Country Head of ERC, Japan

Major accountabilities

Leadership & Management

• Lead, oversee, and monitor the Ethics, Risk & Compliance (ERC) program's effectiveness, ensuring the program contributes to a secure and sustainable business performance.
• Serve as a member of Japan leadership team and play a crucial role in providing assurance regarding effective policies and procedures within the company to protect organization's brand.
• Responsible for recruitment, resource allocation, and talent development of ERC talents across divisions.

Promotion of Ethical Culture

• Model and promote the highest standards of ethical behavior and conduct, acting as a symbol of integrity.
• Foster a culture of ethical business practice throughout all levels of Japan working collaboratively with business and function leaders.
• Consistently explore opportunities to enhance and cultivate the culture of compliance within Japan.
• In addition to global trainings, establish an annual local training plan for Code of Ethics, SpeakUp, Anti-Bribery, Doing Business Ethically policy, Handbooks and other local regulations and ensure on-boarding and annual refreshers on compliance standards and business practices whenever necessary

Compliance & Risk Management

• Oversee the development and implementation of policies, procedures, and principles aligned with the organization's interests, industry requirements, and regulatory standards.
• Conduct regular review and evaluations of compliance and risk issues/concerns, ensuring timely remediation and risk mitigation.
• Lead risk assessments, compliance audits, and reporting procedures to identify potential areas of vulnerability.
• ERC Head Japan is responsible for promotional activity supervising and calls Revision/Supervision Committee (joined by 3rd party and chaired by Head of Legal) for seeking advice and reports all the results to CLT (Country Leadership Team) based on requirement of “Guidelines for Product Information Offering Activities of Ethical Drugs” issued by MHLW (Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare) to ensure appropriateness of promotional activities and its governance.
• Ensure communication and implementation of SpeakUp process for reporting allegations of misconduct in Novartis Japan. Ensure development and implementations of corrective actions and remediation measures based on investigation by the SpeakUp processes and IRC (Internal Review Committee or sanction committee) decision.
• Coordinate country preparedness of pandemic, disaster, earthquakes and CARBON (Catastrophic loss of IT) plans. Ensure they are in place, up-to-date, tested and communicated as a BCM/NEM coordinator. (Business Continuity Management / Novartis Emergency Management)

Partnership & Collaboration

• Work in partnership with leaders across Japan on mitigation strategies for identified risks.
• As a member of the Japan Leadership Team, identify ERC framework developments and guide the ERC team across divisions, promoting consistency of approach in compliance matters.
• Collaborate not only with global ERC but also with ERC in other Units, Development and Operations and establish One ERC team to enhance one risk approach and country operation in Japan.

Performance Monitoring

• Monitor and report on the results of the ethics, risk and compliance efforts.
• Review and approve annual incentive plans and payouts, ensuring they align with organizational objectives and are commensurate with performance levels.

Advisory Role

• Provide expertise, consultation, and assessments in matters related to ERC.
• Responsible for leading multidisciplinary teams and efforts related to ethics, risk and compliance.
• Act as a chair of One Governance Committee, review, decide and provide guidance for new initiatives. Oversight of key active higher-risk initiatives, follow up on key agreed actions / remediation and escalate topics in case no clear guidance.

External Engagement

• Act as a member of FTC (Fair Trade Council), Code Compliance Committee in JPMA (Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association) and GLC (Governance Legal Compliance) Committee in EFPIA-J to foster compliance culture in Novartis and to synthesize changing public expectations, influence the environment and enhance trust in the industry.

Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant working experience in compliance and regulatory areas
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and collaboratively with all levels of management, strong influencing skills and sound business judgement
• Strong problem solving skills and ability to operate in a complex, and fast-paced environment
• Demonstrated initiative, proactive approaches, ability to manage diverse matters and appropriately prioritize issues
• Ability to facilitate alignment and actions among cross-division or cross-function teams