AI Lead, Commercial, Launch & Medical Excellence

AstraZeneca • Boston, MA

22d • Hybrid

About The Position

Alexion is seeking a visionary AI lead to define and drive the AI strategy across our global Commercial, Launch, Market Access, Patient Engagement, and Medical Affairs organizations. In this highly strategic and influential role, you will partner with business, medical, and field teams to transform complex commercial and medical challenges into high‑value AI‑powered solutions that enhance launch success, deepen customer engagement, and ultimately improve outcomes for patients with rare diseases.
You will lead the development and adoption of advanced AI/ML capabilities that optimize how Alexion brings medicines to the world, from precision launch planning and omnichannel orchestration to real‑world evidence generation and medical insights. This role blends technical expertise with strong product thinking, commercial acumen, and exceptional stakeholder leadership.

Requirements

• Education: BS in Computer Science or a relevant field required (e.g., Information Systems, Data Science, Engineering). MS or MBA preferred, with strong exposure to biopharma commercial/medical functions and meaningful AI familiarity (coursework, certifications, executive programs, or applied initiatives).
• Experience: 10+ years in biopharma/biotech Commercial, Launch, Market Access, or Medical Affairs; 5+ years leading cross‑functional, technology‑enabled portfolios with measurable outcomes. Demonstrated success sponsoring/directing AI initiatives from concept to scaled adoption; not responsible for hands‑on coding or model development.
• Business Domain Expertise: Deep understanding of commercial business workflows, patient journeys, launch excellence, payer/access dynamics, omnichannel and field operations, and Medical Affairs engagement; proven ability to translate needs into AI‑enabled business solutions.
• Product and Portfolio Leadership: Proven ability to define roadmaps, prioritize portfolios, manage budgets, and deliver measurable impact.
• Stakeholder Management: Credible partner to Market Access, Field Leadership, Medical Affairs, and Data/Tech; influences without authority and aligns internal and external partners.
• Workflow Integration & Change: Experience integrating new capabilities into business workflows; adept at change management, adoption, and benefits realization.
• Data & Governance Fluency: Familiarity with key data domains (claims, pharmacy, EHR/RWD, CRM/engagement, formulary/access, market research, medical insights) and principles for quality, access controls, and lineage/traceability; experienced in vendor management.
• Regulatory & Compliance: Working knowledge of privacy laws, audit and documentation standards, and commercial/medical compliance (promotional review, scientific exchange, adverse event capture). Familiarity with responsible AI and model risk management.
• Technical Fluency (non‑coding): Comfortable engaging with AI/ML concepts such as predictive modeling, NLP/LLMs. Able to assess value, risk, and feasibility; understand AI and platform considerations to make informed decisions and ask the right questions without needing to code or build models.
• Communication & Storytelling: Exceptional ability to simplify AI concepts for scientific and business audiences; craft outcome‑focused narratives and adoption cases; report progress, impact, and value to Commercial and executive leadership with clear evidence and trade-offs.

Nice To Haves

• Rare disease commercial experience, including small‑population targeting and privacy‑preserving analytics.
• Experience acting as business product owner for AI solutions, driving adoption and measurable outcomes.
• Portfolio financial acumen (investment cases, ROI) and partnership governance (buy‑build‑partner, success measures, IP/publications stance).

Responsibilities

• AI Strategy & Portfolio: Identify and prioritize business‑aligned AI opportunities and define the multi-year AI strategy and roadmap. Govern the portfolio from proof‑of-concept through validation to scaled products, with clear stage gates, success metrics, and value tracking.
• Ownership & Delivery: Act as the product owner for AI solutions (e.g. segmentation/targeting, next‑best‑action, content personalization, omnichannel optimization, forecasting, and advanced RWE analytics.). Set problem statements, adoption thresholds, and benefits realization plans; oversee delivery with internal teams and partners.
• Business Interface & Partnerships: Serve as the primary interface between Commercial teams, data scientists, and external AI partners. Translate business needs into AI solutions. Evaluate buy‑build‑partner options and manage vendors/consortia.
• Workflow Integration & Change: Lead cross‑functional integration of AI into commercial, medical, CRM, and MSL platforms and workflows ensuring solutions support both field and headquarters teams. Drive change management (stakeholder engagement, training/upskilling, super‑user networks, SOP/role updates, communications, feedback loops) to accelerate adoption and scale.
• Data & Platforms: Partner with the Head of Data and tech teams to ensure data quality and secure integration across commercial data sources. Influence platform choices and manage buy‑build‑partner decisions with clear success criteria and vendor governance.
• Governance, Compliance & Responsible AI: Ensure AI solutions meet privacy, promotional and medical compliance, pharmacovigilance, and audit requirements.
• Impact & Communication: Define OKRs/KPIs tied to business outcomes (e.g., launch ROI, scientific engagement quality and reach, next‑best‑action lift, access wins, patient identification, etc. ). Track and communicate progress, impact, and value to commercial, medical, and executive leadership with clear narratives and evidence.
• Talent & Culture: Build and nurture a cross‑functional network of super‑users and AI champions; set standards and best practices. Foster a culture of scientific rigor, product thinking, innovation, and measurable impact; promote agile ways of working across Alexion.

Benefits

• qualified retirement programs
• paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves)
• health, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms of the applicable plans

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level