Director, US Policy Evidence

AstraZeneca • Wilmington, DE

13d

About The Position

The Director, US Policy Evidence is a strategic leadership role within AstraZeneca’s US Medical Affairs, Implementation Science and Policy team. The role builds and operationalizes a policy evidence ecosystem to strengthen AstraZeneca’s position as an innovator and thought leader across priority therapeutic areas. It advances the generation and dissemination of policy-relevant evidence to accelerate access and improve care quality and patient outcomes.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Implementation Science & Policy, the Director partners with therapeutic-area implementation science leads, real-world evidence directors, and federal and state Government Affairs teams. The Director develops and executes a policy evidence planning framework aligned with brand and Medical strategy, integrating work across US Medical, Government Affairs & Policy, Market Access, and Commercial teams. The role translates data-driven insights into evidence that supports policy engagement and requires expertise in health policy, payer strategy, and quality- and value-based care, along with business acumen and strong interpersonal skills. The Director also monitors the evolving US legislative, regulatory, and reimbursement landscape and applies AI-enabled tools responsibly to support narrative generation, evidence customization, and policy briefs.

The position is US-based in Wilmington, Delaware, with approximately 15–20% travel. The annual base salary range is $193,200–$289,500, with a short-term incentive bonus opportunity and eligibility to participate in an equity-based long-term incentive program for salaried roles.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in a relevant field, such as health policy, health services research, behavioral economics, epidemiology, or a related discipline.
• At least seven years of relevant experience in academia, consulting, government, and/or industry, including meaningful experience in health policy research, payer strategy, economic modeling, outcomes research, and/or policy shaping.
• Well-developed leadership and problem-solving skills, including the ability to access internal and external resources and navigate complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• Ability to collaborate across US Medical, Government Affairs & Policy, Market Access, and Commercial teams at country, regional, or global levels.
• Current, comprehensive understanding of the US healthcare system, including legislative and regulatory developments, payer and reimbursement dynamics, quality measures, value-based care models, and guideline development.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex evidence into compelling narratives for executives, policymakers, and external audiences.

Nice To Haves

• Doctoral degree preferred, such as PhD, PharmD, MD, or JD with a health policy focus.
• Direct experience using real-world or secondary data and applying it to policy and outcomes evidence.
• Track record of building productive external partnerships with health systems, payers, patient advocacy organizations, quality-measure bodies, Government Affairs stakeholders, and/or academic collaborators.
• Familiarity with AI tools in policy evidence and communications, including the ability to evaluate validity, limitations, and bias.
• Experience integrating health equity principles into evidence generation and policy strategy, including use of geospatial or population-level data tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development, socialization, and operationalization of a policy evidence planning framework aligned with brand and Medical strategy, ensuring consistent application and cross-functional integration.
• Partner with Real World Evidence and Implementation Science Directors to design and generate evidence with clinical, economic, and policy impact.
• Disseminate policy-relevant models to priority states and multi-stakeholder audiences, including payers, employers, and policymakers, and extend approaches to other therapeutic areas and international markets where feasible.
• Partner with Government Affairs & Policy teams to identify and advance policy initiatives using data-enabled insights.
• Co-lead care delivery policy-shaping workstreams and coordinate joint Medical–Government Affairs briefings.
• Collaborate with US Market Access, Commercial Insights, and Brand teams to translate product value propositions into policy-enabling strategies with measurable outcomes.
• Develop and deliver policy education to build capability across medical teams and leadership on quality and value-based care, payer landscapes, and guideline development.
• Participate in global policy evidence workstreams and steering committees, aligning US learnings with global evidence strategy.
• Cultivate partnerships with health systems, ACOs/IDNs, payers, academic collaborators, patient advocacy groups, and quality-measure bodies.
• Monitor US payer and policy developments, quality measures, value-based care models, reimbursement dynamics, and guideline development, translating insights into evidence priorities.
• Maintain expertise in assigned disease areas and evolving guidelines, anchoring policy evidence initiatives in current standards of care and quality measures.
• Apply AI tools responsibly in evidence-generation workflows, including LLM-enabled generation of customized payer and policy briefs and related materials.
• Ensure adherence to research governance processes, HIPAA data privacy requirements, and internal SOPs; contribute to methods development and peer review.

Benefits

• Short-term incentive bonus opportunity.
• Eligibility to participate in the equity-based long-term incentive program for salaried roles.
• Qualified retirement program (401(k) plan).
• Paid vacation and holidays.
• Paid leaves.
• Medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage.

What This Job Offers

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