Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people’s lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world’s top companies investing in research and development.

Our products reach nearly 799 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. We have around 108,000 associates, of more than 140 nationalities, working at Novartis around the world. Novartis has more than 60 years’ history in Australia and employs around 600 associates across its two divisions here locally.

Novartis is where you can be a high performing professional, armed with the knowledge that we are improving the quality of life for patients through breakthrough science and innovation. 

It is time to reimagine medicine.

Novartis

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis is one of the world’s largest companies and a global business with a history going back more than 150 years.  We are here to serve people, communities and patients. By reimagining medicine, we will continue to transform the lives of millions. It is our purpose that drives us; that inspires us; that challenges us. That is why we will never give up.

In Australia, we focus on where our skills can best help address the greatest patient needs. These areas are currently:

• Oncology
• Cardiovascular-metabolic
• Ophthalmology
• Respiratory
• Neuroscience
• Immunology and Dermatology
• Gene Therapies

799 million.

That’s how many lives our products touched last year. And while we’re proud of that, in this world of digital and technological transformation, we must also ask ourselves this:

How can we continue to improve and extend even more people’s lives? We believe the answers are found when curious, courageous and collaborative people are empowered to ask new questions, make bolder decisions and take smarter risks.

Join our Novartis Graduate Program and help us reimagine medicine.

The Novartis Graduate Program will challenge you to be the best version of yourself from the outset of your career, we value your diversity of thought, and trust your ability to make things happen. We believe that when you don’t have to compromise who you are, you will dedicate your energies to reimagining medicine.

You will have exposure to our leaders from across the business, and access to a structured support community that will include buddies, mentors and coaches.

You will discover different areas of the business through 3x6 month rotations over the 18-month program and will embark on a Development Journey designed to challenge you both professionally and personally. You will also have the opportunity to experience a field-based rotation to assist you in gaining a critical understanding of our customers and patients first hand.

At Novartis, every department in our organisation embraces new technologies and this will be no different on your Graduate Development Journey. Your development is important to us and your blended learning journey will include face-to-face workshops as well as access to an online learning platform, and other development initiatives that will help to embed your learnings into your roles as you progress through the program.

You will also undertake an innovative project that will forge the skills required to be a successful leader in the ever-changing world of work and provide you with further exposure to our business and our leaders.

Here is a snapshot of what your 18-month Journey at Novartis will look like, commencing in July 2023:

Our Mission

Our Mission is to discover new ways to improve and extend people’s lives. As a leading healthcare company, we use the power of science, digital technology and big data to create innovative treatments in areas of great medical need and deliver them to people worldwide. Our Vision is to be a trusted and respected leader in changing the practice of medicine.

Our Culture

Our culture is defined by our values. They help guide the choices we make every day; they define our culture, together with our high ethical standards, and help us execute the Novartis strategy.

• Innovation: Experiment.  Be bold and focus externally.
• Quality: Focus on what matters.  Learn from failure to continuously improve.
• Collaboration: Be open minded to diverse ideas.  Ask for feedback.  Put team before self.
• Performance: Take smart risks.  Step outside of your comfort zone.  Make things simple.
• Courage: Challenge the status quo.  Stand up for what we believe.  Dare to be great, not perfect.
• Integrity: Care about patients and customers.  Taker accountability for high ethics and keep commitments.  Be humble and compassionate.

We are passionate about what we do and the impact we have on patients and associates. 

We are Novartis and we are reimagining medicine.

In late 2018 we crowdsourced ideas from associates on how to enhance the Novartis employee experience. One of the winning ideas was accessing more vocational training for all associates regardless of role, level or location and in the summer of 2019 that idea became a reality!

Today we can virtually learn and earn certificates from 190 universities around the world, universities like Yale, Princeton, University of London, India School of Business or Peking University, all supported by Novartis through our partner Coursera.

Our Novartis Learning Institute offers personal effectiveness, digital capability and language programs and talent acceleration and leadership programs.

And as an added extra, we now have access to LinkedIn Learning and Coursera. LinkedIn Learning gives us access to over 14,500 video based programs from leading global experts on the latest hot skills in 7 languages. Coursera offers access to over 3,500 courses from over 190+ renowned global Universities and industry leaders, in 10 languages. This includes access to the world’s first fully funded Coursera-powered Master’s Degree program in Data Science with the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois.

And many more development programs available across the organisation to build deep functional skills and knowledge, often supported by the relevant professional or academic qualification.

Talent and Leadership Development

Novartis is committed to developing all people making sure that roles, which are critical for our organisation and business, have the optimal support to deliver great value. We have comprehensive succession planning and development programs across different levels of the organisation to build the right capabilities so that we can keep delivering on our purpose to reimagine medicine. We were pleased to be recognised as a leader across sectors by the Association of Talent Development with their 2020 “BEST” Award, as well as other recent awards from Chief Learning Officer Magazine (Chief Learning Officer Award) and Cornerstone (Learning Strategy Innovation Award).

