Your career after the graduate programme

The opportunities created due to the international job rotations provide you with a rapid growth in experience, the creation of huge networks across the organisation and an increased level of exposure to top management. Together with the intensive professional and personal training available during the programme, this places you in a strong position to go on to be a key person within our organisation after successfully completing the graduate programme.

And here's the proof! Click on one of the names below to discover how these ex-participants in our graduate programmes have moved onwards and upwards within the organisation.

“My education comes from two countries, both Denmark and the United States. I earned a master’s degree in Economics & Business Administration (Cand.Merc. MOT) from Copenhagen Business School and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Today, I work as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President. Resultantly, my primary task is to support Operations. Examples of work tasks are driving strategic projects. These can originate from various sources such as The Novo Nordisk Operations Balanced Scorecard, initiatives that the Executive Vice President has taken from Executive Management or initiatives from Global Marketing, Regions and Product Supply. Other tasks include participating in working groups or committees on behalf of COO or Operations Management, and of course handling ad-hoc tasks for the COO.

In my opinion, at the end of the day, what differentiates Novo Nordisk from other businesses is our continuous focus on our end-customer, namely the patient and how this focus drives us towards striving to do the right thing in the bigger picture - even though doing this usually proves to be harder and more cumbersome than turning the obvious and easy corner.”

“I am originally from China and moved to Denmark in 1998 to attend the Copenhagen Business School. I have a master’s degree in International Marketing and Management from CBS. I joined Novo Nordisk right after graduating.

Since March 2007, I have been a Global Product Manager in Global Marketing. I am the product manager of two future insulin durable devices. I am working with the Device R&D to ensure the sufficient market input in product development, and working with affiliates to ensure maximum affiliates involvement in launch preparation and pre-launch activities. It is my primary responsibility to drive the marketing preparation of launching devices worldwide.

There were some challenges I faced as a graduate in the programme. When I look back, the biggest challenge is to adapt to local working culture and gain trust and respect from local colleagues. However, I see it as an extremely interesting and positive aspect of the rotation. During the 8-month rotations, I worked on three marketing/ business projects in three countries (Brazil, South Korea and Morocco). All were very exciting and yet very different. I need to quickly understand the local diabetes and haemophilia market situation, combined with my analytical skills, working together with local colleagues to conclude recommendations of the projects. It is very important to realise we both learned from affiliates and brought value during the rotation.

I remember during my role as project manager of marketing effectiveness projects in the Regional Office of Far East, the last day of every project when I presented my recommendation and saw the nodding from affiliates and heard the recognition of my effort, it felt extremely rewarding and memorable.

When I was Sales Effectiveness Manager in China, I recall the day when the new sale force electronic management system was launched in the sales force after months of intensive preparation. It felt so satisfying.

Therefore, I think I have quite a few moments where I feel I made a difference to the company, my colleagues and customers. A life-changing career to me is a career that I grow with, learn from and enjoy. Looking back on my seven years at Novo Nordisk, I feel I am a `different´ person now compared to 7 years ago. `Different´ means I am growing with confidence, realising my value and potential in my career and growing with passion and love for what I do and the difference I can make.

I think I have been `spoiled´ with constant challenges and the opportunity to travel and live in different countries since I joined Novo Nordisk. One passion in my life has always been traveling. Novo Nordisk gives me opportunity to combine my passion with a rewarding job.”

“I have a master’s degree in Finance and International Business from Aarhus Business School. I joined Novo Nordisk through the Global Finance Programme in 2006. Currently, I'm working as Investor Relations Manager.

In Investor Relations our primary function is to ensure that relevant, accurate and timely information is made available to the financial markets as a basis for fair pricing of Novo Nordisk shares and that Novo Nordisk is perceived as a visible, accessible and reliable company by the capital market. This is achieved through quarterly road-shows to the most important financial centres in connection with the release of our financial results, participation at conferences, hosting of capital markets days, and on-going contact with current and potential investors.

During my 2-years on the Global Finance graduate programme, I held five different positions within the Finance organisation. While the rotational setup of the graduate programme enabled me to work with versatile tasks in different functions within a short period, the biggest challenge for me was to be the "rookie" and thus very dependent on colleagues every time I started in a new department. However, for me this gave a solid incentive to get up to speed with others.

