Cell Therapy Strategy and Commercial Executive Director

About the role

A high-impact leadership role within the AstraZeneca Cell Therapy Enterprise, accountable for shaping and driving the end-to-end strategy for a defined indication or disease area. You will lead global commercial and strategic initiatives, including business development and competitive intelligence, partnering with Therapeutic Areas on clinical strategy, collaborating with in-market commercial and medical affairs on launch readiness, and aligning with global pricing and brand teams.

Reporting to the VP, Cell Therapy Strategy and Commercial, you will be a key architect of the company’s Cell Therapy strategy and lead cross-functional execution.

Responsibilities

• Deliver end-to-end strategy, including:
  • Clear understanding and prioritization of current and future unmet needs
  • Indication-level strategic vision for both near-term and long-term
  • Integrated clinical strategy across all cell therapy platforms within the same indication
  • Work with global Clinical and ClinOps within respective TAs to develop comprehensive development strategy
  • Competitive early pipeline / long-term portfolio and life cycle management
  • Above-asset initiatives (e.g., Translational Medicine, Precision Medicine, Data Sciences)
• Own insights generation for R&D and commercial activities
• Oversee and guide development and integration of industry-leading competitive intelligence, customer insight, market intelligence, and analytics to frame business problems and opportunities
• Shape future-proofed strategies and deliver sustainably differentiated brands/early assets, business development opportunities, and TA strategies
• Ensure robustness and transparency of forecasts for PH3IDs
• Bring an intelligence-driven perspective to strategic recommendations by synthesizing insights from diverse sources and publicly available information at the brand and Therapeutic Area level for internal and external communication
• Create and curate evidence bank from real-world data sources to support PH3ID forecasts
• Build referral capabilities between specific disease areas and Cell Therapy delivery centers
• Partner closely across Cell Therapy, Global Commercial, in-market commercial, and medical affairs teams to ensure execution of global strategy
• Lead and collaborate with cross-functional teams (e.g., GPTs, Clinical Development, Discovery, BD, Lifecycle and Pipeline, Competitive Intelligence) to develop disease area strategy content
• Provide strategic counseling to Global Clinical Strategy Head (GCSH), Global Commercial and Medical Affairs leadership, and other senior leaders

Qualifications

• BA/BS and 10 years of experience in life sciences or consulting firm with focus in life science programs
• OR MS/MBA and 8+ years of experience in life sciences or consulting firm with focus in life science programs
• OR PhD or MD and 5+ years of experience in life sciences or consulting firm with focus in life science programs

Skills

• Ability to interact and communicate effectively with senior executive teams
• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence experienced professionals
• Critical and creative thinking to anticipate and solve problems
• Ability to navigate and succeed in a fast-paced, highly-matrixed work environment
• Strong analytical and communication skills
• Strong business acumen and strategic thinking skills, preferably demonstrated in a pharma-related environment
• Effective interpersonal and relationship management skills with a consultative approach
• Operational effectiveness, highly organized with strong follow-through
• Strong initiative to understand core business goals and establish processes or programs to set direction, generate alignment, and push forward
• Financial background and understanding of forecasts, budgets, financial activities, and tools
• Resourceful, motivated, influential, and proactive; able to prioritize in a fast-growing organization
• Experience in strategic planning processes and tools
• Scientific background
• Understanding of the pharmaceutical business (including R&D)
• Experience in translating business needs into a coordinated plan from cross-functional senior leadership teams
• Ability to develop creative and simple solutions to complex problems

Schedule

In-office working, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. This role can be based in Gaithersburg, MD; Boston, MA; South San Francisco, CA; or New York, NY.

Pay

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $267,914 to $401,870. Positions offer eligibility for various incentives, including short-term incentive bonuses, equity-based awards for salaried roles, and commissions for sales roles.

Benefits

• Qualified retirement programs
• Paid time off (vacation, holiday, and leaves)
• Health, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms of the applicable plans