Commercial Capabilities Lead

AstraZeneca; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading pharmaceutical company in London is seeking a Commercial Capabilities Lead. This role involves driving the oncology capability strategy to achieve measurable commercial impact. The ideal candidate will have a proven record in managing large-scale projects, strong leadership skills, and a good understanding of business principles in healthcare. This position offers a competitive salary and a collaborative work environment with flexibility for remote work.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Flexible working

Professional growth opportunities

Qualifications

• Led large-scale projects generating measurable commercial benefits.
• Worked independently with strong initiative and results focus.
• Extensive leadership experience in pharma and healthcare.

Responsibilities

• Drive the development of critical capabilities for business growth.
• Provide leadership in strategic capability development.
• Monitor and report on impact metrics of capability initiatives.

Skills

Understanding of business principles

Project management

Critical thinking

Leadership

Influencing skills

Education

Degree in Life Sciences, Marketing or Business

Job description

Commercial Capabilities Lead

Location: London

Competitive Salary & Benefits

Advert Closing Date: 19 October

Introduction to Role:

Are you prepared to build and implement the Oncology Business Unit (OBU) capability strategy with a sharp focus on unlocking commercial impact?

In this role, you will drive the development of critical capabilities and foster a high-performance perspective that directly enables future business growth. Leading the training team, you will partner with all OBU functions to advance skills that translate into measurable commercial impact. You will also develop, coordinate, and assess impact metrics for OBU training and Oncology-specific capability programs, ensuring that each effort leads to concrete business results.

In this position, you will provide decisive leadership in shaping and executing the strategic direction of capability development across the entire oncology portfolio. You will lead the team to set clear priorities, ensuring that capability enhancement initiatives are aligned with business objectives and future growth opportunities. Work collaboratively with your team and OBU functions to identify and address skill gaps, using innovative tools and resources to develop commercial capabilities. Develop, implement, and evaluate OBU capability initiatives, emphasising business results and encouraging excellence.

Accountabilities:

Provide Inspirational Leadership: Cultivate a high-performance culture by inspiring and motivating the Oncology Business Unit (OBU) Capabilities team, setting clear expectations, and championing professional growth and development.

Influence and Engage Stakeholders: Develop strong, collaborative relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, ensuring alignment of capability initiatives with broader business objectives and securing buy-in for priority initiatives.

Effectively structure team and accountabilities: Direct the planning, execution, and delivery of multifaceted capability and training programmes, managing timelines, risks, and dependencies to achieve successful outcomes that drive measurable commercial impact.

Prioritise and Manage Competing Demands: Set and communicate clear priorities for the team, balancing immediate business needs with long-term capability development goals, and ensuring that resources are focused on the highest-value projects.

Drive Commercial Capability Development: Design, implement, and continuously evaluate OBU-specific training and capability programmes, ensuring they address critical skill gaps and contribute to tangible commercial results.

Monitor and Report Impact: Establish robust metrics and evaluation methods to assess the effectiveness of capability initiatives, providing regular updates to senior leadership and adapting strategies based on outcomes and feedback.

Encourage Innovation and Continuous Improvement: Promote a culture of innovation by incorporating the most current industry knowledge, digital tools, and protocols into all capability development activities.

Budget Management: Oversee the effective allocation of budgets and resources for capability development programmes, ensuring optimal investment and demonstrating clear return on investment for all initiatives.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• Understanding of business principles and application to future healthcare market challenges
• Successfully led large-scale, high-profile projects that have generated measurable commercial benefits for the organization.
• Works effectively with minimal direction, takes initiative, and consistently delivers results independently.
• Expert in applying business principles to healthcare market challenges with strong commercial focus.
• Proven record in leading high-performing teams on large, impactful projects that deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Extensive leadership experience in pharma and healthcare, with deep knowledge of industry-relevant digital technologies.
• Strong critical thinking and influencing skills, with ability to engage senior stakeholders and drive decisions.
• Commercial leader skilled in resource deployment and achieving results in high-paced environments.
• Dynamic, innovative, and committed to driving change and nurturing talent.
• Highly independent, takes initiative, and consistently delivers strong results.

Desirable Skills/Experience:

• Degree in Life Sciences, Marketing or Business
• Team leadership / line management
• Oncology Experience
• Capability Building experience
• Experience gained working in role across different functions
• Exposure to decision-making bodies

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That\'s why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn\'t mean we\'re not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

Why AstraZeneca?

At AstraZeneca, we are fundamentally changing the way cancer is treated through innovation. Our pipeline is one of the deepest and broadest in the industry, with cutting-edge science and life-changing medicines. We believe in following the science and putting patients first, allowing us to make the biggest difference to people in need with our transformative science. We play an instrumental role in driving launch and commercial effectiveness. We set the direction and lead the business, shaping the cancer care environment and empowering care teams to transform the patient experience.

At AstraZeneca UK, we are committed to delivering against three missions:

• Accelerating the position of the UK as a global centre of excellence in life sciences
• Redefining healthcare through fast and equitable access to the most effective medicines, high quality care
• Delivering sustainable leadership that prioritises healthy people, society and planet

Ready to build a rewarding and meaningful career as part of a dedicated Oncology team?

Apply now!

Date Posted 08-Oct-2025

Closing Date 19-Oct-2025

Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.