Assoc Dir, Financial Analysis and Evaluation

The Associate Director Financial Analysis and Evaluation plays an instrumental role in providing financial analytical and organizational support to the Alexion Pharmaceutical International Operations (APIO) and AstraZeneca Ireland Limited (AZIL) entities. Reporting to the VP Finance in Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Disease (Alexion), this role is to support Alexion Ireland’s strategic and financial decision making to maximize value creation in the Irish entities. You will build strong partnerships with senior leaders and their teams, particularly the Alexion Chief Financial Officer (CFAO), Head of Global Marketing & Market Access (GMMA), and Head of Business Development, to help drive financial consistency and robustness of internal and external enterprise investment decisions.

You must be an entrepreneurial self-starter. Key accountabilities include, but not limited to:

• Define standards for business cases, particularly as it relates to analysis of financial matters and value.

• Offer impartial evaluation and analysis and financial perspectives on business cases and business planning processes (where relevant) to help executive decisions for APIO & AZIL.

• Assist the VP Finance with prioritization of business-critical projects/initiatives and provide project leadership and management from start to finish.

• Drive meeting agendas and accountability, coordinating and facilitating team meetings, production of presentations for team meetings, as necessary.

Especially critical is providing robust financial analysis and the ability to communicate effectively with senior leaders and their teams, executive committees, and APIO/AZIL Board members.

Job Duties & Responsibilities include but not limited to:

• Collaboratively with business leads across Alexion, establish standards for business cases to support executive decision making in order to ensure business leaders are building robust business cases and accurately describe actual or projected financial outcomes and ensure tracking measures are appropriate to business reporting needs.

• Provide independent evaluation and quality control of financials, budgets, and valuations in business cases being presented to Alexion or AstraZeneca investment decision committees and boards (APIO and AZIL) or leadership committees.

• Work with the GMMA team and finance partners to support the development of business cases where needed across commercial, business development, and early- and late- stage investments and analysis of such business cases to advise executive decision-making in Alexion.

• Work with CFO and his team to evaluate business cases presented to Alexion leadership and the APIO and AZIL boards, ensuring robust financial analysis of business cases, and provide recommendations to senior leaders on investment and business decisions.

• Work with Alexion Operations and Commercial organizations and their finance partners as necessary to provide financial insight and overall support for business cases related to operations and commercials investments.

• Assist in developing the priorities and goals of the VP Finance related to value creation in Ireland and for Alexion. Ensures agendas are consistent with priorities and focused on strategic needs.

• In collaboration with Global Government Affairs, as needed, monitor and advise Alexion on the evolving financial global political landscape.

• Support monitoring of metrics for key approved investment decisions and business projects and ensure that key updates, timelines, and financial and other metrics are reported to the APIO and AZIL board, VP Finance, and Alexion CEO.

• Assist in implementing initiatives to build core capabilities within and across the organization and lead initiatives to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness within the VP Finance accountabilities and with cross-functional enterprise partners.

• Provide strategic advice related the Operations area of the business, including advising on maximizing the overall financial position and value of the Irish entities.

• Support in creating content and presentations for internal and external purposes.

Essential Criteria

• Top performer with an ability to execute targeted actions in a timely, goal-oriented manner. Passion for solving complex problems and building organizational efficiency and capability.

• Business acumen: ability to rapidly identify and prioritize key business issues, key stakeholders and understand the complex challenges of a large global organization. Highly analytical and comfortable around numbers - must hold a degree in finance or accounting and have experience with finance/forecasting, FP&A or Finance Project Management. Must have the ability to interpret a P&L.

• Communication clarity: synthesize complex business issues to communicate (written and verbal) succinctly and formulate recommendations and actions plans (particularly in relation to contributing to the development of business cases to support executive decision making).

• Organizational agility: Proven track record of gaining credibility quickly with leaders across all parts of an organization, including executive management.

• Analytical Skills: Sold analytical and problem-solving skills to make recommendations and more importantly implement and track outcomes of business decisions.

• Resilience: Self-motivated, builds trust easily, operates with integrity and ethics, thrives in diverse environments with high levels of ambiguity. Comfortable working in a high growth, constantly changing environment. Comfortable in assisting with both administrative and more complex tasks.

• Diligence: strong organizational and project management skills.

• Minimum 5 years’ experience, working in a fast-paced environment (e.g. management consultancy, accountancy, investment, or large corporate strategy or FP&A environment)

Preferred Qualifications

• Business/Finance/Accounting Degree
• Project Management Experience a plus
• Cross-functional experience

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.