Associate Director, Global Regulatory Policy and Intelligence

AstraZeneca plc; Spain; On-site; EUR 35,000 - 52,000; Part time

Job summary

AstraZeneca plc in Barcelona is seeking a Regulatory Policy & Intelligence professional to monitor legislation, translate changes into actions, and shape development and access strategies. The role involves collaborating with global and regional teams, engaging regulators and HTA bodies, and turning external developments into clear internal priorities.

You will connect policy signals to programme work across evidence generation, regulatory affairs, and market access, helping teams anticipate

Qualifications

• Degree in scientific, medical, regulatory, public policy, legal, healthcare, or related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Early-career experience, internship, placement, or demonstrable interest in regulatory affairs, regulatory intelligence, health policy, medicines development, or a related area.
• Ability to conduct structured research, assess information quality, and identify relevant facts and themes.
• Basic understanding of medicines development and the role of health authorities and regulatory agencies.

Responsibilities

• Monitor, analyse, and interpret emerging legislation, regulations, guidance, regulatory practices, health-system reforms, HTA developments, and industry trends across priority markets.
• Translate external developments into clear implications, risks, opportunities, dependencies, and recommended actions for AstraZeneca's priorities.
• Assess policy developments extending beyond medicines regulators, including those involving research, healthcare delivery, reimbursement, and data standards.
• Lead or contribute to regulatory policy analyses relating to innovative clinical trials, real-world evidence, and international regulatory harmonisation.
• Support the development of aligned AstraZeneca policy positions, consultation responses, advocacy materials, and briefing documents.

Skills

Research skills

Regulatory affairs interest

Structured analysis

Medicines development knowledge

Education

Degree in science/regulatory/public policy

Job description

Introduction to role:

This role is based in Barcelona, with an on-site commitment of three days a week. Fluency in English is required.

Are you ready to turn evolving global regulations into decisions that speed life-changing medicines to patients? Do you thrive at the intersection of science, policy, and strategy, translating complex external change into clear actions that shape development and access?

In this role, you will guide how we navigate a fast-shifting environment across evidence generation, clinical trial innovation, and market access-so our therapies reach the right patients earlier. You will connect external policy signals to internal priorities, helping teams anticipate change, reduce risk, and seize opportunity. Your work will directly influence the design and delivery of programs that aim to transform outcomes in cancer, bringing earlier detection and treatment strategies to more patients worldwide.

You will partner with global, regional, and functional leaders to build aligned positions, shape consultation responses, and coordinate engagement with regulators, health technology assessment bodies, and industry networks. This is a chance to lead with clarity, build consensus, and drive impact across a high-ambition portfolio.

Accountabilities:

• Monitor, analyse, and interpret emerging legislation, regulations, guidance, regulatory practices, health-system reforms, HTA developments, and industry trends across priority markets.
• Translate external developments into clear implications, risks, opportunities, dependencies, and recommended actions for AstraZeneca's clinical development, evidence-generation, regulatory, market access, data, manufacturing, and business priorities.
• Assess policy developments extending beyond medicines regulators, including those involving agencies responsible for research, healthcare delivery, reimbursement, health information, data standards, and public-private clinical trial infrastructure.
• Lead or contribute to regulatory policy and intelligence analyses relating to innovative clinical trial designs, routine point-of-care trials, decentralised trials, real-world evidence, digital and AI tools, surrogate endpoints, rare-disease development, and international regulatory harmonisation.
• Support the development of aligned AstraZeneca policy positions, consultation responses, advocacy materials, reports, position statements, briefing documents, and presentations.
• Coordinate cross-functional input to ensure AstraZeneca communicates with a clear, consistent, and evidence-based voice.
• Support the identification, assessment, coordination, and delivery of relevant Calls for Comment and external consultations.
• Conduct complex regulatory intelligence queries and deliver tailored analyses, precedents, landscape assessments, timelines, and insights for project teams and senior stakeholders.
• Provide regulatory policy and intelligence support to therapeutic areas, regions, and marketing-company teams.
• Identify and communicate emerging regulatory and policy risks and opportunities, including their potential impact on global clinical development and evidence-generation programmes.
• Support AstraZeneca participation in trade association committees, professional networks, external forums, health authority engagements, and policy discussions.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with health authorities, governmental bodies, trade associations, professional societies, peer companies, regulatory policy networks, and external information providers.
• Contribute to the governance, consistent use, maintenance, and improvement of regulatory intelligence systems, databases, information resources, and digital tools in partnership with IT, digital, information science, library, and vendor teams.
• Develop training, onboarding materials, communications, and best-practice resources to enable colleagues to use regulatory policy and intelligence information effectively.
• Lead or contribute to matrixed projects, cross-functional working groups, and priority policy initiatives, ensuring effective planning, stakeholder alignment, delivery, and escalation of issues.
• Support implementation of changes to strategy, processes, and ways of working arising from significant developments in the external regulatory and policy environment.
• Contribute to the strategy, direction, and efficient operation of the Global Regulatory Policy & Intelligence function.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• Degree in a scientific, medical, regulatory, public policy, legal, healthcare, or related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience
• Early-career experience, internship, placement, or demonstrable interest in regulatory affairs, regulatory intelligence, health policy, medicines development, or a related area.
• Ability to conduct structured research, assess information quality, and identify relevant facts and themes.
• Basic understanding of medicines development and the role of health authorities and regulatory agencies.
• Str