We believe that leaders play a vital role in driving transformative innovation by empowering teams to ask questions, speak their mind and take smart risks, and by role-modeling our inspired, curious and unbossed culture.

In 2019, we launched our Unbossed Leadership Experience (ULE) development journey to help our leaders develop their self-awareness and unboss capabilities. This intensive program includes immersion sessions supported by coaching, as well as webinars, and 360-degree evaluations to track progress. 350 senior leaders will have completed their ULE journey by end of 2020 and we plan to cascade key aspects of the program to 10000 leaders over the next three years, helping embed the new leadership approach in our organisation.

So if you are ready to feed your curiosity and unboss your personal growth then start your conversation with Novartis.

Perks & Benefits

Talented teams, performance-based compensation

The success of Novartis depends on the performance and dedication of our Group company associates. We strive to be an employer of choice that attracts, retains and motivates talented and performance-driven people in our affiliates around the world.

Each associate is given a fixed salary based on job characteristics, market competitiveness and the associate’s skills. Salary growth depends on the associate's individual performance and level compared to the benchmark.

Novartis benefits programs are an integral part of the total compensation policy and strategy and are designed to meet the challenges of the growing, global competition for talent. These programs support the overall business objectives and strategy of Novartis. Benefits are aligned with local legislation and practices in each country and are established to provide a framework of security for associates.

Novartis offers associates competitive compensation and benefits. We believe that a high performance culture attracts, retains and motivates the best in class talent.

In Australia we offer our associates a range of benefits. This includes access to health and lifestyle services like corporate health cover programs, gym membership and access to fitness and corporate superannuation options. We also support our associates through parental leave programs, salary continuance insurance benefits and access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

The success of Novartis depends on the performance and dedication of our Group company associates. We strive to be an employer of choice that attracts, retains and motivates talented and performance-driven people to our affiliates around the world.

Wellbeing

Novartis, through its well-being program Energized for Life, takes a holistic approach to supporting us to be our best selves every day and everywhere.

As we continue to move to a fully unbossed culture, Novartis gives us options and supports us to make the right decisions for ourselves. Whether it is working more flexibly; considering alternative tools to sustain energy; taking time to look after our mind and body or considering how we make the most of our workspace. We have a modern activity based working environment that allows us to constantly engage with individuals we wouldn’t normally in our day to day job.

Mind & Body

1. Mindfulness

Being present, in the moment and pausing amid the constant influx of stimuli and acknowledging our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. Practicing mindfulness increases our self-awareness, minimises stress levels and helps us appreciate the preciousness of life.

2. Sustainable High Impact

Sustainable High Impact is a condition where we are highly motivated, self-image is strong, and our capability to handle a busy, complex world is evident. Through our behaviours, we purposefully manage our personal energy, resilience, mental agility and impact. Achieved through: mindset, movement, nutrition and recovery.

• Impact on ourselves: personal energy, resilience, and mental agility
• Impact on others: become an energy giver and inspire others

3. Well-being

In Australia, Novartis supports many programs:

• Health awareness: skin, eye screenings, flu vaccinations and sponsors individuals to get involved in events such as the City to Surf. 
• Physical condition: walking meetings, office associates receive free gym memberships, on-site gym classes including yoga and strength and field base associates have a wellbeing allowance.
• Mind: Mindfulness and meditation classes virtually and in person, mental first aiders and the awakened Mind app.

Novartis offers courses where helpful information and practices concerning mental health are shared. We learn to have the confidence to talk about mental health, understand signs and symptoms, know where to send a person in need, and support the discussion of breaking the stigma associated with mental health.

• Ergonomics: office & mobile ergonomic tools for working from home.
• Assistance: Employee Assistance program, Global Financial Well-being program, Mentoring, Caring for Colleagues program

How we work

1. Flexibility

Where possible, Novartis gives us the choice of when, where and how we work in order to manage the demands and priorities of our professional and personal life with sustainable impact. We have access to the latest collaborative technology, flexible workspaces and servant leaders that role-modelling flexibility.

2. Workspace

The quality of our workspace directly relates to our energy levels. Novartis aims to create a work environment that is inspiring, supports well-being, collaboration and agility. Activity-based working has been introduced to support the shift to a more agile and collaborative working environment.

To be successful, you will be an individual who is inspired by our purpose and feels empowered every day to be your best self. You will be an individual who is agile, unapologetically courageous and tenacious in your pursuit for greatness. We are seeking graduates who are driven and who are genuinely curious about driving innovative ideas to produce better outcomes for our patients.

