Associate Director, Pharma - Incentives and Awards

Associate Director, Incentives and Awards

Location: Wilmington, DE – remote option is not available for this role.

Reports to: Director, Incentives and Awards

At AstraZeneca we play a critical role in making our pipeline accessible to patients.

What sets us apart here is being a research-driven enterprise, it means there’s always something new to be working on; new indications and securing access for new medicines to reach even more patients in need.

It’s our knowledge of patients, fused with our forward-looking mindset and innovations, that helps us to spot opportunities, get involved earlier and approach access sustainably.

As partners across the enterprise, our advice helps to inform and shape strategies across varied functions and levels. It’s through our strong negotiation and storytelling abilities that we connect the entire enterprise and beyond, reaching payer and government.

A unique blend of autonomy and collaboration – the complex nature of what we do means we have to be willing to run independently and without hesitation, whilst combining expertise from across the business.

If you enjoy challenging the way things are done, this is the place for you – we are always finding new ways to explore and innovate, to assess and steer the role we play in the healthcare ecosystem.

About the role

The Associate Director, Incentives and Awards will support the strategy, execution, governance, and continuous improvement of field incentive compensation and commercial awards across the BBU portfolio. Reporting to the Director, Incentives and Awards , this role will help translate commercial priorities into clear, compliant, motivating incentive and recognition programs that strengthen field focus, improve payout transparency, and support better business decision-making.

This is an opportunity for a growing commercial operations or incentive compensation professional to build depth in a high-impact function while gaining exposure to senior stakeholders, governance forums, analytics, awards, vendor management, and transformation work. The role is designed for someone early in their incentives career with strong potential, as well as a more tenured professional who is close to Director readiness and wants broader enterprise experience under the oversight of the Director.

LOCATION : This position is an onsite position in our Wilmington, DE offices. AstraZeneca follows a hybrid working model, with employees expected to be onsite at least three days per week in their assigned location. Candidates must possess the legal right to work in the relevant country. Remote work is not offered.

Key objectives

• Support the execution and continuous improvement of field incentive compensation programs, including annual plans, special incentive plans, performance tracking, payout analysis, communications, and awards processes.
• Work under the oversight of the Director to translate commercial strategy into incentive and recognition programs that support compliant field focus, launch and lifecycle priorities, territory dynamics, and account-based selling complexity.
• Develop clear analytics and recommendations by assessing sales performance, payout trends, plan effectiveness, data quality, and budget implications.
• Partner with Sales, Commercial Excellence, Finance, HR, Legal, Compliance, Analytics, vendors, and field leaders to resolve questions, support governance decisions, and improve stakeholder experience.
• Support Incentive Compensation Governance Committee preparation, including issue documentation, exception tracking, decision support, action follow-up, and audit-ready records.
• Contribute to Circle of Excellence and related awards programs by supporting eligibility review, stakeholder alignment, communications, vendor coordination, and compliant execution.
• Help modernize the function by simplifying processes, improving manager and field communications, strengthening reporting, identifying automation opportunities, and building scalable ways of working.

Essential qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• 3+ years of experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, consulting, or a related commercial environment, including exposure to at least one of the following areas: Sales Operations, Commercial Excellence, Field Operations, Incentive Compensation, Finance, Analytics, or a comparable commercial function.
• Experience supporting incentive compensation, sales operations, commercial analytics, finance, or field operations workstreams, including planning, implementation, performance tracking, payout analysis, reporting, or field-facing processes.
• Ability to analyze performance data, identify trends, assess business implications, and summarize findings into clear recommendations for manager or leadership review.
• Experience partnering cross-functionally with at least two stakeholder groups, such as Sales, Marketing, Commercial Excellence, Finance, HR, Legal, Compliance, Analytics, or vendors.
• Strong communication, organization, attention to detail, problem-solving, and follow-through skills, with the ability to manage deadlines in a regulated business environment.

Preferred qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, consulting, or a related commercial environment, with direct exposure to incentive compensation, sales operations, commercial analytics, field operations, or finance.
• Experience supporting annual incentive planning, special incentive plans, sales crediting, payout modeling, dispute or exception processes, governance materials, or field communications.
• Experience with rare diseases, specialty care, account-based selling, market access, or other complex commercial structures.
• Experience with incentive systems, dashboards, analytics platforms, process automation, vendor coordination, sales awards, or Circle of Excellence programs.
• Demonstrated readiness to grow toward Director-level accountability through ownership of workstreams, stakeholder influence, analytical judgment, and continuous improvement leadership.

Ready to Apply?

Advance your career in a role that builds deep commercial incentives expertise, expands enterprise exposure, and prepares you to take on broader leadership in a world class science and manufacturing organization.

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.