Director Demand Planner
About The Position
As the Director – Clinical Demand Planning & Optimisation, you will lead a team accountable for demand planning, study design input, and secondary kit inventory strategy across AstraZeneca’s clinical development portfolio. You will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of robust, data-driven demand plans at finished goods (secondary kit) level, from early study design through study execution. Through your team, you will influence study design, governance decisions, and ongoing study delivery by ensuring high-quality demand insights, scenario planning, and inventory strategies that balance cost, risk, and patient needs. Acting as a key interface between Clinical and Supply, you will ensure Demand Planning is effectively integrated into the end-to-end clinical supply model, with clear alignment to Study & Supply Planning to enable reliable, efficient clinical trial delivery.
Requirements
- Bachelor degree and at least 7 years of related experience
- Significant experience in clinical demand planning & study supply chain optimisation.
- Understanding of clinical planning/optimisation tools (e.g.N-Side) & IRT.
- Excellent analytical skills, ability to coach others in the use of data to drive scenario-based decision recommendations
- Proven ability to influence/negotiate cross-functional stakeholders and shape strategic decisions.
- Understanding of clinical study designs and R&D governance processes
- Proven experience leading teams and delivering through others.
- Clinical Operations (e.g., GSAD, clinical study teams)
- Global Project / Programme Directors (GPDs)
- Clinical Supply Programme Directors
- Supply Planning and Study Execution teams
- Regulatory and CMC stakeholders
Nice To Haves
- Advanced degree (MBA, MSc, PhD)
- Experience in clinical supply optimisation methodologies
- Lean / continuous improvement experience
- Experience with long-term planning and portfolio modelling
- Strong financial awareness (cost, waste, optimisation trade-offs)
- System and tool providers (e.g., N-SIDE, IRT vendors)
- External partners supporting planning or clinical operations
Responsibilities
- Leads and develops the Demand Planning & Optimisation function, defining the strategy, priorities, and performance expectations across the clinical development portfolio.
- Working with the Demand Business Process Owner, ensures the demand planning framework, standards, and governance ensures consistent, high-quality delivery across all studies
- Promotes proactive engagement with Clinical and R&D stakeholders, enabling the team to effectively influence study design & delivery plans; including recruitment strategy, country footprint, ECP strategies and supply chain design decisions.
- Drives delivery of high-quality scenario planning and analytics, supporting governance decisions through clear evaluation of cost, risk, and waste trade-offs
- Ensures delivery of unconstrained demand plans at finished goods (secondary kit) level, translating clinical assumptions into robust demand scenarios that inform supply planning and study execution.
- Ensures effective end-to-end demand lifecycle management, with demand plans continuously maintained, refined, and adapted in line with study/programme evolution.
- Drives strong alignment with Supply Planning to ensure effective reconciliation between unconstrained demand and constrained supply, enabling informed decision-making and trade-off management
- Monitors and drives performance metrics for demand planning, including forecast accuracy, bias, demand volatility, waste, and responsiveness, ensuring continuous improvement and corrective action.
- Ensures effective demand planning representation and high-quality inputs into cross-functional forums, including CS&OP and study-level collaboration forums (e.g., SDWG, CPT), enabling data-driven decisions
- Ensures robust and proactive management of demand-related risks and customer service impacts, including identification and mitigation of supply-demand gaps
- Provides oversight of secondary kit inventory strategy, including optimisation of inventory levels, make frequency, and site-to-site transfer strategies (where applicable)
- Drives roadmap for alongside Demand Planning BPO of demand planning tools, systems, and methodologies (e.g., N-SIDE, IRT), ensuring effective digital enablement across the function
- Builds and develops team capability, including coaching, performance management, and succession planning
- Embeds a culture of continuous improvement, standardisation, and accountability, ensuring the function evolves to meet the needs of AstraZeneca’s pipeline
Benefits
- qualified retirement programs
- paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves)
- health, dental, and vision coverage
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