For that reason, my job has enabled me to develop both personally and professionally. Working in the internal environment of Novo Nordisk provides ample opportunity to seek new challenges both in Denmark and around the world.

The most rewarding aspect of working in Novo Nordisk is the flat organisation and openness I have experienced in all departments I have worked in. At Novo Nordisk you are encouraged to ask questions and put forth propositions.”

“I am a Cand. Polit from University of Copenhagen in 1998, and I started in the Novo Nordisk Finance graduate programme in August 1998. Today, I work in Finance, Legal & IT. My main responsibilities are to serve as a facilitator for executive decisions within the Global Finance, Legal & IT organisation.

I also prepare content for the Chief Financial Officer's (CFO) management presentations, and plan and execute ad hoc tasks for the CFO.

When I was in the graduate programme the most challenging part of the rotations was all of the energy I had to dedicate to learning new areas/skills and the new people. This is, however, also the best part of the programme: the steep learning curve and obtaining a broad network, which is extremely beneficial in a big organisation. I still benefit from the network I established during my time as in the programme.

I definitely have a life-changing career at Novo Nordisk. To me, that is one that has a positive impact on my own life and just as importantly, it is also a career that changes the lives of other people for the better.

It is rewarding to feel that my work brings value to others than me. I am proud of the company I work for in terms of professionalism, ethics and social responsibility. Furthermore, it is rewarding to have on-going professional development and to exploit the many opportunities. In terms of development and opportunities, I think it speaks for itself to have been with Novo Nordisk for more than 10 years.”

“My education is rather international. I have a master’s degree in Finance & Administration (from Aarhus School of Business, Depaul University, Harvard University).

Almost 4 years have passed since I started and the opportunities within Novo Nordisk have definitely lived up to the criteria I defined when looking for the first job; a company with international opportunities, room for development across functional areas and a high learning curve from day one.

I am currently located in Switzerland working as a Finance Manager for a region covering 142 emerging and developing countries. My current responsibilities include overall budget responsibility, performance tracking, drive financial related projects across the region as well as ad hoc management requests.

My career in Novo Nordisk started however with the Finance graduate programme, which provided me with extensive experiences within merger and acquisition projects, process improvements as well as tax analysis. The benefit of the graduate programme is that you have rotations in different areas and you will be challenged every day. However, this is also the main personal challenge, as you will rotate to the next assignment, exactly at the time you become skilled within the current area.

At Novo Nordisk, having a `life-changing´ career is a real possibility. While you strive for the best possible result, you simultaneously participate in the overall goal of changing other people’s lives - people with diabetes. I like the current challenges and I especially appreciate the daily inspiration from a company with cultural diversity, highly-skilled colleagues and a willingness to share knowledge and experiences.”

“I earned my master’s degree in Information Studies from Aarhus University, Denmark. Coincidentally, my thesis was about Novo Nordisk /NovoSeven. Today, I am a Project Manager for a strategic IT service management initiative with a global scope.

Each time you come to a new place, you have to identify an area where you can make a valuable and visible impact in only 8 months. In an unknown work culture and it is not a trivial task to figure out how to apply your personal skills and knowledge and make a lasting difference so quickly.

I remember my first day at Novo Nordisk, which was a turning point that I will neither forget nor regret. The variety of opportunities and challenges in Novo Nordisk is overwhelming and it creates a space for career development where there is always something new to satisfy your curiosity - a true life-changing career.

As a Novo Nordisk employee, I can honestly say to anyone asking that I am working for a company that respects its own responsibility to be part of the solution rather than the problem. Call me sentimental if you like, but it means a lot to me to be part of a global community with shared values that are acted on and not just talked about when the media is around.”

“I joined Novo Nordisk in August 1991 as a graduate and have been given a lot of exciting opportunities, working in Finance, IT, Manufacturing and Sales & Marketing units in four different countries: Denmark, Holland, the US and Japan.

I remember my first day at work in Japan - meeting a very different culture compared to the places I had worked before. This was a large challenge, but it also turned out to be one of the greatest experiences I have had in my life.

Today, I am responsible at Novo Nordisk for the area called IT & Corporate Development. Being responsible for IT in Novo Nordisk is quite interesting and at times very challenging. My area is responsible for the corporate IT systems that several thousand users work with every day - this spans from implementing small IT systems over a few months to large IT projects running over several years. In this way, we in IT are involved in running, but also changing, Novo Nordisk every day we go to work - that is a great feeling.

