Global Head of External Healthcare and Scientific leadership

AstraZeneca’s BioPharmaceuticals Business Unit (BBU) is at the forefront of transforming patient outcomes across key therapy areas, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism (CVRM) and Respiratory & Immunology (R&I). Driven by science and innovation, we work to deliver life-changing medicines that address some of the most pressing health challenges globally, playing a meaningful role in achieving AstraZeneca’s Bold Ambition for 2030—to pioneer science, lead in our disease areas, and improve millions of lives.

Our teams combine deep scientific expertise with a patient-centric approach, ensuring that every breakthrough is meaningful and impactful, while fostering a collaborative, inclusive culture that values curiosity, agility, and lifelong learning.

The  Head of External Healthcare and Scientific leadership leads AstraZeneca’s external environment-shaping agenda across priority disease areas, positioning the company as a scientific and disease-area leader within the external healthcare ecosystem. The role is responsible for moving beyond traditional stakeholder engagement to build a strategic, outcome-led capability that helps shape the scientific agenda, influences evidence and guideline evolution, mobilizes high-value external partners, and translates insight and partnerships into measurable external impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy and leadership : Lead the external scientific engagement strategy across priority disease areas, with focus on disease leadership, environment shaping, and measurable outcomes.

• Scientific agenda : Shapes the scientific agenda in partnership with TA leadership, Medical, and R&D , identifying emerging themes, evidence gaps, and future care priorities to inform strategic decisions.

• Stakeholder management : Build and lead a deliberate strategy across key experts, societies, policymakers, healthcare leaders, centres of excellence, trialists, and emerging leaders, including early identification of future influencers across the external ecosystem.

• Environment shaping : Influence the external scientific and healthcare environment to support evidence generation, guideline evolution, implementation progress, and future standards of care.

• Partnerships : Develop and oversee strategic partnerships that deliver visible scientific, implementation, and health-system impact.

• Insight to action : Translate external insight into internal strategic action, advising evidence plans, launch strategy, congress priorities, partnership choices, and medical priorities.

• Cross-functional alignment : Integrate stakeholder strategy, congress presence, society engagement, and insight flow,  acting as the primary integration point between Global, US, China and Japan medical organisations to ensure aligned external engagement, stakeholder strategy and scientific positioning.

• Execution and governance : Drive alignment, execution, and governance across a complex matrix environment, ensuring delivery against strategic priorities and measurable outcomes.

• External representation : Represent AstraZeneca externally with credibility and influence in relevant scientific and healthcare forums.

• People leadership : Lead and develop the team to build a high-performing external scientific engagement capability.

Experience, Qualifications and Skills

Essential

• Qualifications :  MD, PharmD, PhD, MPH, MBA , or other relevant postgraduate qualification.

• Experience: 10+ years in the pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, or related sector, with strong background in medical affairs, scientific strategy, external affairs, evidence, market access, policy, healthcare systems, or strategic marketing.

• Stakeholder management : Significant experience engaging, influencing, and building credibility with external scientific and healthcare partners, including key experts, societies, policymakers, healthcare leaders, centres of excellence, trialists, and emerging leaders, with a proven ability to develop strategic stakeholder plans that drive scientific leadership, partnership opportunities, and measurable external impact.

• Partnership management and shaping : Experience developing and managing strategic partnerships with clear objectives and measurable outcomes across healthcare sector

• Knowledge : Strong understanding of clinical evidence, evidence gaps, guideline development, and healthcare adoption dynamics.

Desirable

• Therapy area expertise : Deep expertise in  CVRM ,  R&I , or another priority therapeutic area.

• Additional experience : Experience in pre-launch or launch strategy, guideline shaping, implementation science, HEOR, RWE, or healthcare transformation.

• External network : Established relationships with scientific societies, guideline bodies, centres of excellence, or policy influencers.

Leadership Behaviours

The role requires critical thinking, scientific credibility, strong external influence, partnership development, cross-functional leadership, enterprise perspective, sound judgment, resilience, diplomacy, and strong execution focus.

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.

If this role sparks your interest and you are ready to help shape the future of healthcare, apply now to join AstraZeneca’s journey of turning science into real impact for patients.

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $ 282,046.40 - 423,069.60 Annual USD . 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. Benefits offered include 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.

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.