Senior Director of IT Quality & Compliance

Senior Director of IT Quality & Compliance,

Location:  Macclesfield

Salary: Competitive

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven BioPharmaceutical business that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. 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 ambitious spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to patients, society and the planet.

As Senior Director, IT Quality & Compliance, you will play a vital role, working within the Strategy, Performance, and Quality team to safeguard our Licence to Operate. Your focus will be ensuring that our IT systems and services consistently meet the highest standards for quality and compliance—particularly with GxP, but also SOx and evolving regulatory requirements. You’ll lead a diverse, global team dedicated to sustaining operational excellence, driving a proactive compliance culture, and enabling AstraZeneca to remain at the forefront of change and innovation.

This is both an operationally accountable and forward-looking role. You will balance daily delivery with ongoing transformation and improvement, ensuring IT Quality & Compliance is a trusted business partner—enabling innovation while protecting patients, products, and AstraZeneca’s reputation.

Accountabilities:

GxP Compliance Excellence:
Lead the development, implementation, and ongoing improvement of our IT Quality Management System (QMS), ensuring GxP requirements are met or exceeded. Oversee inspection readiness and successful outcomes for regulatory audits and inspections.

SOx Programme Oversight:
Direct IT SOx compliance activities—covering management testing, remediation, and coordination for both external and internal audits—through a dedicated, specialist team.

Protect our Licence to Operate:
Sustain AstraZeneca’s readiness to meet all regulatory requirements, with GxP as the primary focus, ensuring a robust and compliant IT landscape at all times.

Global Leadership for Quality & Compliance:
Lead, inspire, and develop a team of approximately 65 professionals based in 10+ countries, creating a culture of operational rigor, inclusivity, high performance, and continuous learning.

Operational & Strategic Change:
Deliver daily compliance while proactively driving process improvements, digital adoption, and transformation that advances AstraZeneca’s strategic goals.

Stakeholder Engagement:
Represent IT quality and compliance to internal and external partners, including regulatory agencies, auditors, and executive stakeholders—acting as a credible expert and trusted advisor.

Culture & Capability Building:
Champion a resilient, values-driven team culture. Invest in developing people, building leadership succession, and ensuring lasting strength and adaptability across the global function.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Extensive experience leading global quality or compliance teams—preferably spanning multiple regions or time zones—in a highly regulated pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or life sciences environment.

• Deep, hands-on expertise with GxP regulatory frameworks (e.g., FDA, EMA, MHRA), including implementation and management of IT QMS and successful regulatory inspection outcomes.

• Demonstrated track record managing IT SOx/financial controls compliance programmes, including direct involvement in audit cycles and external auditor engagement.

• Operational accountability for sustaining compliance and licence to operate, alongside proven capability to deliver strategic change and transformation.

• Outstanding people leadership skills, including experience of matrix management, building international teams, and developing high-performing, inclusive cultures.

• Excellent communication, influencing, and collaboration skills, with the ability to operate effectively at all levels—internally and externally.

• Strong judgment and pragmatic decision-making in balancing compliance, quality, and business needs.

• Resilience, calm, and tenacity under pressure, with the capability to manage urgent compliance challenges alongside long-term strategic objectives.

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Experience leading digital transformation or significant change initiatives in quality or compliance functions.

• Additional professional qualifications (e.g., ISPE PCC, CPIP, ISACA CISM) are advantageous.

• Exposure to IT infrastructure or application development, and/or cross-functional leadership in technology-enabled settings.

When we bring together diverse teams, we spark bold thinking and the power to inspire life-changing medicine. Our hybrid working approach blends the benefits of in-person collaboration (a minimum average of three days per week in the office) with flexibility to support each individual’s way of working.

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That’s why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we’re not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

Why AstraZeneca?

Join us at a crucial stage of our journey in becoming a digital and data-led enterprise. Make the impossible possible by building partnerships and ecosystems, creating new ways of working and driving scale and speed to deliver exponential growth. Focused and committed, and backed with the investment to succeed, we're driving cross-company change to disrupt the entire industry. Be part of a team that has the backing to innovate, disrupt an industry and change lives. We're a network of entrepreneurial self-starters who contribute to something far bigger.

What is next?

Are you ready to make a difference? Apply today and join us in our mission to improve global public health!

We welcome your applications not later than 31st August 2025.

Where can I find out more?

Follow AstraZeneca on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/1603/

Follow AstraZeneca on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/astrazenecacareers/

Date Posted

04-Aug-2025

Closing Date

31-Aug-2025

Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.

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 authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.