Manager, Innovation Specialist, AI

The Manager, Innovation AI Specialist is a hands‑on builder who rapidly designs, prototypes, and validates LLM‑powered AI agents and multi‑agent workflows that automate knowledge work and decision support across iLAB, Integrated Marketing Org, and enterprise functions. You’ll move from problem framing to working agent MVPs in days, not months, leveraging modern agent frameworks (e.g., LangGraph, CrewAI, Microsoft Copilot Studio/AutoGen lineage) and managed services (e.g., Azure AI, AWS Bedrock, Agent Service) to accelerate delivery—while rigorously applying Novartis’ AI governance, privacy, and quality standards.  

This role sits in the Innovation Lab (iLab) and partners with product, data, engineering, marketing, compliance, and vendor teams to turn high‑value use cases into evidence‑backed prototypes that inform scale decisions in a regulated setting. 

Key Accountabilities

Agent prototyping & delivery  

• Translate problem statements into agentic MVPs (single‑ or multi‑agent) using available Agentic AI frameworks such as LangGraph or CrewAI; implement tool‑calling, planning, and memory; package as secure APIs, Teams apps, or web front‑ends.  

• Build retrieval‑augmented agents (RAG) with grounding, citations, and source attribution; tune chunking, indexing, and re‑ranking for quality, latency, and cost.  

• Use Azure AI Agent Service (and compatible OpenAI/Responses API patterns) for stateful threads, Microsoft Copilot Studio, function calling, evaluation/telemetry, and enterprise auth; where appropriate, integrate with Microsoft 365 for action.  

Speed with guardrails 

• Apply Novartis AI Handbook and AI Risk & Compliance Framework in design and build (human‑in‑the‑loop, logging, access controls, model/usage monitoring) 

• Instrument agents with evaluation harnesses (gold sets, synthetic QA, cost/latency dashboards) and run adversarial/red‑team tests for prompt injection, data leakage, and unsafe tool use before wider pilots.  

Enterprise integration & environments 

• Develop within approved iLab sandboxes and patterns (e.g., public/private object stores, Bedrock/Claude access for experimentation) and harden for internally hosted/controlled deployments as solutions mature.  

• Connect agents to enterprise systems (e.g., Microsoft 365, Planner, data hubs) to automate real workflows and capture measurable value.  

Evidence & learning 

• Run structured sprints to test assumptions (usability, performance, adoption), document results, and decide fast on pivot/continue/scale. Contribute reusable components (prompt packs, evaluators, tool adapters) to iLab libraries.  

Collaboration & communication 

• Partner with business owners, SMEs, engineering, and compliance to define “definition of done,” success metrics, and scale pathway; provide clear documentation for hand‑offs and governance reviews.

Required Skills & Experience 

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent, and minimum of 5+ years of relevant experience 

• Applied AI engineering: Proven track record shipping LLM applications/agents (not just demos), including tool/function calling, orchestration, and production‑minded code quality.  

• Agentic frameworks & platforms: Hands‑on with LangGraph / LangChain, CrewAI, and familiarity with Microsoft’s agent stack (Semantic Kernel / AutoGen lineage / Azure AI Agent Service).  

• RAG engineering: Experience building end‑to‑end RAG (ingestion → embeddings → retrieval → re‑ranking → grounding/citation) using vector stores and hybrid search; strong grasp of eval metrics 

• Software craft: Proficiency in Python (TypeScript a plus); API design; containerization; CI/CD; observability; cost/latency optimization; secure secret management.  

• Evaluation & safety: Familiarity with automated testing of LLM apps, prompt‑injection defenses, jailbreak testing, and risk documentation aligned to enterprise standards.  

• Governance awareness in regulated contexts: working knowledge of privacy/security by design, human accountability, auditable decision trails, and adherence to Novartis AI policies and risk controls.  

• Collaboration skills: Comfort working with cross‑functional partners (business/medical/tech), translating requirements into shippable prototypes quickly and clearly. (Industry templates emphasize cross‑functional collaboration for AI specialists/engineers. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience with Azure AI Agent Service (threads, function calling, Open Telemetry‑based eval) and/or modern OpenAI Responses/Agents patterns; familiarity with AutoGen > Microsoft Agent Framework migration context.  

• Pharma/healthcare exposure and awareness of AI in GxP considerations, EU AI Act risk‑based expectations, and emerging FDA/EMA guidance for AI in regulatory workflows.  

• Portfolio of production agents (internal tools or OSS) or contributions to agent/RAG frameworks; conference talks or publications on LLM agents, RAG, evals, or safety. 

• Experience enabling enterprise integrations (e.g., Microsoft 365, Planner, SharePoint, Fabric) and operating in iLab‑style sandboxes with cloud services (AWS Bedrock, S3) for rapid prototyping. 

• Background in AI engineering, human‑AI interaction (conversation design, UX for agents), multi‑modal pipelines (ASR/TTS/image), and applied GenAIOps/MLOps for lifecycle management.  

Why Join Novartis Innovation Lab 

• Work on high-impact problems that enable innovation acceleration at the intersection of science, emerging technology, and human behavior 

• Build and validate next-generation digital solutions used across a global pharmaceutical enterprise 

• Operate in a true innovation environment that values evidence, experimentation, and learning, and measurable business impact  

• Contribute to reusable capabilities that shape how Novartis innovates at scale 

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/roadmap/people-and-culture 

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: 

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

Values and Behaviors: Demonstrates and upholds Novartis values and behaviors in all aspects of work and collaboration. 

Location: Hyderabad NKC. Hybrid | 3 days a week in office is mandatory.