Senior Director RWE

AstraZeneca • Wilmington, DE

9d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director, US Evidence – Respiratory & Immunology (Real-World Evidence) is a strategic leadership role within US Medical, responsible for shaping and delivering the Real-World Evidence (RWE) strategy for the R&I portfolio. Reporting to the Executive Director, US Evidence, this leader directs a team of RWE Directors aligned to R&I, designing and executing research studies that demonstrates product value, informs medical strategy, and addresses critical evidence gaps across the portfolio. The role partners closely with the Senior Director, US Evidence – Implementation Science (Team Lead) to ensure RWE outputs translate into practice-changing interventions through coordinated IS deployment. The Senior Director also champions the responsible, problem-led adoption of AI-enabled technologies to accelerate RWE workflows and improve methodological rigor. The Senior Director will build and retain a diverse, inclusive, and high-performing RWE team, providing mentorship and career development for Directors. The role requires high emotional intelligence and the ability to influence without authority in a complex matrix environment, with explicit accountability for breaking silos between RWE and Implementation Science.

Requirements

• Advanced degree (PhD, PharmD, MD, or relevant Master's) in Health Economics, Epidemiology, Outcomes Research, Health Services Research, Public Health, or a related field.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical industry, managed care, consulting, or academia, with a focus on RWE, HEPE, or HEOR.
• Proven track record of leading and developing high-performing teams, including direct management of Director-level talent.
• Deep proficiency in observational study design, real-world data sources (claims, EMR, registries, linked data), and causal inference methods.
• Comprehensive understanding of the US healthcare landscape, including quality measures, payer environments, and guideline development processes.
• Able to evaluate model validity, explainability, and bias; able to govern and operationalize AI-augmented workflows in RWE.
• Exceptional ability to translate complex methodological concepts into clear strategic advice for non-technical senior stakeholders.
• Strong experience in budget management, vendor oversight, and project management within a regulated environment.
• Direct experience in Respiratory & Immunology (e.g., asthma, COPD, severe eosinophilic disease, and immune-mediated conditions) is highly desirable.
• Strong history of peer-reviewed publications and congress presentations demonstrating scientific leadership.

Nice To Haves

• Successful execution of the RWE component of the Evidence Plan, meeting time, budget, and quality targets.
• Volume and impact of publications, guideline citations, and integration of RWE into medical and access strategies.
• Demonstrable handoff of RWE outputs into IS interventions through partnership with the IS Team Lead.
• Measurable efficiency or quality gains from AI-augmented RWE workflows, validated through leadership review.
• High engagement scores and retention rates within the RWE team.
• Positive feedback from cross-functional partners on the strategic value and timeliness of RWE support.
• No material compliance failures; robust governance demonstrated through clean audits.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of the RWE component of US Evidence Plans for the R&I therapeutic area across the product lifecycle from pre-launch to maturity.
• Partner with the Global BPM R&I Evidence team to align US evidence priorities with the global evidence strategy, ensure coherence in data sources and methodologies across regions, and co-develop assets where mutual leverage is possible.
• Champion representativeness and health equity in study design and data selection, ensuring real-world evidence reflects the patient populations we serve.
• Direct rigorous observational studies, retrospective database analyses, target trial emulations, prospective registries, and pragmatic effectiveness studies in R&I populations.
• Build, mentor, and retain a diverse, high-performing team of RWE Directors; provide career development pathways and ensure psychological safety.
• Guide the generation of economic and clinical evidence supporting value propositions for payers, ACOs, IDNs, and policy makers, with explicit alignment to US reimbursement strategies and quality measure environments.
• Partner with the Global HEPE (Health Economics & Payer Evidence) team to align US RWE outputs with HTA submissions, economic models, and value dossiers; ensure US evidence needs are reflected in global development plans.
• Partner with the Senior Director, US Evidence – Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism (RWE) to chart new directions for the US Evidence organization, align RWE strategy and methods across TAs, and co-shape the function's strategic agenda.
• Partner with the Senior Director, US Evidence – Implementation Science (Team Lead) to ensure RWE outputs catalyze IS-led practice change interventions; serve as the RWE point of accountability for R&I evidence plans and co-own the evidence-to-practice translation cycle.
• Cultivate and manage strategic partnerships with academic consortia, real-world data vendors, learning health systems, patient advocacy organizations, and respiratory and immunology registries and quality-measure bodies (e.g., GOLD, GINA, CHEST, ACR, NCQA, PQA).
• Partner with Field Medical leadership and Clinical Account Directors to translate RWE outputs into actionable insights for MSL and CAD engagement with health systems, IDNs, payers, and population health stakeholders.
• Oversee the facilitation of Scientific Narrative development, led by Evidence Directors, to inform the integrated messaging approach across peer-reviewed publications, congress presentations, payer dossiers, and field team resources.
• Lead the change management strategy for integrating AI/ML tools into evidence workflows, ensuring adoption is problem-led (not technology-led), grounded in validated methodologies, and governed by human-in-the-loop oversight.
• Identify and operationalize practical AI use cases accelerating systematic literature reviews via NLP, automating data quality checks, enhancing signal detection in real-world datasets to increase speed and quality.
• Foster a culture of digital literacy across the team, providing training and resources to upskill team members on the evaluation, governance, and interpretation of AI-derived evidence.
• Serve as the primary RWE lead for the R&I Therapeutic Area, collaborating with Medical Directors, Field Medical, Global HEPE, Market Access, Biostatistics, Safety, Regulatory, Patient Advocacy, and Commercial Insights counterparts.
• Champion advanced methodologies (e.g., causal inference, comparative effectiveness, target trial emulation) and ensure adherence to data privacy (HIPAA), GCP, and internal SOPs.
• Manage the R&I RWE budget, allocate resources across the portfolio, and oversee vendor performance to ensure delivery on time and within scope.

Benefits

• AstraZeneca is dedicated to being a Great Place to Work, where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit.
• An inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration.
• Always committed to lifelong learning, growth, and development.

What This Job Offers

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