Associate Director, Data Capability Lead

AstraZeneca; Dublin; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

AstraZeneca seeks a Data & AI Capability Lead to drive strategy and delivery of large Data & AI programs across Operations. You will architect data foundations, orchestrate multi‑dataset solutions, and partner with global teams and vendors to ensure end‑to‑end value realization.

The role requires strong leadership, technical delivery, and extensive experience in data engineering, governance, and BI tooling within a pharma context. International collaboration is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field required.

Responsibilities

• Define Data & AI strategy for Operations programs and coordinate with IT and business partners.

Skills

Data engineering leadership

Data lake architecture

AI/ML delivery

Data governance

Cloud platforms AWS

BI tools Qlik Sense/PowerBI

GDPR HIPAA FHIR knowledge

Agile project execution

Bachelor's degree in technical field

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering

Tools

Qlik Sense

PowerBI

Snowflake

dbt

Immuta

Collibra

Reltio/Veeva Network

Job description

This is what you will do:

The Data & AI Capability Lead reports to the Senior Director, RDU IT Data & AI and is a critical role in Alexion IT RDU organization. The focus of this role is to take stakeholder-centric data-driven approach to deliver large Data & AI (D&AI) Programs in Operations encompassing Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Quality.

Alexion is looking for a sharp-minded, assertive, and energetic D&AI leader who will be responsible for establishing the strategy, functional plans, and delivery of these products/ projects/programs to meet the short- and long-term goals and metrics of the organization. Should be able to conceptually architect and design data and analytics solutions to meet specific business demands, driving value from information and ensuring end-to-end delivery.

We are looking for adaptable candidates with a broad set of technology skills to be able to lead robust data solutions that leverage disparate datasets, data lake repositories, engineering workflows, visualization, and Data Science toolkit. The candidate will have to oversee Operations demands and work with internal and vendor delivery organizations to ensure the right delivery approach/model has been followed.

The candidate needs to be client-oriented, capable of independently developing sophisticated data foundation, business analytics, data engineering & integration solutions, and skilled at presenting solutions to broad audiences within IT and business groups.

The right candidate for this position should have a proven track record delivering Data & AI capabilities in Operations for an international Pharma/Biopharma company. They should have superior program delivery and team management capabilities, strong technical skills, and the ability to manage vendor relationships. Alexion RDU is looking to build the next generation of patient-centric digital health products and we are looking for a qualified individual whose passion is understanding how to best utilize healthcare data and platforms to drive business innovation.

You will be responsible for:

Data Capability Lead will be responsible for supporting IT and business-driven activities which will include the following:

• Understand business, conceptualize analysis framework, define Data & AI requirements, and coordinate implementation with IT business partners, business stakeholders, and external partners for delivering enhanced digital experience to stakeholders
• Responsible to drive initiatives in Data Management, deploy Data & AI enablement practices for master, reference and metadata and execute key strategies in building taxonomy/ ontologies and FAIR data products using multi-modal datasets
• Responsible to deliver data engineering services, ingesting data in the Alexion Data Platform, creating data hubs to integrate and distribute data in the form of products, and supporting integration to digital applications to generate insights through AI/ML
• Drive operationalization and adoption of data products and AI/ML solutions in generating insights supporting Alexion functions
• Provide consultancy advice, as a trusted partner, to both the global and regional stakeholders within the business and other technology teams from strategic partners / vendors for on-going and new implementation projects and ensure they are aligned with organization goals

You will need to have:

• Strong technical delivery management experience in Data Engineering, Data Foundation and Observability and AI/ML across functions and geographies
• In-depth working knowledge of data domain modelling and expertise in designing taxonomy and ontology, that facilitate the management of key master/reference data products like Material, Product and their associated hierarchies
• Organize data at the macro level using conceptual/logical data models as a standard for the trusted source and for consuming applications to inherit, with the ability to extend the data model to bridge internal Alexion and AstraZeneca systems and data
• Ability to successfully lead a team of Business Analysts, Data Engineers and Analytics and AI Developers through all phases of the development life cycles, including concept definition, product design, development, implementation, and testing
• At least 8 years of experience in leading, designing, and developing data lake and data integration architectures, using FAIR data set and prior experience in managing end-to-end engagements in BI using Qlik Sense or PowerBI, and Data Science languages like R and Python; should possess knowledge of Cloud platforms like AWS, modern data storage layer like Snowflake, dbt, FiveTran and cloud data management applications like Immuta, Collibra and Reltio/ Veeva Network
• Knowledge of Privacy and healthcare interoperability standards like GDPR, HIPAA and HL7, FHIR
• Familiarity with Git, Data-Ops, and Continuous Integration /Continuous Deployment pipelines and experience in Agile project execution
• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field of study (Computer Science/Engineering preferred) and have excellent communication, analytical and logical thinking skills, detail-oriented with an ability to take a macro view

We would prefer for you to have:

• A Master’s degree, MBA, or equivalent level of experience
• 8+ years of digital and data transformation experience within biopharma industry with at least 5 years of managing complex transformations
• Experience with AI-ready Data Products
• Prior experience working on digital health initiatives

Date Posted: 28-Aug-2026

Closing Date: 10-Sept-2026

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.