Associate Director, Marketing

AstraZeneca; Wilmington (DE); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

AstraZeneca plc is seeking an Associate Marketing Director based in Wilmington to lead the development and execution of the COPD/asthma brand strategy. You will translate insights into differentiated programs that deliver value to healthcare professionals and patients.

In this role you will partner with senior leaders across functions, guide agency relationships, ensure compliant, customer-centered campaigns, and drive omnichannel initiatives to grow the brand responsibly.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in marketing or related field.
• Experience in pharmaceutical/regulated industry.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence without authority.
• Experience managing external agencies and budgets.
• Strong strategic, analytical, communication, and presentation skills.
• Ability to operate in a matrixed organization and navigate ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Brand strategy and leadership: Co-lead the development and implementation of the brand strategy, annual operating plan, and long-range growth priorities.
• Business planning: Translate market dynamics, customer insights, competitive activity, brand performance, and organizational priorities into clear business recommendations and actionable plans.
• Integrated campaign leadership: Lead the development of integrated marketing initiatives across personal and non-personal channels, ensuring strategic consistency across healthcare professional, patient, and other approved audiences.
• Customer-centric innovation: Identify unmet customer and patient needs and develop differentiated approaches to improve engagement, understanding, and appropriate brand consideration.
• Cross-functional influence: Build alignment and effectively influence partners across Sales, Medical, Regulatory, Legal, Market Access, Commercial Operations, Analytics, Finance, and other functions.
• Agency and partner leadership: Provide strategic direction to advertising, creative, media, market research, digital, and other agency partners. Establish clear objectives, evaluate recommendations, and ensure high-quality execution.
• Field strategy and enablement: Partner with Sales leadership to develop strategies and resources that support effective field execution and consistent communication of the approved brand value proposition.
• Omnichannel strategy: Lead customer journey development, audience prioritization, channel strategy, content planning, and optimization based on customer behavior and performance data.
• Market research and insights: Define and apply a comprehensive insights agenda, integrating primary and secondary research, customer feedback, market trends, and analytics into brand decision-making.
• Performance management: Establish success measures, monitor brand and campaign performance, identify risks and opportunities, and recommend adjustments to improve business impact.
• Budget and resource management: Oversee assigned budgets, resource allocation, agency spending, and project timelines to deliver strategic priorities efficiently.
• Governance and compliance: Ensure that all brand strategies and marketing materials meet applicable regulatory requirements, approved product labeling, company policies, and promotional review standards.
• Talent and team development: Support the development of Marketing Managers and other team members through coaching, feedback, knowledge sharing, and role modeling of strong leadership behaviors.

Skills

Brand strategy

Cross-functional leadership

Omnichannel marketing

Strategic planning

Agency management

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Life Sciences, Communications, or related field

Job description

The Associate Director, Marketing will help lead the development and execution of the brand strategy to support the continued growth and appropriate use of the brand in the COPD and asthma market. This role will translate deep customer, patient, market, and business insights into differentiated strategies and integrated marketing programs that deliver meaningful value to healthcare professionals and eligible patients.

The Associate Marketing Director will serve as a key brand leader and strategic partner across the organization. The role will collaborate with senior commercial leaders and cross-functional partners to shape brand priorities, guide execution, manage agency relationships, and ensure that brand marketing initiatives are customer-centered, analytically grounded, and fully compliant.

This position is based in Wilmington.

Please consider there is no relocation support for this position.

Key Responsibilities

• Brand strategy and leadership: Co-lead the development and implementation of the brand strategy, annual operating plan, and long-range growth priorities.
• Business planning: Translate market dynamics, customer insights, competitive activity, brand performance, and organizational priorities into clear business recommendations and actionable plans.
• Integrated campaign leadership: Lead the development of integrated marketing initiatives across personal and non-personal channels, ensuring strategic consistency across healthcare professional, patient, and other approved audiences.
• Customer-centric innovation: Identify unmet customer and patient needs and develop differentiated approaches to improve engagement, understanding, and appropriate brand consideration.
• Cross-functional influence: Build alignment and effectively influence partners across Sales, Medical, Regulatory, Legal, Market Access, Commercial Operations, Analytics, Finance, and other functions.
• Agency and partner leadership: Provide strategic direction to advertising, creative, media, market research, digital, and other agency partners. Establish clear objectives, evaluate recommendations, and ensure high-quality execution.
• Field strategy and enablement: Partner with Sales leadership to develop strategies and resources that support effective field execution and consistent communication of the approved brand value proposition.
• Omnichannel strategy: Lead customer journey development, audience prioritization, channel strategy, content planning, and optimization based on customer behavior and performance data.
• Market research and insights: Define and apply a comprehensive insights agenda, integrating primary and secondary research, customer feedback, market trends, and analytics into brand decision-making.
• Performance management: Establish success measures, monitor brand and campaign performance, identify risks and opportunities, and recommend adjustments to improve business impact.
• Budget and resource management: Oversee assigned budgets, resource allocation, agency spending, and project timelines to deliver strategic priorities efficiently.
• Governance and compliance: Ensure that all brand strategies and marketing materials meet applicable regulatory requirements, approved product labeling, company policies, and promotional review standards.
• Talent and team development: Support the development of Marketing Managers and other team members through coaching, feedback, knowledge sharing, and role modeling of strong leadership behaviors.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Life Sciences, Communications, or a related field.
• Significant experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, consumer health, or another highly regulated industry.
• Demonstrated experience developing brand strategy and leading integrated marketing programs.
• Experience translating customer and market insights into commercial strategies and business plans.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Experience managing external agencies, budgets, timelines, and complex projects.
• Strong strategic, analytical, communication, presentation, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in a matrixed organization and navigate ambiguity.
• Strong understanding of compliance requirements and promotional review processes in a regulated healthcare environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in respiratory medicine, COPD, asthma or a related therapeutic area.
• Experience with an established, growth, or multi-channel pharmaceutical brand.
• Experience working across healthcare professional and patient marketing.
• Experience with omnichannel engagement, personalization, digital marketing, customer experience, and marketing analytics.
• Experience mentoring or leading marketing professionals.
• Advanced degree in Business, Marketing, Public Health, Life Sciences, or a related discipline.

Core Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate strategic leadership, commercial acumen, customer centricity, enterprise collaboration, analytical thinking, influence, accountability, innovation, and sound judgment. They will be able to connect long-term brand strategy with high-quality execution while maintaining a strong focus on compliance, patient needs, and measurable business outcomes.

Why AstraZeneca?

At AstraZeneca when we see an opportunity for change, we seize it and make it happen, because any opportunity no matter how small, can be the start of something big. Delivering life-changing medicines is about being entrepreneurial - finding those moments and recognizing their potential. Join us on our journey of building a new kind of organization to reset expectations of what a bio‑pharmaceutical company can be. This means we’re opening new ways to work, pioneering cutting edge methods and bringing unexpected teams together. Interested? Come and join our journey.

Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.