Besides IT, I am also responsible for the Corporate Development, which is the function that is responsible for the overall corporate strategy of Novo Nordisk, in-licensing and acquisition of compounds to R&D, managing R&D alliances with partners as well as patenting of the innovations done by the research units. This is quite different from IT, but in a way dealing with the same overall objective: Building for the continued success of Novo Nordisk.”

“I have a master’s degree from my university years back in Denmark, but today I am based in Russia.

My basic job consists of running three departments focusing on optimizing stakeholder development and interaction. By stakeholders I mean legislation, regional authorities, top key opinion leaders, endocrinologists, general practitioners, pharmacists, patient organisations and patients. The team consists of: 1) a Marketing team focused on modern insulins, 2) a Public Affairs and Communications team focusing on branding Novo Nordisk and 3) a Medical Affairs team focusing on training and education of endocrinologists.

My job is to bring these functions together and drive strategic development and day-to-day execution. My work is primarily centred on Russia; however activities in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and CIS member states are getting support from the above teams. Therefore, my job is also about motivation, developing individuals and ensuring that we have a clear vision and strategy moving forward.

When the UN Resolution on Diabetes was passed in 2006, I believe that it was globally a big win for all stakeholders within diabetes care. Especially for Novo Nordisk as we have been a leader within this area for many years. Not long ago, the pharmaceutical sector could not supply enough insulin to patients around the world. Today we are actively engaging all stakeholders and thus patients offering a better and longer life than ever before. There is still a long way to go; especially in some of the more developing markets, however we are actively working on this.

The UN Resolution was and still is a major win for diabetes care in general and I am very proud that Novo Nordisk was a key contributor for driving this global challenge.”

“I have a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, with a double major in International Business and Marketing. And I also have a master's degree from Copenhagen Business School, majoring in International Marketing and Management.

Today, I am a Global Product Manager, working on the modern insulin brand team in Global Marketing. My main responsibility is driving a global medical education programme that has been developed to support communication around a global observational study.

With the Novo Nordisk graduate programme I had the opportunity to travel to three countries within 2 years - it was a great experience but also a bit tough. The challenges included new languages, new culture, new colleagues, new project focus, new everything... but the one thing that I found to be the hardest was getting to a common level of understanding of expectations in a short timeframe - 1 day, 1 week, 1 month means everything when you are only around for 8 months.

Being a graduate, your role is never defined as something concrete and each country, department, etc has different expectations and ways of working that are never accounted for. In addition, being in a new country you don't have your normal support network (friends and family) around you that will help you power through the frustration - as that is something you are also in the process of building.

I chose to work for Novo Nordisk because I wanted a meaningful career and the longer that I work for the company the more it becomes a reality. What first attracted me to Novo Nordisk was its commitment to corporate social responsibility - not only on paper but also in its day-to-day reality. This reality has become even clearer when I see the Changing Diabetes bus traveling around the world and learning about the many Take Action! initiatives. I need to know that I am working for a reason.

The most rewarding part of my job is making a difference for people who need it.”

“I am from Gentofte, Denmark. I started my professional life as a participant in the Supply Chain graduate programme at Novo Nordisk, fresh with a university degree in biochemistry.

Today, 4 years later, I work as project manager in the biopharmaceutical production area for our growth hormone therapy products, where I am responsible for a diverse portfolio of projects regarding, for example, optimization of our current production processes or implementation of new equipment. My job is to ensure that we initiate the right activities within these different projects and that everything progresses according to our plans. To do so, I need to combine my scientific basis with a good business understanding.

Since I am involved in the entire production work stream - from the starting raw materials to the finished product ready for worldwide destinations - I get to collaborate with many colleagues and deal with a wide variety of challenges. To me, colleagues and challenges are very important ingredients in a good day at-the-office.”

Today, four years later, I work as project manager in the biopharmaceutical production area for our growth hormone therapy products, where I am responsible for a diverse portfolio of projects regarding e.g. optimization of our current production processes or implementation of new equipment. My job is to ensure that we initiate the right activities within these different projects and that everything progresses according to our plans. To do so, I need to combine my scientific basis with a good business understanding.

