Senior Director, External Science Engagement & Strategy - Cell Therapy

Introduction to Role

The Cell Therapy Partnerships & Strategy team brings together experts working at the forefront of clinical development to help shape AstraZeneca’s next generation of cell therapy innovation. By engaging critical external stakeholders, integrating leading scientific perspectives, and connecting external expertise with our research and development priorities, we accelerate meaningful progress across the portfolio.

As the Senior Director, External Science Engagement & Strategy - Cell Therapy you will lead the development and execution of external scientific engagement, strategic partnership, Externally Sponsored Collaborative Research, and medical congress strategies across AstraZeneca’s cell therapy portfolio. You will cultivate academic and scientific collaborations that accelerate clinical trial delivery, generate actionable insights, and strengthen AstraZeneca’s leadership within the evolving cell therapy ecosystem.

Operating at the intersection of strategy and execution, you will translate R&D priorities into coordinated, insight-led engagement plans with clear objectives, measurable outcomes, and robust governance. You will collaborate across Clinical Development, Translational Science, Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Clinical Operations, and other enterprise functions to connect external perspectives with decisions that advance our programs and benefit patients.

Why This Role

This is an opportunity to shape how AstraZeneca engages with leading scientists, investigators, academic institutions, professional societies, and cell therapy centers across hematology, autoimmune diseases, rare diseases, and neurology.

You will influence scientific and clinical development strategy through External Scientific Panels, Cell Therapy Science Committees, academic collaborations, Investigator-Initiated Trials, strategic-site partnerships, and priority medical congresses. Your work will help translate emerging science and external insight into stronger study designs, evidence-generation plans, operational improvements, and portfolio decisions.

Accountabilities

External Scientific Expert Panels and Academic Partnerships

• Contribute to an integrated external scientific engagement and partnership strategy aligned with Cell Therapy Enterprise R&D priorities across hematology, autoimmune diseases, rare diseases, and neurology.
• Design and lead External Scientific Panels (ESPs), Cell Therapy Science Committees, advisory engagements, and other scientific forums that address clearly defined program- and portfolio-level questions.
• Identify, cultivate, and manage strategic relationships with Key External Experts, academic institutions, professional societies, investigators, and leading cell therapy centers.
• Partner with Clinical Development and cross-functional teams to define engagement objectives, identify appropriate experts, and develop scientific agendas, briefing materials, and follow-up plans.
• Leverage external expertise to inform development strategy, study design, patient populations, clinical endpoints, safety management, evidence generation, and the operational delivery of early- and late-stage cell therapy programs.
• Establish a coordinated approach to expert engagement across the portfolio that reduces duplication, strengthens continuity, and maximizes the strategic value of each interaction.
• Serve as the primary AstraZeneca point of contact for select external experts and strategic partners, establishing clear governance, facilitating issue resolution, and supporting effective collaboration.
• Establish measurable objectives for external engagements and partnerships and track their influence on strategic decisions, clinical development plans, and trial delivery.
• Facilitate clear communication and information sharing across Cell Therapy Enterprise programs.

External Science Engagement and Congress Strategy

• Lead the strategic planning, execution, and follow-up of priority medical congresses and external scientific engagements relevant to the Cell Therapy Enterprise portfolio.
• Develop integrated, portfolio-level strategies for Tier 1 and Tier 2 congresses, including ASH, ACR Convergence, ASCO, EHA, ESMO, AANEM, ASTCT, and other strategically important scientific forums.
• Define priority stakeholders, scientific objectives, engagement plans, key activities, governance, and expected outcomes for each congress or external forum.
• Serve as the Cell Therapy Enterprise lead for priority congresses, partnering across R&D, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, and global functions to deliver a coordinated and impactful AstraZeneca scientific presence.
• Lead cross-functional congress planning forums and oversee congress playbooks, briefing materials, leadership communications, stakeholder meeting plans, and execution resources.
• Coordinate the deployment of AstraZeneca subject-matter experts and scientific capabilities to advance scientific dialogue and capture competitive, clinical, and emerging scientific insights.
• Identify opportunities to improve coordination, reduce duplication, and increase the scientific and strategic value of external engagements.
• Ensure insights, decisions, and follow-up actions are documented, communicated, and translated into clear strategic recommendations.
• Define and monitor measures of success for priority congresses and use outcomes and insights to strengthen future engagement strategies.

Cell Therapy Site and Stakeholder Relationships

• Build and maintain strategic relationships with AstraZeneca Cell Therapy Strategic Partnership sites, investigators, institutional leaders, clinical site teams, research institutions, and other stakeholders across the R&D ecosystem.
• Develop stakeholder maps and segmentation frameworks that identify priority relationships and define the appropriate engagement objectives, timing, channels, and internal ownership.
• Partner with Clinical Development and study-delivery teams to identify site-level opportunities and barriers, strengthen investigator engagement, and support efficient clinical trial activation and execution.
• Leverage Cell Therapy Strategic Partnerships to address site-level barriers and generate actionable scientific and operational insights across early- and late-stage programs.
• Connect institutional capabilities and external scientific interests with AstraZeneca’s portfolio priorities to create high-value, mutually beneficial collaborations.
• Represent AstraZeneca at scientific congresses, academic forums, strategic partnership meetings, and relevant industry events to strengthen the company’s visibility and credibility within the cell therapy ecosystem.

