Head of Clinical Data Science — Vaccines & Immune Therapies (V&I)

At AstraZeneca, this is where bold science meetsrealworld impact. In Vaccines & Immune Therapies, we turncuttingedgeideas into transformative medicines for some of the world’s most complex diseases.We directlyimpactthe lives of populations around the world, by turning our ambition to prevent disease intoa reality. With an agile mindset and the strength of a global brand, wechallengeand change how things are done.

We’rebuilding anorganisationthat resets expectations of what a biopharmaceutical company can be—opening new ways to work, pioneering novel methods, and bringing unexpected teams together.

Our Clinical Data Science team partners directly with clinical, biometrics and science teamsacrossresearch anddevelopment. We apply machine learning,large language models,predictivemodellingand advancedvisualisationsto acceleratedevelopment end to end. Now,we’relooking for aHead of Data Scienceto lead this team and the TherapeuticAreadata sciencestrategy.

Accountabilities: 

AsHead ofData Science for V&I, you will define the data sciencestrategy for the TA and lead delivery of ahighimpact portfolio spanning clinical and operational/business data. You will set direction, inspire and develop a team of data scientists, and act as the TA’s senior spokesperson for data science—advising leaders, shaping investments, and ensuring our work translates into clear, actionable insights for the business and for patients.

You will cultivate strong partnerships acrossResearch & Development, IT,Medicaland Commercialas well as other data science groups, and manage external collaborations with vendors and academic partners.You’llalso champion scientificaccuracyand software engineering best practices to ensure robust, reproducible, and scalable delivery.

Whatyou’lldo

• Set the TA strategy: Define and deliver the V&I data science strategy across clinical and operational/business domains, aligning to TA goals and strategy.

• Grow impact and pipeline:Identifyandprioritisenew applications of data science in V&I; translate business problems into analytics questions and deliver solutions that inform decisions and predict outcomes.

• Lead a highperforming team: Line manage and provide inspirational leadership to data scientists at varied career stages; cultivate an inclusive,learningorientedculture.

• Be the TA’s data science voice: Serve as key expert and spokesperson; advise senior stakeholders on innovative analytics, generative AI, and related technologies, clearly communicating insights, uncertainty, and limitations.

• Elevate standards: Drive adoption of best practices in model development,MLOps, validation, documentation, and data governance; define and implementTAspecifictraining.

• Partner and influence: Build effective collaborations across internal data science groups; shape and manage external partnerships and vendors to deliver value at speed and scale.

• Steer investments: Influence budgets and resourcing tomaximiseportfolio outcomes; contribute to and lead strategic initiatives across the TA.

• Represent the function: Share AZ’s work at internal forums and external conferences, strengthening our scientific presence.

Essentialrequirements

• PhD or MSc in a relevant discipline (e.g., statistics, computer science, mathematics, engineering, physics) or equivalent experience.

• Proven data science leadership with endtoend delivery: data collection and preprocessing, modelling for business and clinical problems, anddecisionorienteddatavisualisation.

• Significant experiencein drawing conclusions from analysis and presenting analysis results in a succinct fashion to senior stakeholders, along with recommended actions

• Knowledge of data analytic and visualization tools such as R, Python, Spotfire or Tableau.

• Experience working with database systems (egSQL, NoSQL, graph)

• Proven experience in leading and managing colleagues

• Experience in influencing and controlling budgets

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Desirablerequirements

• Master’s degree ina quantitative fieldsuch as mathematics, computer science, engineering, physics, statistics, or economics.

• Life sciences or healthcare experience, especially within clinical development or biometrics.

• Experienceoperatingin highperformance computing or cloud environments.

• Success in a complex, global organisation.

• Experience in data mining, machine learning,large languagemodelsand/or operations research; strong fundamentals in statistics and algebra.

• Demonstrated problemsolving aptitude and bias to action.
  

Why AstraZeneca