Senior Director, Medical Evidence Strategy

AstraZeneca • Gaithersburg, MD

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

At AstraZeneca, we transform ideas into life-changing medicines. This role is within the Biopharmaceuticals Medical (BPM) Respiratory and Immunology (RI) team, focused on ensuring individuals with respiratory and immunology diseases receive optimal care. The Medical Evidence function is crucial, providing strategically prioritized evidence to healthcare professionals, policymakers, patients, and payers globally. This Senior Epidemiologist role combines strategy, science, and people management. Reporting to the Head of Medical Evidence Strategy and partnering with Brand Heads, the role drives the Integrated Evidence Strategy plan for a portfolio spanning Phase 3 projects to post-launch products. The scope includes various scientific studies, from real-world observational data to pragmatic clinical studies. Responsibilities include acting as an independent scientific lead for planning and executing real-world studies, consulting on observational methods, and supervising, developing, and coaching direct reports to ensure efficient teamwork and cross-functional collaboration. The role is accountable for the team's evidence study delivery, ensuring scientific excellence, timeliness, budget adherence, and compliance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Additionally, it involves managing governance activities for medical evidence studies (Global and Local) to the highest quality standards, potentially chairing Evidence Review Teams. This requires extensive pharmaceutical industry experience, deep knowledge of medical evidence methodologies, and significant experience communicating impactful evidence.

Requirements

• Doctoral level degree (PhD/PharmD), or MSc/MPH in Epidemiology or Public Health with significant experience (10+ years for both PhD or MSc/MPH) of evidence strategy and generation primarily in pharma business, but also across CRO or academia.
• Experience with direct people management.
• Proven record of setting strategic and tactical evidence plans.
• Extensive hands-on experience of clinical/observational research, drug development process and relevant guidelines (GCP/ICH).
• Persuasive communicator in English, with a proven ability to work collaboratively in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to drive concise impactful messages from evidence studies.
• Knowledge of drug life cycle management.
• Respiratory or Immunology therapeutic and disease area knowledge.
• Broad knowledge of health care systems.
• Integrity and high ethical standards.
• Proven ability to interact widely and effectively across functions, regions and cultures.

Nice To Haves

• Doctoral level degree in Epidemiology plus MD or PharmD with clinical experience.
• Extensive Pharma industry experience, preferably including experience from local Marketing Company.
• Extensive experience from leading and managing people in a global, matrix environment.
• Experience and proven ability of leading cross-functional teams in evidence generation strategy and delivery to support physician/payer/policy/patient needs.
• Experience with protocol review process and other types of evidence study governance.
• Expertise in Respiratory or Immunology disease area.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of Medical Evidence Strategy in partnership with Medical Affairs Leads, aligned with therapeutic area (TA) and asset-specific medical priorities.
• Identify evidence requirements/gaps and priorities based on a strong understanding of clinical practice, disease area, and applicable methods.
• Implement sustainability and health policy objectives.
• Develop and deliver brand-specific Medical Evidence tactical plans on time, within budget, and with high scientific quality and impact.
• Serve as Scientific Lead for evidence studies, applying appropriate study design and analytical methods (including pragmatic interventional studies, implementation science, observational studies using secondary data, and emerging technology/AI) to generate robust scientific evidence.
• Lead governance procedures for the review and approval of medical studies as defined by SOPs.
• Translate evidence into messaging that drives decisions for clinicians, payers, regulators, and internal governance bodies.
• Communicate clearly to senior leadership.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team, fostering a culture of scientific rigor, delivery excellence, and impactful evidence communication.
• Drive collaboration across Medical, Health Economics/Payer Evidence, Medical/Biostatistics, Market Access, Clinical, and Commercial teams to deliver cohesive plans and impact.
• Define and uphold scientific standards, methods, and quality systems for observational research, interventional studies, and evidence synthesis.
• Represent AstraZeneca in scientific forums and partnerships, shaping external evidence standards through collaborations and publications.

Benefits

• Qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]
• Paid vacation and holidays
• Paid leaves
• Health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree