Senior Director, AI Enterprise Process & Innovation Center

AstraZeneca GmbH; Gaithersburg (MD); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 266,000; Full time

Job summary

AstraZeneca GmbH is seeking a Senior Director to lead the AI Enterprise Process & Innovation Center, driving end-to-end process reinvention and embedding AI-enabled decision-making across the company. You will partner with senior leaders to operationalize AI, automation, and analytics at scale.

You will oversee cross-functional initiatives to redesign key processes, improve speed, quality, and cost, and ensure governance and compliance in regulated environments.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in scientific or business field (or equivalent).
• 10+ years in enterprise transformation, process innovation, digital/AI strategy, or consulting in regulated sectors.
• Proven experience delivering AI-enabled process transformation and value at scale.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and senior partner management.
• Deep understanding of AI, analytics, automation, and digital platforms.
• Governance and compliance fluency, including GxP, validation, privacy.

Responsibilities

• Redesign critical end-to-end enterprise processes for AI-driven, decision-centric models that improve cycle time, quality, and cost.
• Diagnose structural bottlenecks and embed intelligence into core workflows to improve decision speed and consistency.
• Integrate across business, technology, data, and change functions to scale AI use cases from pilots to enterprise adoption.
• Advise senior leaders on AI applicability and partner with Finance to quantify and track value realization.
• Ensure scalable, compliant solutions through partnership with Enterprise AI, IT, Data, Risk, Quality, and Legal/Compliance.
• Lead adoption of new ways of working and build communities of practice in process innovation to sustain change.
• Deliver measurable improvements through sophisticated AI-enabled Business Improvement initiatives, growing impact across the enterprise over time.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Senior partner management

AI analytics

Governance & compliance

GenAI/LLMs familiarity

Regulatory AI knowledge

AI risk & fairness

Education

Master’s degree in scientific or business field

PhD or equivalent experience

Job description

Senior Director, AI Enterprise Process & Innovation Center

This role can also be located at our Boston/ Wilmington office.

We're building a connected, end-to-end Enterprise AI engine that unites data foundations, AI technology, process reinvention, and business-facing AI to accelerate results across the whole value chain. At the heart of that engine sits process intelligence: the rigor of seeing how our enterprise actually runs, through process mining and task mining, and using that ground truth to reinvent what work should look like when AI is the starting point rather than the afterthought. Success depends on being outstanding connectors: you'll actively harness existing capabilities, celebrate and promote reuse, export breakthrough ideas across geographies and functions, and obsess over scaling impact rather than building in isolation. If you thrive in high-collaboration environments where your role is to turn complex, cross-functional problems into reusable, enterprise-wide capabilities, and where the measure of success is adoption and scale rather than innovation alone, you'll have the platform (and sponsorship) to make it real!

Introduction to role

Are you ready to turn an AI-first vision into enterprise-wide results that accelerate how medicines reach patients? In this pivotal role, you will lead the reinvention of core processes and embed decision-centric, AI-enabled ways of working across the company. You will connect strategy to execution, converting emerging AI capabilities into scalable, compliant solutions that materially improve speed, quality, cost, and decision-making. You will work shoulder to shoulder with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to operationalize AI, automation, and advanced analytics where they drive the most value. Do you thrive at diagnosing structural bottlenecks and rewiring end-to-end journeys? Do you want to shape how a global enterprise harnesses data and AI to make smarter, faster decisions that matter?

Accountabilities

• Enterprise Process Rewiring: Redesign critical end-to-end enterprise processes for AI-driven, decision-centric models that improve cycle time, quality, and cost.
• Intelligence in Workflows: Diagnose structural bottlenecks and embed intelligence into core workflows to improve decision speed and consistency.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Integrate across business, technology, data, and change functions to scale AI use cases from pilots to enterprise adoption.
• Executive Advisory and Value Tracking: Advise senior leaders on AI applicability and partner with Finance to quantify and track value realization.
• Scalable and Compliant Solutions: Ensure scalable, compliant solutions through partnership with Enterprise AI, IT, Data, Risk, Quality, and Legal/Compliance.
• Ways of Working and Communities: Lead adoption of new ways of working and build communities of practice in process innovation to sustain change.
• Value Delivery and Improvement: Deliver measurable improvements through sophisticated AI-enabled Business Improvement initiatives, growing impact across the enterprise over time.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• Master’s degree in scientific or business field (or equivalent experience).
• 10+ years in enterprise transformation, process innovation, digital/AI strategy, or consulting in regulated sectors.
• Proven experience delivering AI-enabled process transformation and value at scale.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and senior partner management.
• Deep understanding of AI, analytics, automation, and digital platforms with ability to translate capability into business outcomes.
• Governance and compliance fluency, including GxP, validation, privacy, Responsible.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• PhD or equivalent experience in a scientific or business field.
• Knowledge of emerging regulatory expectations in AI for regulated industries.
• Familiarity with GenAI/LLMs, NLP, CV, RAG, knowledge graphs, MLOps/LLMOps.
• Risk, monitoring, bias/fairness, and incident response expertise for AI systems.
• Awareness of the latest research in systems design, AI product management, decision-centric operating models.

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 outstanding and ambitious world.

Why AstraZeneca: Here, purpose meets ground breaking technology with the investment to deliver at scale. You will lead with data and AI alongside colleagues who combine scientific rigor with modern engineering, building ecosystems with start-ups and academics to solve problems that have never been tackled before. We bring diverse minds together to move fast, challenge assumptions, and turn ideas into outcomes that directly impact patients. We value ambition and kindness in equal measure, expect openness and ownership, and support lifelong learning as you design bold solutions that help redefine how a global enterprise works.

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $177,652.80 - $266,479.20

USD. Our positions offer eligibility for various incentives- an opportunity to receive short-term incentive bonuses, equity-based awards for salaried roles and commissions for sales roles. Benefits offered include qualified retirement programs, paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves), as well as health, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms of the applicable plans.

#EAI

Date Posted

21-Sept-2026

Closing Date

04-Oct-2026

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.