Lead, Forward-Deployed Data Science for Rare Diseases

Alexion-Pharmaceuticals-; Mississauga; Hybrid; CAD 116,000 - 152,000; Full time

Job summary

AstraZeneca in Mississauga, Ontario is seeking a Senior Manager, Forward Deployed Decision Scientist to lead analytics projects from problem definition to model deployment. You will collaborate with commercial teams to turn complex business questions into actionable insights while leveraging AI-enabled analytics and responsible data governance.

You will work with de-identified patient data under privacy and regulatory standards, applying advanced statistical methods, survival analysis and causal

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Biostatistics, Data Science, Econometrics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science or a related quantitative field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Strong experience in data science, applied statistics or quantitative analytics, with hands-on delivery of predictive models or advanced analytics solutions.
• Strong foundation in statistical modeling, machine learning, model validation and experimental design.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL, with experience using relevant statistical and machine learning libraries.
• Experience working with cloud-based data and analytics platforms such as Snowflake, AWS or Azure, or comparable technologies.
• Experience applying advanced analytics to complex business problems and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
• Ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Commitment to responsible analytics, data privacy and appropriate model governance.

Responsibilities

• Apply statistical methods, experimental design and regression techniques to solve commercial business problems and clearly communicate findings, uncertainty and limitations.
• Develop, validate and deploy predictive and machine learning models, using appropriate approaches for small samples and class imbalance.
• Apply survival analysis, forecasting and causal inference methods to areas such as adherence, patient journeys, demand planning and commercial effectiveness.
• Develop advanced analytics solutions across marketing mix optimization, next-best-action, patient identification, adherence and retention, segmentation and competitive intelligence.
• Use healthcare data sources, including claims, specialty pharmacy, CRM and other real-world datasets, to generate actionable insights.
• Translate model outputs into clear recommendations that enable better commercial decision-making.
• Use Snowflake Cortex AI and approved AI-assisted development tools to accelerate analytical development, feature engineering and prototyping.
• Critically evaluate AI-generated code and analytical outputs for statistical accuracy, reliability and appropriate application.
• Help develop evaluation approaches and guardrails that support responsible and effective use of AI in analytics.
• Work with de-identified patient-level data in accordance with applicable privacy, regulatory and organizational requirements.
• Apply model explainability, bias and fairness assessments, validation, monitoring and appropriate governance controls.
• Maintain clear documentation and auditability across analytical methods, models and recommendations.
• Lead assigned analytics projects, manage milestones and proactively identify risks and dependencies.
• Partner across Brand, Market Access, Patient Services, Field and other teams to understand business needs and translate analytics into action.
• Communicate complex analytical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Contribute to peer reviews, knowledge sharing and coaching across the team.

Skills

Python

SQL

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Statistics or related field

Tools

Snowflake

AWS

Azure

Power BI

Tableau

Job description

AstraZeneca in Mississauga, Ontario is seeking a Senior Manager, Forward Deployed Decision Scientist to lead analytics projects from problem definition to model deployment. You will collaborate with commercial teams to turn complex business questions into actionable insights while leveraging AI-enabled analytics and responsible data governance.

You will work with de-identified patient data under privacy and regulatory standards, applying advanced statistical methods, survival analysis and causal