processes that integrate with hiring, succession and development workflows.

• Communication & facilitation: Strong interpersonal skills to engage, educate, and enable P&O colleagues and business leaders.

• Agility & execution: Balances strategic vision with operational detail; able to zoom in and out as needed to deliver outcomes.

Desirable Requirements:

• Executive search or pipelining experience.

• Ideally Hogan trained.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.

Skills Desired