Director, Corporate & State Government Affairs (NY, NJ, PA)

AstraZeneca

9d • Remote

About The Position

This regional leadership role, covering the greater New York area, is responsible for setting the agenda for corporate reputation and state government affairs, translating strategy into visible outcomes across communities, payers, and policymakers. The primary focus is within New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The role involves partnering across commercial, market access, medical, legal, and corporate affairs teams to enhance visibility of R&D footprint, accelerate early diagnosis initiatives, and ensure brand accessibility. It is a field-based leadership position with significant external engagement and cross-functional influence, offering the autonomy to drive bold ideas and build policy and programming.

AstraZeneca fosters a collaborative culture that champions knowledge-sharing, ambitious thinking, and innovation, providing opportunities to work across teams, functions, and globally. Sustainability is central to their culture, with ambitious actions taken to address challenges like climate change and access to healthcare.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree.
• Field-based.
• 6-8 years of experience in pharmaceutical or related industry.
• Strong public speaking skills.
• Strong desire to be part of a close-knit, highly focused team committed to unparalleled stakeholder satisfaction and helping make AstraZeneca a great place to work and grow.
• Strong negotiation and advocacy skills.
• Knowledge of legislative, regulatory, and political processes.
• Requires strong internal stakeholder and alliance building capabilities.
• Amenable to lobbyists' travel/schedule; including late night, off-hour and weekend responsibilities — up to 40% travel is required.

Nice To Haves

• 8+ years of experience in government, politics, or government affairs with a minimum of 6 years in the bio-pharmaceutical or related space.
• Experienced interpersonal communications; public speaking and writing skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work on large public affairs projects aimed at enhancing corporate visibility with our growth and expansion.
• Deep knowledge of the healthcare industry especially with public and private payers, supply chains, and state/federal political influence on the pharmaceutical business.
• Demonstrated experience of working collaboratively across sales, market access, medical affairs and various corporate affairs functions; comfortable in a highly matrixed organization.
• Highly proficient in standard business software applications.
• Demonstrated experience with ally development, public relations, and health care policy.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a regional plan to enhance corporate reputation, increase community presence, and showcase innovative R&D sites; track outcomes through stakeholder engagement and visibility measures.
• Lead and deliver therapeutic flagship programs with multiple stakeholders, ensuring strong pull-through with commercial teams.
• Build and implement a regional community engagement strategy that strengthens partnerships and supports local health priorities.
• Serve as the registered lobbyist for the region; design and run state-based lobbying campaigns aligned to company priorities.
• Strategically integrate state policy within public and private payers to ensure AstraZeneca brands are accessible for all patients.
• Identify and lead opportunities to expand early diagnosis, working with public health officials, patient groups, and subject matter experts.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with elected officials, governors, executive agencies, trade associations, think tanks, and third-party allies; act as an external leader with vision.
• Demonstrate leadership with national political organizations and committees to implement policy programming.
• Connect with experts, develop plans, and implement initiatives that advance sustainability and health equity interests.
• Participate in Political Action Committee grassroots solicitations and organize and attend fundraisers.
• Lead internal workstreams to assess corporate priorities and build positive community ecosystems.
• Collaborate to enhance corporate reputation through direct community engagement that supports US expansion initiatives.
• Provide leadership on local state-related public policy issues; serve as the resident expert on legislative matters and strategy.
• Ensure integration of state-related business objectives across commercial, market access, legal, sales, and marketing teams.
• Identify, analyze, and act on legislative and regulatory initiatives and emerging issues that impact the company.
• Develop and implement legislative and regulatory strategies that assist and achieve brand objectives.
• Allocate resources strategically; perform budget allocation and consultant evaluations; manage contract lobbyists and strategic alliance managers.
• Assist the Director of Political Programs with PAC education and recruitment, including internal speaking engagements.
• Liaison with Corporate Affairs partners to ensure strong links to corporate brand initiatives.
• Liaison with federal government affairs lobbyists on region-specific issues; employ state strategies to mitigate impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and other federal mandates.
• Understand AstraZeneca’s business goals and priorities; build strategies to support them and act on emerging political issues.

Benefits

• Opportunity to work across teams, functions and even the globe.
• Investment in innovation and talent.
• Value kindness alongside ambition.
• Align efforts to meaningful outcomes—from accelerating access to medicines to advancing sustainability and health equity.

What This Job Offers

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