Head of Enterprise Digital Engineering

AstraZeneca•Gaithersburg, MD

12d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Head of Enterprise Digital Engineering leads the strategy, product direction, engineering and evolution of enterprise platforms that help teams build, deploy and scale products with speed, safety and consistency. The role turns platform vision into measurable outcomes across cloud, data, AI, integration, developer experience, testing, deployment, observability and virtual reality. It manages platforms as products with defined customers, service expectations and success measures, while building a global forward-deployed engineering capability across software, testing, data, APIs, cloud and user experience. The role reduces engineering friction and standardises reusable capabilities to improve adoption, productivity and reliability across the enterprise. It partners with scientific, clinical and commercial leaders to embed intelligent platform services and responsible AI into product delivery, supporting faster and more confident work to improve patient outcomes. The position is based in an in-person working model, with an average expectation of at least three office days per week and flexibility around individual needs. The annual base pay range is $258,157.60–$387,236.40 USD. The position is eligible for short-term incentive bonuses and equity-based awards for salaried roles. Benefits include qualified retirement programs, paid time off, and health, dental and vision coverage, subject to applicable plan terms.

Requirements

Significant senior leadership experience across digital platforms, platform engineering, cloud services or enterprise technology products.
Demonstrated experience building, scaling or operating shared technology platforms in a large, complex organisation.
Experience establishing and leading a product-oriented platform operating model.
Track record of enabling product and engineering teams through reusable platforms, automation and self-service capabilities.
Experience leading multidisciplinary platform product, engineering and operational teams.
Demonstrated accountability for platform roadmaps, investment decisions, service performance and customer outcomes.
Experience improving developer experience and reducing delivery friction for product and engineering teams.
Experience managing platform resilience, security, lifecycle, cost and operational performance.
Experience scaling cloud, data, integration, API or AI capabilities across an enterprise.
Ability to influence C-suite partners and translate platform investment into measurable business outcomes.
Experience operating successfully in a regulated, security-conscious or highly complex environment.
Degree or equivalent experience in computer science, engineering, information technology or a related field.
Commercial acumen, investment prioritisation and cost management.
Outcome orientation and benefits measurement.
Executive influence and storytelling.
Organisational change and adoption leadership.
Ability to balance standardisation with business and domain flexibility.
Talent development and multidisciplinary team leadership.

Nice To Haves

Experience in pharmaceutical, life sciences, healthcare or another highly regulated industry.
Experience in a digital-native, product-led or platform-led technology organisation.
Experience establishing platform engineering and internal developer experience capabilities.
Experience leading cloud-native, API, integration, data or AI platform portfolios.
Experience scaling generative AI, machine learning or intelligent platform services.
Knowledge of GxP, clinical, R&D, manufacturing or commercial technology environments.
Experience managing commercial relationships with major cloud, AI or technology platform providers.
Experience applying platform economics, consumption management or technology financial management.
MBA, advanced technical degree or equivalent senior leadership experience.
External speaking, publishing or participation in platform engineering and digital product communities.
Recognised thought leadership in digital platforms, platform engineering, cloud or developer experience.
Experience establishing internal developer platforms or developer portals.
Experience scaling data and AI platforms across a large enterprise.
Understanding of platform economics, adoption models and consumption-based services.
Experience using product discovery, customer research and experience measures to shape platform roadmaps.
Strong understanding of site reliability, observability and modern platform operations.
External industry engagement across platform engineering, cloud, AI or digital products.

Responsibilities

Define and execute an enterprise platform strategy aligned to business and technology priorities, establishing a coherent portfolio of shared platforms and reusable capabilities.
Translate enterprise needs into platform roadmaps and investment priorities; clarify the division of capabilities between enterprise platforms and domain teams; manage cross-portfolio dependencies and priorities.
Establish a product-led approach to platform development and service delivery, including customer identification, value propositions, roadmaps, service expectations and success measures.
Reflect the needs of product teams, engineers, data scientists and business users in platform priorities; drive adoption through engagement, simplicity, documentation and continuous improvement while balancing enterprise standards with domain-specific needs.
Build and evolve platforms that accelerate delivery and reduce duplication; champion API-first design, automation and self-service; improve developer experience and provide reusable services, tools and patterns for building, testing, deploying and operating products.
Embed secure, resilient and scalable engineering practices in platforms.
Create and scale a global forward-deployed engineering workforce across cloud, DevOps, APIs, data, data ingestion and user experience to support teams in the field and increase adoption of shared capabilities.
Lead the strategy, development and deployment of AI for technology, including platforms, agents, software development and automation.
Build reusable services for generative AI, agents, machine learning and advanced analytics; make AI architecture and standards available as safe, consumable platform capabilities; promote responsible AI adoption and ensure security, compliance, observability and lifecycle controls.
Measure adoption and business outcomes from AI capabilities.
Establish platform service ownership and accountability; ensure platforms are resilient, secure, scalable, supported and cost-effective.
Define and monitor reliability, experience and operational measures; drive incident learning, problem management and continuous improvement; manage investment, modernisation, consolidation and retirement decisions.
Drive measurable enterprise platform adoption and reuse; quantify value through customer experience, consumption, productivity, speed, resilience and cost outcomes.
Align investments to evidence of customer need and enterprise value; optimise cost and consumption while protecting performance and innovation; manage strategic relationships with cloud, AI, engineering and technology providers.
Build and develop platform product, engineering and service leadership teams, and create multidisciplinary teams across product, engineering, architecture, operations, security and customer experience.
Foster product thinking, engineering excellence, experimentation, ownership and continuous learning; grow communities of practice and partnerships with architecture, cybersecurity, data, AI and business technology teams.