Alcon

Associate Director, Field Launch & Change Surge

Alcon$145K — $270K *
US-AnywhereRemote in United States
Business Services
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree from a 4-year college or university.
  • 6+ years of experience in field operations, launch execution, or program delivery within complex organizations.
  • Ability to function effectively in high-intensity environments with competing priorities.
  • Strong execution discipline and coordination skills.
  • Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Responsibilities

  • Provide surge support for launches and organizational changes, ensuring ownership and follow-through.
  • Translate launch plans into actionable tasks for the field, clarifying responsibilities and deadlines.
  • Identify and mitigate readiness risks early, such as training gaps and operational constraints.
  • Support planning and readiness for go-live events, with clear timelines and escalation pathways for issues.
  • Coordinate rapid issue resolution during launches to maintain operational stability.
  • Drive stabilization by ensuring recurring issues are resolved at the root cause level.
  • Align execution details across teams to minimize last-minute changes.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health, life, and disability benefits.
  • 401(k) with company contribution and match.
  • Generous time-off package including vacation and personal days.
  • Eligibility for performance-based cash incentives and equity awards.
Full Job Description
Job Description Summary
#LI-Remote

This position can be based remotely anywhere in the U.S. (there may be some restrictions based on legal entity). The expectation of working hours and travel (domestic and/or international) will be defined by the hiring manager. This position will require 10% travel.

Novartis is unable to offer relocation support for this role: please only apply if this location is accessible to you.

Company will not sponsor visas for this position.

The Associate Director, Field Launch & Change Surge provides focused, time-bound execution capacity to support major launches and high-priority change events across the field organization. This role helps stabilize performance during peak change periods by coordinating execution mechanics, readiness actions, and rapid issue resolution-so field leaders can stay focused on customers and core performance. Working in close partnership with Field Execution Leads, enablement partners, operations teams, and cross-functional stakeholders, this role strengthens launch readiness, protects field capacity, and accelerates time-to-stability after go-live.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:
  • Provide surge execution support for launches, major tool/process releases, and high-impact organizational changes, ensuring clear sequencing, ownership, and follow-through.
  • Translate launch/change plans into practical field actions (readiness tasks, cutover steps, stabilization activities), ensuring clarity on who does what by when.
  • Identify cross-team dependencies and readiness risks early (training gaps, workflow breaks, operational constraints) and drive mitigation actions with owners.
  • Support cutover planning and go-live readiness, including readiness checklists, field-facing timing clarity, and escalation pathways for high-severity issues.
  • Coordinate hypercare mechanics during launch/change windows to ensure rapid triage, clear ownership, and timely resolution of field-impacting issues.
  • Drive rapid stabilization by tracking issues through to closure and ensuring recurring problems are addressed with root-cause fixes, not repeated workarounds.
  • Partner across teams to align execution details (timelines, readiness expectations, support model) and reduce last-minute churn during launch windows.
  • Maintain an integrated view of launch/change readiness signals and surface actionable watch-outs to execution leadership.
  • Capture lessons learned and convert them into improved readiness playbooks, templates, and standard operating patterns.


Essential Requirements:
  • Bachelor's degree required from 4-year college or university.
  • 6+ years' of experience in field operations, launch execution, program delivery, or execution-focused roles within complex, matrixed organizations.
  • Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in high-intensity environments with competing priorities and tight timelines.
  • Strong execution discipline, coordination skills, and ability to translate plans into clear actions and closures.
  • Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, including ability to drive alignment without direct authority.


Desirable Requirements:
  • Familiarity with readiness frameworks, cutover/hypercare practices, and structured issue management.
  • Comfort operating as surge capacity across multiple portfolios and workstreams, adapting quickly as priorities evolve.


Novartis Compensation Summary:

The salary for this position is expected to range between $145,600 and $270,400 per year.

The final salary offered is determined based on factors like, but not limited to, relevant skills and experience, and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically. Novartis may change the published salary range based on company and market factors.

Your compensation will include a performance-based cash incentive and, depending on the level of the role, eligibility to be considered for annual equity awards.

US-based eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. In addition, employees are eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves.

Salary Range
$145,600.00 - $270,400.00

Skills Desired
Business Dashboards, Business Performance Management, Coaching, Commercial Excellence, Customer Engagement, Customer Satisfaction, Data Analytics, Merchandising, Project Planning, Sales Operations

About Alcon

Alcon is a global medical company specializing in eye care products and services. The company's products include surgical equipment, contact lenses, and eye drops. Alcon was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland. The company operates in over 70 countries and has over 20,000 employees. In 2019, Alcon became an independent publicly traded company after being spun off from Novartis.
Learn more about Alcon
Size
24,389 employees
Market Cap
$33.3 billion
Industry
Founded
1945
NASDAQ

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