Director, Team Lead, RWE Data Scientist

Do you have expertise in and a passion for Medical Affairs in Oncology? Would you like to apply your expertisewitha company that follows the science and turns ideas into life-changing medicines? Then AstraZeneca might be the place for you!

At AstraZeneca, we put patients first and strive to meet their unmet needs worldwide. Working here means being entrepreneurial, thinking big, and collaborating to make the impossible a reality. If you are swift to action, confident in your leadership, willing to collaborate, and curious about what science can achieve, then you’re our kind of person.

AstraZeneca’s vision in Oncology is to help patients by redefining the cancer treatment paradigm, with the 2030 oncology ambition to have medicines that can potentially treat at least half of all cancers. Our broad pipeline of next-generation medicines is focused principally on five disease areas: breast, lung, liver, ovarian, and hematological cancers. In addition to these tumor types, we are targeting cancers through five key platforms: immunotherapy, the genetic drivers of cancer and resistance, DNA damage repair, HER2, and antibody-drug conjugates, all underpinned by personalized healthcare and biomarker technologies.

The Role

Step into a pivotal leadership role where your role as team lead for Oncology Data Analytics (ODA) team willlead the way in NextGen EvGen.As a team lead, your leadership and collaboration will span across multiple functional stakeholders within Medical Evidence Generation.

The Centre for Oncology Data Excellence (CODE) is a function that is focused on deliveringbest in-class scientifically rigorous research to support the Global Medical Evidence Generation organization.Oncology Data Analytics (ODA) is a key team within CODE andis responsible forRWD analysis, Data Foundation & Governance, Analytics Platforms and Tools and innovative AI capabilities.  Thestudy execution within ODAis used for research directed to answer key clinical questions, and where applicable, to support payer or reimbursement submissions. 

This Director, Team Lead role reports to the Head of CODE and serves as a member of CODE Leadership Team.

The ideal candidate will manage a team of RWE Data Scientists, ensuring end-to-end delivering of RWE studies withaccuracy, timeliness and innovation. He or she will bring a proven track record of delivering value through the utilization of routinely collected data from healthcare settings, providing health analytics and insights in various contexts, including Public Health, Pharmaceutical Research and Development, and Commercial/Payer sectors.They will collaborate with colleagues in Oncology Outcomes Research, and Statistics to provide scientific and technical guidance on study design, real-world (RW) data selection, and best practices in RW data utilization. This role will define the vision and drive the development and growth of our suite of Generative AI /Agentic AI capabilities.

Leadership Capabilities

• People management & Talent Development: Commit to nurturing team’s growth and talent development.

• Collaborative Spirit: Build bridges across boundaries for superior business outcomes.

• Performance Excellence: Foster an environment where excellence thrives and achievement is recognized.

• Technical Leadership: Provide expert guidance for team members in coding, data science methodologies, and analytical frameworks to ensure reliable and innovative deliverables.

• Scientific know-how: Significant understanding of RWD, analytics, research methodologies and Gen AI capabilities.

Typical Accountabilities

• Collaborate with Oncology Outcomes Research and biometrics teams to maximize the value derived from a variety of real-world data sources, including EMR, claims, and primary observational data.

• Provide clear technical input, options, and direction toRWD analysis and utilization supporting RWE and insights generation. 

• Support stakeholders within Medical Affairs in providing access to analytical tools and developing visual analytics to enable self-serving applications for end customers.

• Manage and develop multiple AI and analytical tools, driving innovation and analytic efficiency 

• Provide technical leadership and frame, deliver, and deploy full-scale AI initiatives

• Maintain a strong insight into the capabilities of in-house RWD to facilitate data source selection for RWE and insights generation.Help build a capability that becomes a source of sustained competitive advantage for AstraZeneca in identifying, acquiring, integrating, and mining diverse RW data from multiple geographic and healthcare system sources to support evidence generation and real-world studies.

Minimum Qualifications:

• PhD or MS in data science, epidemiology,statistics,AI engineering, computer science, or related fieldsuch as Health Informatics.

• Minimum of 3years of people management experience, ideally in the fields of RWE/Epidemiology, Analytics, or Data Science.

• Minimum of 2years’ hands-on experience in AI/data science roles, preferably within the pharmaceutical, biomedical, or healthcare sectors 

• Experience in real-world evidence and familiarity with health economics, epidemiology, observational study methodologies, and quantitative sciences such as health outcome modeling.

• Expertise in EMR/Health IT, disease registries, and insurance claims databases.

• Experience in Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) generation and execution for observational studies.

• Experience with statistical modeling, hypothesis testing, and experimental design to validate algorithms and methods 

• Demonstrated track record of building and deploying AI models in real-world healthcare or pharmaceutical applications

• Expertise in data analysis, data mining, data visualization, methods development and application using statistical languages such as Python, R, SAS, or SQL.

• Expertise in advanced visualization platform and visual analytics development, such as Power BI and R Shiny.

• Strong expertise in using ML/AI and Generative AI in the evidence generation space (e.g., coding, reporting, visualization, advanced modeling). Expert proficiency in AI coding assistant tools (e.g., Github Copilot).

• Experience with Agentic AI and workflow; Experience with AI-based software and web application development in pharmaceutical, biomedical, or healthcare sectors. Experience in common framework for building LLM-powered applications 

Desirable Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to build long-term relationships with stakeholders, understanding relevant scientific and business challenges at a deep level and translating those into a program of analytics activities that deliver defined value.

• Strong leadership building or growing teams with innovative analytics and data science capabilities

• Experience with MLOps tools and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).

• Proficiency in using data science libraries (e.g., PyTorch, pandas, and NumPy )

• Fluency with RWD assets,data systems, technology platforms, and integrations to inform strategic product decisions.

• Build and manage high-performing teams of data scientists, AI engineers, and software engineers to execute large-scale transformative projects

• Expertise in clinical data standards, medical terminologies, and controlled vocabularies used in healthcare data and ontologies (ICD-9/10, NDC, HCPCS).

• Experience in supporting pharmacoepidemiology studies with a proven track record of advancing approaches with data science.

• Expertise in data mining approaches within healthcare settings to generate insights from routinely collected healthcare data.

• Ability to lead and manage multi-disciplinary data science projects.

• Experience working in a global pharmaceutical organization and delivering global solutions.

Why AstraZeneca?

At AstraZeneca we’re dedicated to being a Great Place to Work. Where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to medicine, patients and society. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration, and always committed to lifelong learning, growth and development. We’re on an exciting journey to pioneer the future of healthcare.

So, what’s next? 

Are you already imagining yourself joining our team? Good, because we can’t wait to hear from you!

The annual base pay (or hourly rate of compensation) for this position ranges from $179,172.80 - $268,759.20 USD Annual. Hourly and salaried non-exempt employees will also be paid overtime pay when working qualifying overtime hours. Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition, our positions offer a short-term incentive bonus opportunity; eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program (salaried roles), to receive a retirement contribution (hourly roles), and commission payment eligibility (sales roles). Benefits offered included a qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]; paid vacation and holidays; paid leaves; and, health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans. Additional 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 pay (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.