ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, UI ENGINEER

Job Description Summary
At Novartis, we are reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As an Associate UI Engineer, you will play a key role in transforming reimagined product, platform, and design system concepts into functional, interactive, and visually compelling user interfaces. Leveraging modern front-end technologies and AI-assisted coding tools, you will help deliver digital experiences that are consistent, accessible, and delightful for patients, healthcare providers, and partners worldwide. This is an exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of design, technology, and innovation, while contributing to Novartis' mission of driving impact at scale.

The location for this role is East Hanover, NJ.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

Overview The Associate Director, UI Engineering is one who is dedicated to the front-end development of optimized, highly personalized, User Interfaces and Interactions; possessing deep expertise across specific domains such as Web Based Applications, Data Visualization Dashboards, Digital Products, Platform Applications and Design System environments. The combination of this experience is intended to build exceptional, highly targeted digital product solutions across a vast ecosystem of technology platforms. Intended not only to be visually appealing and user-friendly, but also address the unique needs and complexities within the specialized fields of Cardiovascular, Immunology, Neuroscience and Oncology.

UI Implementation: Translate product and design system specifications into reusable, scalable, and performant UI components using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and modern frameworks (React, Vue, or similar).

Collaboration: Partner with designers, UX researchers, and backend developers to ensure optimal implementation and seamless user experiences.

Design System Maintenance: Contribute to, lead and maintain design system for IDS (e.g., component libraries, style guides) to ensure consistency across platforms and applications.

Performance & Accessibility: Optimize applications for maximum speed, scalability, and accessibility (WCAG standards).

Code Quality: Create clean, maintainable, and reusable code following the latest modern web based application best practices and Novartis engineering guidelines.

Advocacy for the User: Champion the end user throughout the product development lifecycle, ensuring their needs are met, particularly in requirements gathering and usability testing.

Iterative Design & Continuous Improvement: Test designs, gather user feedback, and iterate to improve the product's design and functionality.

Cross-Browser Compatibility: Ensure seamless UI behavior across major browsers and devices.

Continuous Learning: Stay current with emerging front-end technologies, frameworks, and AI coding assistants, applying them thoughtfully to Novartis' digital products.

Usability and Accessibility: Understanding of core accessibility best practices and guidelines such POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust) as defined by WCAG.

Design Systems: The maintaining and creating of all design system UI libraries, color tokens, patterns, guidelines and applications to ensure consistency across all products and digital ecosystems.

AI Environments: Exposure to the latest AI environments that enhance, improve and amplify the quality of design output as it relates to user research and the creation of all visually interactive product user interfaces.

Key Skills:

Overview The Associate Director, UI Engineering must possess a blend of hard technical and soft interpersonal skills. Additionally, the role necessitates strong interpersonal skills such as effective communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and adherence to human-centered design principles.

Deep Domain Knowledge (SME): Possess extensive experience and understanding of the specific industry or field you are designing for. Experience with React, Vue, or similar front-end frameworks Familiarity with CSS preprocessors: (SASS/LESS) and modern frameworks (Tailwind CSS, Material UI, Bootstrap)

AI Coding Assistants: GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Vibe Coding, Qodo, Tabnine, OpenAI Codex, CodeGPT

AI Debugging & Code Review: DeepCode AI, Intellicode, CodeGeeX, Lovable, Bolt, Warp Productivity Boosters: AI-powered linting, autoformatting, and documentation generators Performance Monitoring: Lighthouse (Google Chrome DevTools) WebPageTest, GTmetrix Accessibility Testing: axe DevTools, Lighthouse Accessibility Reports

CI/CD Pipelines: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, Azure DevOps Cloud Platforms (depending on deployment team): AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform Knowledge of performance optimization techniques: Lazy loading, code splitting, caching Strong foundation in web accessibility (WCAG, ARIA standards) Exposure to AI-driven developer tools for productivity, debugging, and collaboration

Detail-oriented, with a keen eye for UI/UX consistency

Essential Requirements:

The Associate Director, UI Engineering holds a crucial position in driving and defining the interactive development of our digital products, applications and systems; through the concentrated execution of dynamic, highly immersive user interface components and data visualizations models. It is therefore expected that each candidate meets the following essential requirements:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Software Engineering, Digital Design, or related field.

Minimum 4-6 years of experience in front-end Product UI Engineering, systems development and Interaction Design.

Strong understanding of Human-Centered Design principles, frameworks, and best practices.

Excellent communication, presentation and stakeholder management skills. Must have in depth Design System experience and expertise.

Ability to influence and drive change in a complex organizational environment.

Deep expertise with any of the following: - TypeScript - Familiarity with testing frameworks (Jest, Cypress, React Testing Library) - Awareness of regulated environments (e.g., healthcare, pharma, or finance) - Contributions to open-source design systems or UI libraries - Figma (Novartis uses Figma for design handoffs, system maintenance) - Storybook or Zeplin (for component documentation and design system alignment) EDUCATION Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Software Engineering, Digital Design, or related field.

Novartis Compensation and Benefit Summary:

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $152,600.00 and $283,400.00 per year; however, while salary ranges are effective from 1/1/24 through 12/31/24, fluctuations in the job market may necessitate adjustments to pay ranges during this period. Further, final pay determinations will depend on various factors, including, but not limited to geographical location, experience level, knowledge, skills and abilities. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a sign-on bonus, restricted stock units, and discretionary awards in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an "at-will position" and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

EEO Statement:

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Accessibility and reasonable accommodations

The Novartis Group of Companies are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to or call and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.

Salary Range
$126,000.00 - $234,000.00

Skills Desired
Agility, Agility, Business Analytics, Competitive Intelligence, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Customer Insights, Customer Orientation, Data Analysis, Data Science, Forecasting, Go-To-Market Strategy, Healthcare Sector Understanding, Influencing Skills, Innovation, Marketing Analytics, Marketing Strategy, Market Insights, Market Research, Market Trend, Microsoft Excel, Predictive Analytics, Product Marketing, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, R (Programming Language) {+ 3 more}