You will embrace operational excellence each day, understanding that the combination of innovation and excellence in commercial operations is at the core of what we do and allows us to make a difference for our society.

At Novartis, we are fundamentally guided by our values. As a part of our Graduate Program, it is integral that your values align with ours and these form the backbone or your career. You will be supported to achieve your professional and personal goals and prepare yourself to be a leader who can enable their own team to reach their full potential.

Our roles will commence in July 2023 and we are seeking graduates whose experience, knowledge and passion align to the following streams:

Commercial

As a Commercial Graduate, you will work on real-life projects and gain exposure into how Marketing and Sales has significant impact on how our products are brought to the patients who need them. As a successful Graduate, you will be a great communicator, readily able to collaborate with cross-divisional colleagues, demonstrate curiosity and agility.

Novartis has a strong emphasis on digital engagement, so as a graduate in this stream you will have the opportunity to create innovative campaigns that boost and sustain the product lifecycle.

Following completion of your 18-month Graduate Program you will have a rounded view of the pharmaceutical business which will set you up for accelerated success within the commercial side of the business (Sales for Marketing) and may open up your desires for other areas of the industry as well.

To apply for our Commercial stream, you will require a tertiary qualification in either Marketing, Digital Marketing, Communications or related field.

Medical

Novartis is passionate about leveraging science that leads to innovative strategies. As a Graduate in the Medical stream, you will be involved in implementing these strategies to maximise the positive impact on patients’ lives.  A successful graduate will have a strong passion for science, technical and operational excellence, and bring an open and curious mind to our teams. Whether it’s patented medicines, generic medicines or gene therapies, Medical Graduates will be able to make a real difference to the health of millions. 

Following completion of your 18-month Graduate Program you will have a rounded view of the pharmaceutical business which will set you up for accelerated success within the medical area (Medical, Regulatory Affairs, Patient Safety, Clinical Trials) and may open up your desires for other areas of the industry as well.

To apply for our Medical stream, you will require a tertiary qualification in Medicine, Pharmacy, Biomedical Science, Nursing or Clinical Research.

Business

As a Business Graduate, you will experience a variety of rotational experiences and get exposure to the pharmaceutical world to have the best opportunity for an accelerated with within pharmaceutical. 

There is the opportunity to be exposed to an operational area of the business which links to your degree background and understanding how this contributes and plays a vital role in delivering patient outcomes within the organisation.

Following completion of your 18-month Graduate Program you will have a rounded view of the pharmaceutical business which will set you up for accelerated success within your chosen business area and may open up your desires for career opportunities in other areas of the industry as well.

To apply for our Business stream, you will require a tertiary qualification in either Human Resources, Digital, Finance, Communications or Business.

Our Corporate Responsibility Strategy

Novartis has a sound strategy to navigate a world with a growing, aging population and continuously evolving healthcare needs. Our strategy supports the Novartis purpose and is centered around four key areas: holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards, being part of the solution on pricing and access to medicines, helping tackle global health challenges and being a responsible citizen.

To learn more (https://www.novartis.com.au/about-us/corporate-responsibility)

Expanding Access to Healthcare

We are committed to bringing more of our medicines to more people, no matter where they are. To expand access to healthcare, we pursue a variety of approaches. This will be a key measure of success for our leaders and employees.

Being transparent and holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards

We aspire, as part of our vision, to be a trusted leader in changing the practice of medicine. To realize this vision, we need to earn and maintain the trust of patients, associates, healthcare partners, shareholders and the society we serve. We are committed to creating a culture of integrity and trust through strict adherence to the Novartis Code of Ethics. We also aim to be transparent about the results, impact, challenges and key learnings from our access-to-medicine programs.

Environmental Sustainability

Our ambition is to be a catalyst for positive change and a leader in environmental sustainability. We aim to drive sustainability through our own operations, as well as those of our suppliers, and we have set ambitious targets to minimize our impacts on climate, waste and water. We have already made significant progress. While Novartis Group sales have increased in the past 10 years, our consumption of energy and water, as well as our greenhouse gas emissions, have declined.

Community Engagement

We are guided by a purpose of reimagining medicine and, now more than ever, are focused on returning more to society than we take. Actively supporting the local communities where we live and work is a key component of this commitment.

Our largest global volunteer activity takes the form of our Community Partnership Day. This initiative is replicated by Novartis Group company sites around the world every year. Each year our employees engage in Community Partnership Day and various fundraising events throughout the year focusing on raising awareness of medical conditions and giving back to the community.

The Novartis global Malaria Initiative is one of the industry’s largest access-to-medicines programs, providing 500 million treatments without profit to more than 60 malaria endemic countries, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

As part of your graduate experience, we are excited to learn about your ideas on giving back to society.