Brand Insights - Global Market Research &Forecasting AI Lead

Astellas Pharma • Northbrook, IL

4d • $197,000 - $282,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Astellas is a global life sciences company committed to turning innovative science into VALUE for patients. We provide transformative therapies in disease areas that include oncology, ophthalmology, urology, immunology and women's health. Through our research and development programs, we are pioneering new healthcare solutions for diseases with high unmet medical need. This role is seeking passionate individuals who thrive in dynamic environments, embrace new ideas, and aren't afraid to take intelligent risks. People who act with unwavering integrity and are deeply committed to making a tangible impact. The purpose and scope of this role is to establish an AI-enabled market research capability that accelerates insight generation, improves decision quality, and maximizes ROI—while maintaining methodological rigor, compliance, and human judgment. The Global Market research and forecasting Chapter lead is responsible for developing the capabilities and skillsets of their teams, providing coaching and mentoring, managing team resource capacity, supporting the learning and career development of their Chapter team, managing the teams’ compliance with standards and leading practices, continuous improvement and shared learning.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in science, engineering, mathematics, decision science, or analytics
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in forecasting, market research, competitive intelligence, and/or decision sciences role at a pharmaceutical company, or a consultancy focused on the biopharmaceutical industry
• Demonstrated experience building, managing, training teams around a specific area of SME expertise such as marketing research, forecasting, analytics, or decision sciences
• Understanding of the role of Insights function within broader enterprise strategy
• Demonstrated ability to develop talent and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement
• Previous experience working with Global cross-functional teams across multiple brands/TAs
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence at the executive level
• Exceptional people leadership, mentorship, and coaching skills

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in Statistics or Economics
• Pharmaceutical Industry Experience in global mid-cap/large-cap company

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the enterprise strategy for AI-enabled market research (MR), aligned to business priorities and commercial decision needs
• Translate strategy into an execution roadmap with clear milestones, KPIs, and value realization tracking (e.g., adoption, cycle-time reduction, cost efficiency, and quality/alignment to primary research)
• Establish operating cadence and stakeholder alignment with an executive sponsor and cross-functional leadership to secure funding, remove barriers, and ensure enterprise alignment
• Embed AI across MR steps including rapid synthesis/summarization/analysis, hypothesis formation and questionnaire design, AI moderators, AI-simulated responses, creative audits, and variant generation/optimization
• Expand breadth and depth of message and creative testing, enabling faster iteration and increased learning velocity without increasing risk
• Build scalable approaches to leverage historical research and reduce duplication by using tools such as an Insights Vault and AI-assisted retrieval/synthesis
• Partner with Forecasting, Finance, and Brand/TA leaders to ensure AI-augmented insights are translated into clearer forecasting assumptions, scenarios, sensitivities, and documented uncertainty
• Improve governance and consistency of how insights are used in forecast inputs, including traceability of assumptions and decision-quality standards (quality gates, validation, and review)
• Set standards for methodological rigor, validation, and quality assurance for AI-enabled MR, including concordance with primary research outcomes
• Implement governance processes to ensure responsible use of AI, with defined human-review checkpoints and risk management embedded in workflows
• Build an enterprise capability through playbooks, training, and stakeholder enablement to drive consistent adoption across brands and regions
• Foster an agile, collaborative culture that enables flexibility, responsiveness to change, and continuous improvement in methodologies and ways of working
• Oversee vendor-supported AI and MR initiatives to ensure quality, consistency, and alignment with organizational objectives
• Influence supplier strategy and ensure effective partnerships that expand capability and deliver measurable value
• Enable AI-augmented, always-on insight generation that complements (not replaces) primary market research
• Embed AI across the end-to-end MR lifecycle, improving speed to insight, learning velocity, and decision confidence
• Expand the breadth and depth of message/concept testing and creative optimization, with appropriate validation through PMR as needed
• Leverage historical research via an Insights Site to reduce duplication and improve insight reuse
• Improve forecasting decision enablement through stronger linkage between demand/segmentation insights and forecast assumptions (e.g., demand assessment as a forecast input)
• Implement a dedicated AI-enabled forecasting capability/tool to enhance brand and portfolio forecasting by improving scenario planning and sensitivity analysis, strengthening documentation and communication of assumptions and forecast risks/uncertainties, and enabling rapid alignment of forecast assumptions across stakeholders
• Developing team capabilities through coaching, mentoring, and onboarding new talent
• Managing resource allocation and supporting professional growth within the Chapter
• Representing the Insights Practice as a subject matter expert and contributing to Pods and Value Teams as needed
• Demonstrating a Growth Mindset that seeks feedback, adapts quickly, and models continuous improvement
• Collaborative and Outcomes Focused proactively seeking the questions to bring the right answers and solutions across brands
• Focused on team goal achievement and impact Driving continuous improvement, best practice sharing, and innovation in methodologies and ways of working
• Work globally to provide also services locally
• Overseeing vendor projects and ensuring alignment with organizational objectives

Benefits

• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Generous Paid Time Off options, including Vacation and Sick time, plus national holidays including year-end shut down
• 401(k) match and annual company contribution
• Company paid life insurance
• Annual Corporate Bonus and Quarterly Sales Incentive for eligible positions
• Long Term Incentive Plan for eligible positions
• Company fleet vehicle for eligible positions
• Referral bonus program

What This Job Offers

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