Director, Implementation Science

AstraZeneca • Wilmington, DE

2d • $193,200 - $289,500 • Onsite

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 position builds and operationalizes a policy evidence ecosystem to strengthen AstraZeneca’s role 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 role 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. It translates data-driven insights into evidence that supports policy advocacy and positions Medical Affairs as a strategic partner.

The position requires expertise in health policy, payer strategy, and quality and value-based care ecosystems, along with business acumen and strong interpersonal skills. The Director maintains awareness of the evolving US legislative, regulatory, and reimbursement landscape and responsibly applies AI-enabled tools to support narrative generation, evidence customization, and policy brief development. The role is based in Wilmington, Delaware, with approximately 15–20% travel.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in a relevant field, such as health policy, health services research, behavioral economics, epidemiology, or a related field.
• 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.
• Comprehensive, current understanding of the US healthcare system, including legislative and regulatory matters, 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 executive, policymaker, and external audiences.

Nice To Haves

• Doctoral degree, such as a PhD, PharmD, MD, or JD with a health policy focus.
• Direct experience using Real-World Data or secondary data and applying it to policy and outcomes evidence.
• Track record of productive external partnerships with health systems, payers, patient advocacy organizations, quality-measure bodies, government affairs stakeholders, and/or academic collaborators.
• Familiarity with applying AI tools in policy evidence and communications, including evaluating 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 to brand and Medical strategy, ensuring consistent application and cross-functional integration.
• Partner with Real World Evidence and Implementation Science Directors to design and generate practice-defining evidence with clinical, economic, and policy impact.
• Drive dissemination of policy-relevant models to priority states and multi-stakeholder audiences, and extend approaches to additional therapeutic areas and international markets where feasible.
• Partner with Government Affairs & Policy teams to identify, prioritize, 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 content for medical teams and leadership on the quality and value-based care ecosystem, payer landscape, and guideline development.
• Participate in global policy evidence workstreams and steering committees, ensuring US learnings inform and align with global evidence strategy.
• Cultivate partnerships with health systems, ACOs/IDNs, payers, academic collaborators, patient advocacy groups, and quality-measure bodies.
• Monitor the US payer and policy landscape, quality measures, value-based care models, reimbursement dynamics, and guideline development, translating developments into evidence priorities.
• Maintain expertise in assigned disease areas and evolving guidelines, anchoring initiatives in current standards of care and quality measures.
• Apply AI tools responsibly in evidence workflows, including LLM-enabled narrative generation for customized payer and policy briefs, proclamations, and related materials.
• Ensure adherence to research governance processes, HIPAA data privacy requirements, and internal SOPs; contribute to methods development and peer review.

Benefits

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

What This Job Offers

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