Head of Clinical Data Science, Alexion Quantitative Sciences

AstraZeneca • Boston, MA

16h • 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 in 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
• 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.
• Using AI/ML and omics-driven disease clustering to guide indication prioritisation and drug repurposing 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.

Benefits

• Qualified retirement programs
• Paid time off (i.e., vacation, holiday, and leaves)
• Health, dental, and vision coverage
• Eligibility for various incentives—an opportunity to receive short-term incentive bonuses, equity-based awards for salaried roles

What This Job Offers

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