Head of Corporate & State Government Affairs

AstraZeneca

6d • $229,332 - $315,332

About The Position

The United States is central to AstraZeneca's ambition, serving as a market where science, policy, and access converge to ensure life-changing medicines reach patients. With a goal to significantly expand its US presence and impact by 2030, AstraZeneca recognizes that state-level decisions on pricing, access, reimbursement, and regulation directly influence its ability to achieve this ambition and sustain the commercial foundation for its research. This role is designed for a leader who will safeguard AstraZeneca from these risks and transform the policy environment into opportunities. The US State Government Affairs Lead is a pivotal position within the US business, carrying enterprise-wide responsibility for all state legislative and regulatory strategy across all 50 states. This individual will represent AstraZeneca's interests amidst unprecedented policy complexity, proactively shaping the political environment rather than reacting to it. This role is a key member of the US Corporate Affairs Leadership Team, operating with the necessary authority, visibility, and accountability. It demands a leader with a rare combination of deep policy expertise, commercial acumen, executive presence, team-building instincts, strategic vision, and operational discipline to navigate the world's most complex legislative landscape.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Fifteen or more years of progressive experience in state government affairs, public policy, or law.
• A minimum of ten years in senior national leadership.
• At least five years leading teams with direct reports in a complex, matrixed organization.
• Deep pharmaceutical or healthcare industry knowledge.
• Full budget ownership experience.
• Willingness to travel up to 40%.
• Curiosity about AI and an understanding that it is changing the nature of this work.
• A leader who embraces change, models new ways of working, and brings their team along.
• A commercial mindset applied to a policy role.
• Understanding that the ultimate measure of this function is its contribution to patients and to the business.

Nice To Haves

• Graduate or law degree strongly preferred.
• More than 10 years' experience in state government affairs, public policy, or legal.
• At least 5 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Demonstrated strong external relationships with key stakeholders in state capitals, governors, state legislatures, and trade associations such as BIO & PhRMA.
• Demonstrated ability to shape the external environment through interactions with state officials.
• Experience with pharmaceutical cross-functional teams (ally development, public relations, health policy).
• Demonstrated ability to manage corporate relationships with trade associations.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally.
• Strong understanding of the activities undertaken by political action committees.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across commercial sales, market access (managed care), medical affairs, corporate affairs, legal, and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the full US State Government Affairs budget, allocating resources with discipline and strategic judgment.
• Make clear-eyed decisions about where investment drives the greatest return in external counsel, trade association engagement, advocacy infrastructure, and coalition development.
• Report on return on investment with transparency and rigor to senior leadership.
• Translate policy risk and opportunity into language that resonates in the boardroom, grounded in a deep understanding of the commercial priorities of the US business.
• Serve as the enterprise authority on all U.S. state government affairs, setting and driving the national policy agenda across all 50 states.
• Represent unified enterprise positions on defining policy issues such as 340B, PDABs, PBM reform, Medicaid, and state pricing legislation with speed, precision, and strategic coherence.
• Anticipate threats before they materialize, build coalitions to defend positions, and identify policy opportunities.
• Lead strategic decision-making on state public policy across all therapeutic areas within AstraZeneca's portfolio.
• Create strategies and campaigns to optimize outcomes and defend against harmful legislative and regulatory proposals.
• Identify, analyze, and act on emerging state legislative and regulatory matters with speed and enterprise-level impact.
• Operate as a trusted advisor to SET-level and senior executive leadership, providing boardroom-ready counsel on U.S. state policy.
• Shape decisions at the highest level with authority and confidence.
• Represent the function, team, and organization with presence and credibility.
• Contribute to enterprise strategy as a full member of the US Corporate Affairs Leadership Team.
• Engage with external thought leaders, state governors, legislative leaders, trade associations, think tanks, and third-party allies to shape the external policy environment.
• Represent AstraZeneca in senior-level BIO/PhRMA working groups, committees, and high-profile professional settings.
• Oversee AstraZeneca Political Action Committee (AZPAC) strategy and execution.
• Lead the full US State Government Affairs team of approximately nine to ten people, focusing on building the team and fostering a performance culture.
• Create a performance culture where accountability is clear, development is continuous, and succession is planned.
• Attract talent that raises the bar, set standards that define best in class, and build a team recognized across the industry as exceptional.
• Provide ongoing performance feedback, development support, and career growth opportunities to direct reports.
• Lead capability building and succession planning for the national function.
• Champion the embedding of artificial intelligence into the government affairs function, leading by example in adopting AI-driven approaches to legislative monitoring, stakeholder intelligence, policy analysis, and campaign strategy.
• Role-model a different way of working, demonstrating that AI makes leaders faster, sharper, and more impactful.
• Create a team culture where digital fluency is an expectation.
• Partner across Corporate Affairs and the enterprise technology function to pilot, scale, and embed AI tools.

Benefits

• Qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]
• Paid vacation and holidays
• Paid leaves
• Health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage
• Short-term incentive bonus opportunity
• Eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program

What This Job Offers

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