WHY JOIN US?
At AstraZeneca, we are dedicated to being a Great Place to Work, where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit. With an ambitious goal of delivering 20 new medicines by 2030, there is no better place to make a difference in medicine, for patients, and in society.
Join us on this exciting journey to pioneer the future of healthcare. Our inclusive culture champions diversity and collaboration, and we are always committed to lifelong learning, growth, and development. As part of our team, you'll contribute to groundbreaking advancements that will shape a healthier future for people everywhere. Be a catalyst for change at AstraZeneca, where your work will have a real impact on improving people's lives.
Recognizing the importance of individualized flexibility, our ways of working allow employees to balance personal and work commitments while ensuring we continue to create a strong culture of collaboration and teamwork by engaging face-to-face in our offices 3 days a week . Our head office is purposely designed with collaboration in mind, providing space where teams can come together to strategize, brainstorm and connect on key projects.
About AISI
AstraZeneca AI for Science Innovation (AISI) is driving the convergence of artificial intelligence and life sciences at enterprise scale. AISI brings together data foundations, AI and machine-learning technology, strategic partnerships, process reinvention, and business-facing AI to accelerate drug discovery, development, and delivery. Success depends on connecting and scaling existing capabilities, promoting reuse, and translating innovation into measurable scientific, patient, and enterprise value.
The Opportunity
The Director, Portfolio Management will lead the design, governance, and continuous improvement of AISI's portfolio management capability across strategic initiatives, AI and data platforms, external partnerships, projects, suppliers, managed services, and operational investments. The role ensures that strategy is translated into an executable portfolio, investments and resources are directed to the highest-value opportunities, delivery performance is transparent, and financial and operational risk, and compliance governance are embedded throughout the portfolio lifecycle.
Operating at the intersection of AISI leadership, scientific and therapeutic-area stakeholders, Data Science, Engineering, Finance, Procurement, HR, and external partners, the Director will establish scalable ways of working, strengthen evidence-based decision-making, and deliver outcomes through cross-functional teams and managed-service providers. The role sits within AISI Operations and reports to the Head of AISI Operations.
Scope and Core Accountabilities
Portfolio Strategy, Planning, and Governance
•Translate AISI strategy and scientific priorities into an integrated portfolio of investments, initiatives, platforms, products, partnerships, and operational services.
•Establish and continuously improve demand intake, assessment, value-based prioritization, funding, resource allocation, stage-gate review, delivery assurance, and benefits-realization processes.
•Maintain an integrated portfolio view, identifying opportunities to stop, sequence, accelerate, consolidate, reuse, or scale initiatives as priorities and evidence evolve.
•Lead portfolio governance forums and provide clear executive reporting on investment, demand, delivery health, dependencies, risks, issues, decisions, capacity, financial performance, and expected value.
•Develop standardized dashboards and management information that enable timely, transparent, evidence-based decisions without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Financial and Investment Management
•Partner with Finance and senior leaders to manage long-term investment planning, business cases, budgets, forecasts, and Run and Change expenditure.
•Oversee forecast-versus-budget analysis, variance management, accruals, cross-charges, resource recharges, purchase orders, and supplier-related financial commitments.
•Ensure financial information is accurate, timely, transparent, and connected to portfolio priorities, delivery milestones, and benefits realization.
•Define and track financial and non-financial value measures, including scientific impact, speed, adoption, reuse, risk reduction, productivity, and enterprise scalability.
Operating Model and Process Excellence
•Design and evolve the portfolio operating model, decision rights, governance forums, escalation pathways, and RACI frameworks required to manage a complex, global portfolio.
•Drive standardization, simplification, automation, and continuous improvement across portfolio, project, financial, supplier, contracting, resource, onboarding, and service-management processes.
•Introduce fit-for-purpose Agile, Lean Portfolio Management, Design Thinking, incremental delivery, and hybrid governance practices where appropriate.
•Ensure processes are practical, adopted, and supported by reliable data and fit-for-purpose tools, including ServiceNow, Azure DevOps, and portfolio or financial-management platforms.
Partnership, Contracting, and Supplier Governance
•Provide end-to-end portfolio oversight of strategic alliances, AI and data partnerships, technology providers, suppliers, and managed services.
•Partner with Legal, Procurement, Finance, Privacy, Information Security, and technical leaders across the contracting lifecycle, from intake, due diligence, term-sheet development, and negotiation through execution, performance review, renewal, and exit.
•Implement supplier and partner governance through scorecards, service-level agreements, periodic business reviews, delivery-quality measures, commercial-health monitoring, risk mitigation, and value-for-money assessments.
•Ensure partner commitments, dependencies, milestones, financial obligations, and benefits are integrated into portfolio planning and reporting.
