Senior Director RWE

AstraZeneca • Wilmington, DE

8d

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 Respiratory & Immunology (R&I) portfolio. Reporting to the Executive Director, US Evidence, the role directs a team of RWE Directors in designing and executing research that demonstrates product value, informs medical strategy, and addresses critical evidence gaps across the portfolio.

The position partners with the Senior Director, US Evidence – Implementation Science (Team Lead) to help translate RWE outputs into practice-changing interventions, and champions responsible, problem-led adoption of AI-enabled technologies to accelerate RWE workflows and improve methodological rigor. The leader is accountable for breaking down silos between RWE and Implementation Science and for building, mentoring, and retaining a diverse, inclusive, high-performing team.

The role leads the RWE component of US Evidence Plans throughout the product lifecycle, aligns US evidence priorities with global strategies, and oversees rigorous observational and effectiveness research. It also supports economic and clinical value propositions for US payers and health systems, develops strategic external partnerships, and ensures evidence informs medical, market access, policy, and field engagement. The Senior Director oversees the R&I RWE budget, vendor performance, compliance, and AI-related change management and capability building.

This position is US-based in Wilmington, Delaware. Periodic travel of approximately 15–20% is required for internal meetings, external-partner collaboration, and major medical congresses.

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, focused on RWE, HEPE, or HEOR.
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing teams, including direct management of Director-level talent.
• Deep proficiency in observational study design, real-world data sources—including claims, EMR, registries, and linked data—and causal inference methods.
• Comprehensive understanding of the US healthcare landscape, including quality measures, payer environments, and guideline-development processes.
• Ability to evaluate AI model validity, explainability, and bias, and to govern and operationalize AI-augmented RWE workflows.
• Exceptional communication skills, including translating complex methodological concepts into clear strategic advice for non-technical senior stakeholders.
• Strong budget-management, vendor-oversight, and project-management experience in a regulated environment.

Nice To Haves

• Direct experience in Respiratory & Immunology, such as asthma, COPD, severe eosinophilic disease, or immune-mediated conditions.
• Strong history of peer-reviewed publications and congress presentations demonstrating scientific leadership.
• Successful execution of the RWE component of an Evidence Plan to time, budget, and quality targets.
• Demonstrated scientific impact through publications, guideline citations, and integration of RWE into medical and access strategies.
• Demonstrable handoff of RWE outputs into Implementation Science interventions through partnership with an IS Team Lead.
• Measurable efficiency or quality gains from AI-augmented RWE workflows, validated through leadership review.
• Strong team engagement and retention outcomes.
• Positive cross-functional stakeholder feedback on the strategic value and timeliness of RWE support.
• Robust compliance governance and no material compliance failures.

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 global strategy, coordinate data sources and methodologies, and co-develop reusable assets.
• Promote representativeness and health equity in study design and data selection.
• Direct 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; support career development and psychological safety.
• Guide economic and clinical evidence generation for value propositions supporting payers, ACOs, IDNs, and policy makers, aligned with US reimbursement strategies and quality measures.
• Partner with Global HEPE to align US RWE outputs with HTA submissions, economic models, and value dossiers, and represent US evidence needs in global development plans.
• Collaborate with the Senior Director, US Evidence – Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism (RWE) to align RWE strategy and methods across therapeutic areas and shape the US Evidence organization’s strategic agenda.
• Partner with the Senior Director, US Evidence – Implementation Science (Team Lead) to translate RWE outputs into practice-change interventions and co-own the evidence-to-practice translation cycle.
• Cultivate and manage partnerships with academic consortia, real-world data vendors, learning health systems, patient advocacy organizations, registries, and quality-measure bodies.
• Work with Field Medical leadership and Clinical Account Directors to translate RWE outputs into actionable insights for engagement with health systems, IDNs, payers, and population health stakeholders.
• Oversee facilitation of Scientific Narrative development by Evidence Directors for publications, congress presentations, payer dossiers, and field team resources.
• Lead change management for integrating AI/ML tools into evidence workflows, ensuring use is problem-led, methodologically validated, and subject to human-in-the-loop oversight.
• Identify and operationalize AI use cases, including NLP-supported systematic literature reviews, automated data-quality checks, and enhanced signal detection in real-world datasets.
• Build team digital literacy through training and resources on evaluating, governing, and interpreting AI-derived evidence.
• Serve as the primary RWE lead for the R&I Therapeutic Area and collaborate with Medical Directors, Field Medical, Global HEPE, Market Access, Biostatistics, Safety, Regulatory, Patient Advocacy, and Commercial Insights.
• Champion advanced methods such as causal inference, comparative effectiveness, and target trial emulation, while ensuring adherence to HIPAA, GCP, and internal SOPs.
• Manage the R&I RWE budget, allocate portfolio resources, and oversee vendor performance to ensure delivery on time and within scope.

Benefits

• AstraZeneca describes an inclusive culture that champions diversity and collaboration.
• The company highlights lifelong learning, growth, and development.

What This Job Offers

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