Externally Sponsored Collaborative Research

• Support the evaluation and advancement of Externally Sponsored Collaborative Research (ESCR) proposals, including Investigator-Initiated Trials (IITs), from concept submission and scientific review through contracting, execution, and dissemination of results.
• Partner with external investigators and internal subject-matter experts to assess proposals for scientific merit, strategic alignment, operational feasibility, readiness, potential portfolio impact, and the ability to address priority evidence gaps.
• Serve as a key liaison between external investigator-sponsors and internal review and governance committees throughout the ESCR lifecycle.
• Coordinate cross-functional proposal reviews with Clinical Development, Translational Science, Regulatory, Safety, Clinical Operations, Legal, Compliance, Contracts, and other relevant functions.
• Prepare proposal summaries, strategic assessments, and recommendations for governance review, ensuring decisions and follow-up actions are clearly documented and communicated.
• Maintain oversight of the ESCR portfolio by tracking proposal status, governance decisions, contracting milestones, study progress, risks, deliverables, outcomes, and dissemination of results.
• Proactively identify externally sponsored research opportunities that complement AstraZeneca-sponsored development plans and advance scientific understanding of the cell therapy portfolio.
• Ensure ESCR activities align with AstraZeneca policies, governance requirements, contractual obligations, and applicable legal, regulatory, and compliance standards.
• Evaluate and communicate how emerging data and research insights may inform clinical development, evidence-generation, and portfolio strategy.

Insight Generation and Strategic Impact

• Lead the systematic capture, synthesis, and communication of actionable insights from External Scientific Panels and contribute insights from academic partnerships, congresses, investigators, and strategic sites.
• Translate external perspectives, competitive intelligence, and emerging scientific developments into clear implications and recommendations for cell therapy programs, portfolio priorities, clinical development, and evidence-generation strategies.
• Establish mechanisms to track how external insights influence program decisions, study designs, operational execution, and broader portfolio priorities.
• Provide concise, decision-oriented updates to senior leaders and cross-functional governance teams, highlighting emerging risks, strategic opportunities, key insights, and recommended actions.
• Define and monitor performance measures for external engagements and partnerships, including engagement quality, insight generation, action completion, contribution to strategic decisions, and impact on clinical trial delivery.

Budget Management, Governance, and Compliance

• Ensure external scientific engagements, partnerships, and congress activities are planned and executed in accordance with AstraZeneca policies, applicable laws, regulations, governance requirements, and industry standards.
• Partner with project managers and R&D leadership to support budget planning, tracking, and resource allocation for Cell Therapy external engagement activities.
• Monitor expenditures, forecasts, risks, and resource requirements.
• Provide timely updates and recommendations to leadership that support informed decisions and delivery within approved budgets.

Essential Skills/Experience

• BS, MS, PhD, or advanced degree in Life Sciences, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biological Sciences, or a related scientific field with a minimum of 15 years experience
• Experience in strategy consulting, business intelligence, competitive intelligence, scientific strategy, or a related role.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize external scientific, clinical, competitive, and market insights into actionable recommendations that inform R&D, portfolio, and program decisions.
• Strong understanding of scientific engagement, strategic partnerships, external stakeholder management, or evidence-generation strategy.
• Experience building relationships with external scientific experts, investigators, academic institutions, clinical sites, professional societies, or comparable stakeholders.
• Strong organizational, project management, and business-planning skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and complex timelines.
• Ability to solve problems, make sound decisions, and navigate organizational complexity within a highly matrixed environment.
• Strong cross-functional leadership, strategic influencing, and relationship-management skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and executive communication skills.
• Ability to communicate complex scientific information clearly to scientific, clinical, operational, and senior leadership audiences.
• Proficiency in English and strong working knowledge of Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed to support medical congresses, site visits, scientific forums, and external partner engagements.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• Advanced degree, such as a PharmD, PhD, MD, NP, PA, or equivalent qualification.
• Experience in bioscience or life sciences strategy consulting, including strategy, competitive intelligence, or market access consulting.
• Experience in cell therapy, hematology, oncology, autoimmune diseases, rare diseases, neurology, or advanced therapies.
• Experience developing academic partnerships and managing External Scientific Panels, scientific advisory engagements, or comparable activities.
• Experience operating within a highly matrixed R&D environment.
• Working knowledge of FDA requirements, industry standards, and integrated evidence planning.
• Experience developing medical congress strategies or partnerships with professional societies or advocacy organizations.
• Familiarity with digital engagement, virtual platforms, and omnichannel scientific communication.
• Familiarity with Externally Sponsored Research or Externally Sponsored Collaborative Research governance and Investigator-Initiated Trial review, contracting, and execution processes.

Why AstraZeneca

Here, courage, curiosity, and collaboration fuel a relentless focus on transforming cancer outcomes, powered by a pipeline that fuses cutting-edge science with advanced technology. You will work in an environment where unexpected teams come together to spark bold ideas, backed by meaningful investment and a clear path from discovery to impact. We value kindness alongside ambition, and we empower leaders at every level to ask sharp questions, take smart risks, and turn data into decisions that help patients sooner.

Compensation & Benefits

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $233,586.40 - $350,379.60. Our positions offer eligibility for various incentives—an opportunity to receive short-term incentive bonuses, equity-based awards for salaried roles and commissions for sales roles. Benefits offered include qualified retirement programs, paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves), as well as health, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms of the applicable plans.

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.

Date Posted

Closing Date

Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.