Resource and Capacity Management
•Lead resource and capacity-management practices across projects, products, platforms, partnerships, and operational services.
•Oversee workforce planning, allocation, utilization, people recharges, onboarding, and prioritization of scarce scientific, AI, engineering, and portfolio-management capabilities.
•Work with functional leaders to identify capability gaps, resolve constraints, improve onboarding, and align internal and external capacity with strategic priorities.
Risk, Compliance, and Delivery Assurance
•Establish portfolio-level approaches to risk, issue, dependency, assumption, and decision management, ensuring material concerns are identified early, escalated appropriately, and managed through resolution.
•Provide oversight of scope, schedule, cost, quality, benefits, adoption, operational readiness, and delivery performance across the portfolio.
•Ensure portfolio activities and external arrangements comply with relevant pharmaceutical and technology requirements, including data governance, GDPR and privacy, information security, intellectual property, procurement, ethical, quality, and regulatory frameworks.
•Anticipate and manage delivery underperformance, supplier failure, commercial disputes, IP complexity, changing priorities, financial pressure, data and technology dependencies, and regulatory constraints.
Stakeholder Engagement and Change Enablement
•Build trusted relationships with AISI and Enterprise AI leaders, therapeutic and scientific areas, Data Science, Engineering, Finance, Procurement, Legal, HR, Operations, and external partners.
•Facilitate alignment on priorities, investment choices, delivery expectations, trade-offs, and accountabilities across a global matrix organization.
•Communicate complex portfolio, financial, commercial, and delivery matters clearly to senior leaders and diverse stakeholder groups.
•Champion adoption of portfolio standards, transparent governance, and collaborative delivery while preserving the speed and experimentation required for AI innovation.
Leadership
•Lead and develop high-performing portfolio management, governance, and business-operations capabilities, directly and through matrix teams and managed-service providers.
•Create a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer focus, continuous improvement, reuse, and measurable value delivery.
•Set clear standards and build scalable capabilities from the ground up, enabling consistent ways of working across functions and geographies.
•Contribute to AISI functional strategy and operating model evolution as the organization, technology landscape, and partnership ecosystem mature.
Qualifications and Experience
Essential
•Bachelor's degree in business, technology, finance, life sciences, project management, law, data science, or a related discipline; a Master's degree or equivalent extensive professional experience is preferred.
•10 years of progressive experience across portfolio management, program or project management, business operations, financial management, alliance or partnership management, supplier governance, contracting, or a related discipline in a complex global organization.
•Demonstrated experience leading portfolio management and process-transformation initiatives, including demand intake, value-based prioritization, governance, investment planning, resource allocation, delivery assurance, and benefits realization.
•Strong financial acumen, including business-case development, long-term planning, investment tracking, forecasting, budget management, accruals, variance analysis, cross-charges, purchase orders, and resource recharges.
•Experience managing suppliers, strategic partners, external collaborations, or managed services, including contracts, service levels, performance, commercial risk, value for money, and issue resolution.
•Experience designing and implementing operating models, decision rights, governance forums, processes, RACI frameworks, dashboards, and management information.
•Proven success influencing senior leaders and delivering through cross-functional teams, matrix structures, third parties, and managed-service providers.
•Ability to operate with limited direction in ambiguous, fast-moving environments and make sound decisions that balance scientific and strategic value, risk, cost, capacity, compliance, and delivery feasibility.
•Exceptional written, verbal, influencing, relationship management, and organizational skills.
Desirable
•Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, life sciences, or another highly regulated technology environment.
•Working knowledge of AI and machine-learning ecosystems, data partnerships, cloud platforms, digital products, technology platforms, and platform-based delivery models.
•Understanding of pharmaceutical research and development and how AI, data, platforms, and external partnerships create scientific and competitive advantage.
•Experience establishing or scaling portfolio management, alliance management, PMO, or business-operations function.
•Experience with Agile, Scrum, SAFe, Lean Portfolio Management, Waterfall, Design Thinking, or hybrid delivery approaches.
•Experience with ServiceNow, Azure DevOps, and comparable portfolio, project, financial, procurement, or service-management tools.
•Knowledge of data governance, privacy, information security, intellectual property, quality, regulatory compliance, and IT risk management.
•Professional qualifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, MSP, Scrum, SAFe, or equivalent portfolio, program, commercial, or supplier-management credentials.
Leadership Capabilities
•Strategic thinking: Connects scientific and enterprise strategy to investment choices, delivery priorities, and measurable value.
•Enterprise perspective: Optimizes across the portfolio, promotes reuse and scalability, and avoids isolated solutions.
•Ex