Associate Director of Business Strategy, US Commercial at AstraZeneca in Boston, Massachusetts

Job Description:

This is what you will do:



This role will be a critical member of the US organization which in the coming years has ambition to launch several new products across new indications. The external environment is evolving to be more complex across multiple dimensions (e.g., competition, customer consolidations, healthcare system evolution, digitalization, use of data for decision-making). This role on the US team will help drive the build out of new capabilities (people), infrastructure (process), and governance (execution).


Reporting to the Senior Director, Head of Business Strategy & Governance, US Commercial, the Associate Director, Business Strategy & Launch Partner(s) will be a part of a team that will play a pivotal role in the Rare Disease Business Unit (RD BU), working with diverse stakeholders across the organization leading key business and commercial projects.


Qualified candidates will be expected to appropriately prioritize all on-going and planned activities and represent the team at senior level meetings by providing critical information needed for management to make informed decisions. This role is multi-faceted and dynamic, requiring candidates to have a diversified skillset including strong leadership, the ability to effectively collaborate, and an ability to engage in challenging conversations while maintaining a positive outcome.


The incumbent will leverage strong commercial experience along with outstanding business acumen, analytical ability, and project management skills to pro-actively lead and partner on the operationalization of strategic growth initiatives, key projects, and market expansion across the RD BU.



You will be responsible for:




Business Strategy & Commercial Effectiveness:

• Drive specific elements of the annual strategic planning cycles, including Brand Strategy, Short-term one-year plan, mid-term 3-year plan


• Drive and coordinate cross-functional strategic and functional initiatives and ensure implementation


• Craft and deliver senior level communications around strategic initiatives and related work


• Develop and leverage senior level relationships across functions for the purpose of aligning and ensuring execution


• Work with senior functional leaders to identify opportunities to increase both the effectiveness and efficiencies in organizational processes


• Partner with key functions to define the key capabilities that should be developed to achieve the long-term strategic plan

Launch Partner in support of anticipated multiple product / indication launches:

• Launch plan creation & coordination, Act as a Project Manager for US launches


• Drives partnership across US Business Units & Global launch teams to generate plans leveraging the Alexion launch model & product strategy


• Supports teams through the application of lessons learned and best practices propelling operational excellence


• Creates/consolidates dashboards, KPIs/metrics, and reports on launch planning progress across geographies & the portfolio and provide actionable insights & recommendations to achieve launch readiness at key milestones


• Is the "System Administrator" of the launch planning tool including managing ad hoc requests/support needs from teams on Smartsheet


• Performs onboarding training of Smartsheet

Competitive Readiness Partner

• Support teams and when required, act as a project manager for US competitive readiness activities


• Drive adoption and best practice sharing across the US organization for competitive readiness processes


• Participate and aid in facilitation of key competitive readiness workstreams and workshops

The incumbent may be asked to perform other function-related activities in addition to the above-mentioned responsibilities as reasonably required by business needs. Lastly, the incumbent will play a key role in building out the US Business Strategy & Governance team.



You will need to have:

• Bachelor's degree required in a relevant field


• 5+ years of commercial experience in the healthcare industry that may include Marketing, Project Management, Business Analytics, Business Development, Corporate Strategy and/or Financial Analysis, Consulting


• Demonstrated strong project management & communication skills


• Proficiency in Microsoft Office particularly in Excel and PPT


• The duties of this role are generally conducted in an office environment. As is typical of an office-based role, employees must be able, with or without an accommodation to: use a computer; engage in communications via phone, video, and electronic messaging; engage in problem solving and non-linear thought, analysis, and dialogue; collaborate with others; maintain general availability during standard business hours.

We would prefer for you to have:

• Advanced degree (Ph.D. or MBA or Masters)


• Business background or advanced quantitative discipline degree preferred


• 3+ years of healthcare consulting experience with a top-tier firm focused on strategy, operations and transformation topics for pharmaceutical companies


• Prior experience in rare diseases


• Experience with launching products


• Proficiency with Smartsheet
  
  
  
  

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. Apply Now