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Senior Medical Safety Lead

Novartis
Novartis
4-7 years
Not Disclosed
Hyderabad
10 May 8, 2026
Job Description
Job Type: Full Time Hybrid Education: B.Sc./ M.Sc./ M.Pharm/ B.Pharm/ Life Sciences Skills: ICD-10 CM, CPT, HCPCS Coding, ICH guidelines, ICSR Case Processing, Interpersonal Skill, Labelling Assessment, MedDRA Coding, Medical Billing, Medical Coding, Medical Terminology, mRS and EQ-5D-5L., Narrative Writing, Research & Development, Technical Skill, Triage of ICSRs, WHO DD Coding

Senior Medical Safety Lead | Novartis

Company: Novartis Careers
Position: Senior Medical Safety Lead
Job ID: REQ-10076935
Location: Hyderabad
Division: Development
Business Unit: Development
Functional Area: Research & Development
Employment Type: Regular | Full-Time
Posted On: April 30, 2026


Role Overview

The Senior Medical Safety Lead is responsible for leading and overseeing the drug safety and pharmacovigilance (PV) activities across clinical development and post-marketing stages.

This role ensures:

  • Patient safety monitoring

  • Adverse event evaluation

  • Safety signal detection

  • Risk management throughout the product lifecycle

  • Regulatory compliance for drug safety

It provides strategic and operational safety input across:

  • Clinical trials

  • Post-marketing surveillance

  • Regulatory submissions

  • Global development programs


Key Responsibilities

1. Drug Safety & Surveillance Leadership

Lead safety surveillance activities including:

  • Monitoring adverse event reports

  • Conducting medical review of safety cases

  • Assessing causality and relatedness to product

  • Ensuring follow-up of safety reports

Oversee:

  • Clinical trial safety monitoring

  • Post-marketing safety programs

  • Risk assessment processes


2. Signal Detection & Risk Management

Responsible for:

  • Safety signal detection using structured tools

  • Evaluation of aggregate safety data

  • Trend analysis across clinical and real-world data

  • Identification of emerging safety risks

Support:

  • Risk mitigation strategies

  • Lifecycle safety evaluation


3. Individual Case Safety Assessment (ICSR)

Perform or oversee:

  • Medical evaluation of individual case reports

  • Literature review of adverse events

  • Line listing reviews

  • Medical assessment of quality defects

  • Preparation of investigator notifications

  • Ethics committee reporting


4. Regulatory & Medical Authority Interactions

Provide input for:

  • Regulatory authority responses

  • Health authority safety queries

  • Legal safety-related inquiries

  • Country organization safety requests

Support preparation of:

  • Safety data for regulatory review boards

  • Clinical safety documentation


5. Clinical Development Support

Contribute to:

  • Clinical study protocols

  • Clinical study reports (CSRs)

  • Investigator brochures

  • Regulatory submission documents

  • Clinical safety summaries

  • Clinical overviews


6. Risk Management Planning

Lead or contribute to:

  • Safety Profiling Plans (SPP)

  • Risk Management Plans (RMP)

  • Safety updates and lifecycle tracking

  • Effectiveness monitoring of safety actions


7. Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work closely with:

  • Clinical Development teams

  • Regulatory Affairs

  • Medical Affairs

  • Medical Information

  • Epidemiology

  • Statistics

  • Safety Data Management

Support integrated safety decision-making across functions.


8. Safety Operations Guidance

Provide guidance on:

  • Adverse event coding

  • Causality assessment

  • Expectedness evaluation

  • Medical safety case processing


Required Qualifications

Education

One of the following:

  • Medical Degree (MBBS or MD) — preferred/essential for medical review responsibilities

  • PharmD

  • PhD (relevant field)

  • Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy

  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing


Experience

Candidates should have:

  • 6+ years in drug development (pharma industry)

AND

  • At least 4 years in patient safety / pharmacovigilance roles


Functional Expertise

Strong experience in:

  • Drug development lifecycle

  • Clinical trial methodology

  • Regulatory requirements

  • Scientific and medical writing

  • Statistical interpretation of safety data


Technical & Analytical Skills

Ability to:

  • Analyze and interpret safety data

  • Conduct medical assessments of adverse events

  • Identify safety signals

  • Prepare safety evaluations and reports

  • Communicate findings clearly in writing and presentations


Soft Skills

Strong capabilities in:

  • Cross-functional collaboration

  • Scientific communication

  • Decision-making under uncertainty

  • Attention to detail

  • Critical thinking

  • Stakeholder management

  • Regulatory interaction


Language Requirement

  • Fluent English (written and spoken)


What Novartis Looks For

Ideal candidates demonstrate:

  • Strong pharmacovigilance and drug safety expertise

  • Experience in clinical and post-marketing safety systems

  • Ability to interpret complex safety datasets

  • Strong regulatory and scientific judgment

  • Leadership in cross-functional environments

  • Commitment to patient safety and compliance


Why Join Novartis?

This role offers the opportunity to:

  • Lead global drug safety programs

  • Directly impact patient safety worldwide

  • Work across clinical and commercial product lifecycles

  • Collaborate with global regulatory and scientific teams

  • Shape risk management strategies for innovative medicines


Helpful Links

Careers

Novartis Careers

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Novartis People and Culture

Benefits & Rewards

Novartis Benefits Handbook