Head of Clinical Data Science, Alexion Quantitative Sciences

AstraZeneca•Boston, MA

2d•$212,994 - $319,492•Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr Director/Head of Clinical Data Science provides strategic and operational leadership for data science, bioinformatics, and AI/ML functions within the Rare Disease Unit. It drives innovation in clinical development by integrating multi-omics, imaging, and digital health data into unified analytical platforms, establishing robust AI and data governance, and aligning data science strategy with organisational R&D priorities. It owns the future direction of mechanism-centered disease modelling and translational AI within Alexion and sets the vision for the application of innovative statistical and bioinformatics methods.

Requirements

PhD or master’s degree Data Science, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Computer Science, or equivalent experience
Minimum 10 years of pharmaceutical or biotech experience
Experience in a Data Science, Bioinformatics, or AI/ML function
Minimum 6 years managing direct reports in a global setting
Experience integrating multi-omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics) in drug development and conducting analyses in R, Python, and relevant software
Deep expertise in AI/ML methods and their application to clinical and translational medicine
Experience integrating multi-omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics) in drug development
Thorough knowledge of regulatory standards: FDA, 21 CFR Part 11, CDISC, GxP
Demonstrated ability to influence strategically and build cross-functional partnerships
Track record of leading AI and data governance in regulated pharmaceutical environments
Experience successfully leading global, cross-functional teams
Strong eye for business and experience influencing and managing budgets

Nice To Haves

Experience with rare disease drug development and patient stratification strategies
Familiarity with knowledge graphs, graph ML, and mechanism-centered disease representation
Experience with wearables, digital biomarkers, and imaging as clinical endpoints
Experience with indication expansion and AI-driven drug re-purposing programs
Broad experience across multiple therapeutic areas beyond rare diseases
Experience managing significant organisational change and scaling data science functions

Responsibilities

Providing strategic leadership for clinical data science, bioinformatics, and AI/ML initiatives across the Rare Disease portfolio, ensuring alignment with R&D objectives.
Leading the development of Clinical Data Science strategy within Alexion, contributing to the enterprise-wide data science and AI strategy, and contributing to the Alexion Quantitative Sciences strategy.
Building and scaling a high-performing cross-functional team spanning AI, bioinformatics, and translational medicine, accelerating study design and data-driven decision-making.
Establishing and coordinating AI and data governance frameworks aligned with regulatory standards (FDA, 21 CFR Part 11, CDISC, GxP), reducing compliance risk across clinical programs.
Driving the integration of clinical, omics, imaging, and commercial data into unified analytical platforms, enabling sophisticated analytics and knowledge generation.
Leading biomarker discovery and validation efforts across multi-omics (transcriptomics, proteomics, genomics) to support patient stratification and therapeutic advancement.
Developing and maintaining data infrastructure — data lakes, knowledge graphs, and wearables pipelines — to create sustainable, scalable capabilities for rare disease research.
Partnering with translational medicine and clinical teams to design innovative Phase 1/2 proof-of-concept strategies incorporating omics and digital health technologies.
Being responsible for the identification and prioritisation of therapeutic targets through AI-enabled clinical and imaging approaches, advancing candidates to IND.
Championing the adoption of digital health solutions, including wearables and imaging, as exploratory and registrational endpoints in clinical trials.
Integrating multi-omics datasets into pharmacokinetic (PK) models, improving prediction accuracy and strengthening dose-response insights for rare disease programs.
Applying AI/ML and omics-driven disease clustering to guide indication prioritisation and drug re purposing opportunities, expanding pipeline value in rare and metabolic diseases.
Serving as a senior leader representing Clinical Data Science in internal governance forums and external collaborations, shaping the strategic direction of data-driven rare disease R&D.
Planning and managing complex departmental budget, including forecasting for quarterly, annual, and multi-year cycles, and input to the Strategic Planning process.
Leading portfolio-level data science capacity management for the R&D unit and contributing to or leading Alexion Quantitative Sciences pivotal initiatives.