Since I am involved in the entire production work stream - from the starting raw materials to the finished product ready for worldwide destinations - I get to collaborate with many colleagues and deal with a wide variety of challenges. To me, colleagues and challenges are very important ingredients in a good day at-the-office.

Ulrik Gammelgård, Denmark
Project Manager Product Supply
Supply Chain Programme

“I work in Sorgenfri, Denmark and I have a master’s degree in International Trade. As the manager of Supply Chain Planning, my responsibilities are full supply chain planning and management in Diabetes Finished Products.

We forecast capacities for the short-term and balance them between our global production sites. Furthermore we are responsible for new product launches and optimisation of planning processes including IT development.

At Novo Nordisk, I've had so many fantastic days!

I remember one day when one of our products received expedited review and the day we supplied the first batches of that product to the US market. Other milestones in my career would be the day I was appointed manager and the day that I first had a successful development talk with an employee.

It's important when you welcome new and engaged employees into the company and see them grow more and more proud of the company as the days pass by.

There have been many workshops and meetings where challenges have been turned into solutions and opportunities via the input from very skilled professionals using teamwork behaviour to expand their ideas to their max. Such events are great”

“I am a medical doctor, with postgraduate specialist training in Surgery and in Public Health/Community Medicine. Currently, I'm employed in Regulatory Affairs Haemostasis, in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.

My job title is Senior Regulatory Project Manager and important functions I have are to make regulatory strategies for development projects and to interact with regulatory authorities on whether it is the correct clinical development programmes we are planning. For example we want to obtain early input from the agencies as to whether our end points for clinical studies are the right end points to give us an approval. So instead of going to the authorities when we have the data, we are having an earlier interaction to ensure that our strategy seems appropriate from the authorities’ point of view.

I think the most rewarding element of my job is to work in teams and to achieve goals as a team, which we as individuals never could have done.

When you work as a surgeon you have almost immediate feedback on the quality of the job you have done; if not immediately, you can pretty soon see the results in the patient. Developing new medical products you do not have the same immediate feedback, but it is equally as satisfying knowing that you contribute to impact the lives of thousands of patients at the same time.”

“I have a master’s degree in Biology from the University of Copenhagen. I'm working as a Clinical Project Manager in Clinical operations, Hematology in Bagsværd, Denmark.

The functions of the International Trial Manager are planning, conducting and finalising the trial. This includes among other things: preparation of protocol, amendments, informed consent, CRF, instructions/ guidelines, submission documents for ECs/RAs. I am responsible for monitoring the trial progress, including study recruitment, monitoring activities and data quality. We have cross-functional activities with Medical, Data Management, Safety, Regulatory etc. and coordinate with affiliates.

There are many very important and rewarding aspects of my job. It is very nice to work with a product that you know is making a huge difference for the patients, especially in terms of quality of life.

I have been working with many competent and experienced people from whom I have learnt and still learn from.”

“I have a master’s degree and today I work in Clinical Operations in Bagsværd, Denmark. When I started as on the graduate programme in Novo Nordisk in 1992, I did not know that 16 years later I would be Vice President of the Trial Management skill-anchor.

All I knew was that I had a genuine interest in diabetes and other therapy development as this is where I could see I could make a difference for people I knew and beyond.

My development path through Novo Nordisk has been a result of many factors: being innovative, visionary and authentic, taking initiatives, being hard working and creating results have led to management recognition, while opportunities have evolved from organisational changes and project expansion.

I have worked in many different functional areas such as pharmaceutical development, the production area, regulatory affairs, marketing, clinical operations, project management and planning and I have been expatriated in an affiliate twice.

My greatest strength today is my very broad knowledge of the various disciplines within the pharmaceutical industry. My career progression confirms our Novo Nordisk Way of Management: every day we strive to find the right balance between work and family life. My up-/side-/downwards movement has been guided by my personal priorities in different stages of life as I have at times taken up positions at a lower level in the hierarchy to suit personal needs at the time. In Novo Nordisk this has never been a hindrance for my career going forward.

The most memorable day in my working career has been the time I stood face to face with the end users of our products, with patients grabbing my hands and thanking me, as a Novo Nordisk employee, for having played a crucial part in improving their quality of life.

This is where I have been most proud to work for a company such as Novo Nordisk. We have time and again proved that we are committed to our stakeholders, peers, colleagues and most importantly the patients for whom our products make a huge difference as many of them are targeted for chronic disease areas.”