At AstraZeneca, patients are at the heart of everything we do.

A global company that pushes the boundaries of science, we all share a big purpose: to discover and develop life-changing medicines that save lives.

At AstraZeneca, we lead our industry in our development of a strong and varied pipeline. This means our people are here to win, we give you a breadth of opportunities to be curious and do cutting edge, unique work that has big impact on science and medicine. We explore innovations and confront challenges that others won't, in order to have a greater impact on patients' lives. AstraZeneca’s R&D China and R&D IT partner closely to accelerate the development of new medicines for China and global markets, leveraging the latest technological innovations and digital opportunities for the benefit of millions of patients.

The IT Capability Lead – R&D China will co-develop and lead the delivery of new digital initatives, partnering closely with business leaders in R&D and Commercial to accelerate the speed and quality of AstraZeneca’s pipeline.

This role will be the overall accountable IT leader developing our long term vision, execution strategy, and program delivery in partnership with our SVP R&D China. We are seeking a leader prepared to tackle industry challenges and uncover opportunities made possible by the latest technological advances, with deep knowledge of the China market. Strategic relationship development is crucial, as is strong cross-functional people leadership, talent and organizational capability development. The ideal candidate will bring a diverse background in applying new technologies in the life sciences R&D domain, sharing the broader team’s passion to dramatically improve the lives of patients we serve. The role combines in-depth understanding of digital health technologies, clinical development, and the China market to drive the creation of innovative technology solutions.

Accountabilities

In this role, you will serve as a leadership team member on the R&D China LT and the global R&D IT Late Stage Development LT. Your priority will be to partner on the development our R&D China digital strategy, including scouting and planning for China-based partnerships in addition to developing an investment plan for new China-based R&D IT capabilities. Long term, you will lead a China-based R&D IT team, leveraging partners and AstraZeneca’s global digital and IT capabilities to deliver on the digital strategy.

Typical accountabilities of this role include:

• Developing and owning the strategic IT relationship with business leaders, developing a deep understanding and contributing to business strategies, priorities and challenges, ensuring IT investments are aligned to business objectives.
• Developing the vision and strategy for internal IT capability development aligned to R&D China Digital initiatives, providing leadership and oversight within the IT organization for implementation.
• Partnering with business leaders to develop a patient-oriented, business value-focused digital strategy for R&D China
• Delivering a project portfolio based on internal R&D China pipeline priorities and external industry trends, aligned with R&D China digital strategy.
• Proactively and continuously identifying opportunities through internal and external networks for AZ to improve the patient experience and accelerate drug pipeline delivery through digital.
• Leading high-level investigations on requirements specifications and feasibility studies, developing a range of options aligned to R&D China digital strategy.
• Presenting and gaining buy-in from senior leaders for digital initiatives, leveraging domain knowledge to gain credibility, trust, and commitment.
• Running a $30m+ portfolio of multi-year IT investments and run costs, prioritized to align with emerging business strategy, operational risks and opportunities.
• Facilitating accurate IT portfolio planning and delivery quality assurance collaboratively with other supporting IT team roles.
• Contributing to and influencing the enterprise AZ IT and digital strategy, actively communicating it in relevant ways to senior R&D business leaders.
• Leading senior-level governance forums and advisory boards – internal and external.
• Management of China-specific and broader technology partnerships across pharma and industry

Desirable

• Rich experience in bio-pharma industry, specifically in clinical development and commercial launch
• Rich experience in delivering patient-facing technology solutions in both clinical and commercial settings
• Demonstrated delivery of significant scientific information systems.
• Deep knowledge and understanding of the Clinical Development domain.
• Knowledge of scientific and clinical pharmaceutical processes.
• Knowledge of clinical or biometrics (statistics) analysis and reporting processes
• Proven track record to interpret and communicate technical and scientific information.
• Experience of identification and implementation of innovative technology solutions
• Evidence of leading and developing innovative solutions
• Experience of defining the business strategies and influencing the vision of senior leaders
• Experience of leading high value business cases & mobilising high value investments
• Experience in managing, developing and leading virtual teams
• Graduate level education in a related degree
• Leader within pharma thought leadership networks and organisations
• Experience working across diverse, global teams

Skills and Capabilities

Essential

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including presenting in both Chinese and English
• Excellent influencing, networking and team working skills
• High level awareness of developments in the Information Technology marketplace
• Able to manage and lead negotiations, expectations and solutions across complex stakeholder groups
• Expert relationship building skills with the ability to influence others to achieve objectives
• Expertise in planning, change management and problem solving and able to resolve issues of a highly complex and strategic nature
• Proven ability to relate and respond to business needs in an IT environment
• Program management leadership with experience of cross geography, high value implementations
• Ability to work well in and across diverse global teams
• Ability to partner and work in a matrix organisation

Date Posted

Closing Date

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity.  We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills.  We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.  We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics.  We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.