RWE Director, Early Assets

AstraZeneca • Wilmington, DE

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

This role focuses on building the real-world evidence (RWE) foundation to support US pricing and access for new therapies. The Director will work upstream of launch to define the US evidence strategy, influencing critical decisions before product approval. The position involves leading the generation of evidence on disease burden, natural history, treatment patterns, and unmet needs to inform US Pricing and US Access Strategy. Close collaboration with global counterparts is expected to ensure US needs are integrated into early planning. The role operates in a dynamic, outcomes-focused environment that values scientific rigor and commercial impact, with opportunities to pilot modern methods and adopt AI-enabled tools.

Requirements

• Advanced degree (PhD, PharmD, MD, or relevant Master’s) in Epidemiology, Health Services Research, Health Economics, Outcomes Research, Biostatistics, or a related field.
• 5+ years of relevant RWE experience in the pharmaceutical industry, managed care, academia, or consulting.
• Deep proficiency in observational study design, real-world data sources, and causal inference methods.
• Comprehensive, current understanding of the US healthcare system, including the evolving payer and policy landscape, quality measures, value-based care models, reimbursement dynamics, and guideline development.
• Demonstrated experience generating evidence that informs pricing, HTA, or payer value (for example, burden-of-illness, early economic modeling, or pricing-relevant comparative evidence).
• Track record of building productive external partnerships with academic collaborators, registries, learning health systems, or data providers.
• Familiarity with applying AI/ML tools to RWE workflows; able to evaluate validity, limitations, and bias.
• Strong written and verbal communication; demonstrated publication record and ability to translate evidence for non-technical US stakeholders.
• Ability to work effectively across US and Global matrix teams (Global Medical Evidence, Global HEPE, and US Access Strategy) with a high degree of autonomy and comfort operating amid pre-launch ambiguity.

Nice To Haves

• Experience generating evidence for pre-launch, launch, or early-lifecycle assets is strongly preferred.
• Ability to work across therapeutic areas as the early-asset portfolio evolves.
• Cardiovascular experience is strongly preferred, particularly within the dyslipidemia or obesity franchise.

Responsibilities

• Embed US RWE needs into Integrated Evidence Plans for assigned pre-launch assets and shape the early value story for US Pricing and US Access Strategy.
• Generate burden-of-illness, unmet-need, and comparative context evidence sequenced to pre-launch decision milestones, ensuring outputs are fit-for-purpose for US decision-makers.
• Lead natural history and disease-burden studies, observational and retrospective analyses, target trial emulations, prospective registries, and pragmatic effectiveness work using advanced causal methods with rigorous bias mitigation.
• Identify and secure fit-for-purpose data sources (claims, EMR, registries, linked datasets), establish data foundations for assets without an existing footprint, and champion representativeness and health equity in data selection and study design.
• Continuously scan payer, policy, quality measure, and value-based care trends; translate insights into evidence priorities and study designs that anticipate emerging needs.
• Deliver early economic and burden-of-illness analyses that inform US pricing hypotheses and US access planning, building the foundation for future AMCP Dossiers, formulary submissions, and contracting.
• Partner with Global Medical Evidence, Health Economics and Payer Evidence, and Market Access counterparts to align study design and data sources with the Integrated Evidence Plan and inform HTA submissions, economic models, and value dossiers.
• Cultivate collaborations with academia, learning health systems, real-world data providers, patient advocacy groups, and relevant registries to access novel data, co-design studies, and amplify scientific credibility.
• Prepare a seamless transition of the evidence base to in-line teams as assets approach approval, ensuring continuity for Field Medical enablement and implementation partners.
• Apply AI/ML tools responsibly in RWE workflows (e.g., NLP, automated data quality checks, signal detection), evaluate model validity and bias, and contribute to capability building through documented methods and peer learning.
• Adhere to research governance, data privacy, GCP, and SOPs; contribute to internal methods development and peer review to uphold scientific quality and integrity.

Benefits

• Scientific rigor meets commercial execution to deliver medicines that change lives.
• Work with cutting-edge data, modern methods, and collaborative teams that move with pace and purpose, putting patient impact at the center of every decision.
• Opportunities to spark bold thinking by bringing unexpected teams together.
• Value kindness alongside ambition.
• Autonomy to act with the support to grow.
• Build skills and relationships that set you up for long-term success.

What This Job Offers

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