AstraZeneca

Executive Director, Medical Excellence US BBU

AstraZeneca$285K — $428K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Advanced scientific, clinical, education, or business degree (e.g., PharmD, PhD, MD, EdD, MS, MBA)
  • Minimum of 10 years in Medical Affairs in pharma with leadership experience
  • Deep knowledge of the drug development process and stakeholder landscape
  • Understanding of scientific exchange principles and compliance frameworks in the US
  • Expertise in digital/omni-channel medical and analytics
  • Strong critical thinking and change leadership skills
  • Experience with CRM, LMS/LXP platforms, and dashboarding BI tools

Responsibilities

  • Set vision and strategic framework for digital Medical Affairs in the US BBU
  • Define coordinated, customer-centric engagement models across Medical Affairs
  • Lead execution of US scientific communications strategy across therapeutic areas
  • Oversee strategy and governance of medical data, analytics and technology
  • Establish strategy for independent medical education and grant oversight
  • Own global scientific learning strategy, ensuring effective training delivery
  • Partner with Field Leadership to enhance Field Medical roles and compliance

Benefits

  • 401(k) retirement plan
  • Paid vacation and holidays
  • Paid leaves
  • Health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage
  • Eligibility for short-term incentive bonus and equity-based long-term incentive programs
Full Job Description
Job Description:

The Head of Medical Excellence, US BBU, is a highly influential leadership role with the opportunity to build and shape a newly established capability that will transform how Medical Affairs delivers value across the portfolio. This leader will set the vision and operating model for Medical Excellence, strengthening the quality, consistency, innovation, and measurable impact of scientific engagement. Reporting to the VP, US Medical Affairs, this person will lead an integrated team spanning Digital Medical Strategy and Innovation, Customer Engagement, Scientific Communications, Medical Informatics, Medical Training, and the Medical Education and Grants Office. Working across science, strategy, data, and technology, they will enable medical teams to engage customers more effectively, translate insights into action, and improve access to relevant medical information.

Accountabilities
  • Digital Medical Strategy and Innovation: Set the vision and strategic framework for digitally enabled Medical Affairs across the US BBU. Lead the evaluation, prioritization, and scaled adoption of innovative channels, technologies, and operating models that strengthen scientific exchange, improve access to medical information, and deliver measurable value for healthcare professionals and patients.
  • Customer Engagement: Define a coordinated, customer-centric engagement model across Medical Affairs that connects field, digital, and other channels. Establish customer experience standards and use engagement insights to improve the relevance, consistency, and effectiveness of scientific interactions. Serve as point of contact for congress planning for medical US BBU (in collaboration with the Commercial function and Global Medical)
  • Scientific Communications Define and lead the US scientific communications strategy and execution across therapeutic areas, portfolios, aligned with broader medical strategy.
  • Medical Informatics: Lead the strategy, governance, accountability and enablement of medical data, analytics, and technology across the US BBU. Ensure medical teams have timely access to high-quality, actionable information and analytics, while advancing interoperability, data stewardship, compliant use, and the translation of insights into decisions and improved medical execution. This includes responsibility of medical analytics; thought leader framework and segmentation; enablement of tools and platforms(future of CRM, Salesforce, Veeva, and ATLAS) and define and deliver standardized metrics, OKR/KPI reporting, dashboards and actionable insights.
  • Medical Education and Grants Office (MEGO): Lead the strategy, governance, and operational excellence for independent medical education and medical grants across the business. Establish clear standards for the intake, review, funding, oversight, and impact assessment of grant requests, ensuring decisions are objective, compliant, transparent, and aligned with identified educational needs and Medical Affairs priorities.
  • Scientific Training Strategy & Delivery: Own the global scientific learning strategy across the portfolio, including disease, product, and evidence curricula. Oversee onboarding, core academies, and continuing education using modern learning approaches to ensure proficiency and retention.
  • Field Medical Excellence: partner wirh GMA and Field Leadership to set standards for Field Medical roles, scientific exchange, insight generation, and cross-functional collaboration to support consistent, high-quality, and compliant external engagement.
  • Governance, Quality & Compliance: Ensure training, materials, and Field Medical practices align with global and local regulations and internal standards. Support governance forums and maintain audit readiness.
  • Accountable for developing a high-performing team, fostering a culture of performance development, accountability inclusion, and diversity.
  • Model and reinforce the ethical, quality, and compliance standards required by the US organization.


Essential Skills/Experience
  • Advanced scientific, clinical, education, or business degree (e.g., PharmD, PhD, MD, EdD, MS, MBA).
  • A minimum of 10 years in Medical Affairs in pharma with dynamic leadership across global and regional roles.
  • Deep knowledge of the drug development process and stakeholder landscape.
  • Deep understanding of scientific exchange principles, external partner engagement, and compliance frameworks across US.
  • Expertise with digital/omni-channel medical and analytics.
  • Demonstrates critical thinking, enterprise approach, change leadership, influence at senior levels, people development, and matrix leadership across geographies and cultures.
  • Experienced with CRM and insights systems, LMS/LXP platforms, content management, critical metric dashboarding/BI tools; ability to interpret data and translate into actions.
  • High ethical standards and dedication to compliance, patient-centricity, and quality.


Desirable Skills/Experience
  • Direct experience building medical capabilities and MSL organizations; proven track record in scientific training design and delivery; experience establishing and scaling impact metrics and dashboards.
  • Visionary leadership with enterprise perspective
  • Significant matrix-team leadership experience.
  • Scientific rigor paired with digital proficiency and pragmatic execution.
  • Change leadership and adoption excellence across matrixed environments.


The annual base pay for this position ranges from $285,872 to $428,809 Hourly and salaried non-exempt employees will also be paid overtime pay when working qualifying overtime hours. Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition, our positions offer a short-term incentive bonus opportunity; eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program (salaried roles), to receive a retirement contribution (hourly roles), and commission payment eligibility (sales roles). Benefits offered included a qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]; paid vacation and holidays; paid leaves; and, health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans. Additional details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an "at-will position" and the Company reserves the right to modify base pay (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

Date Posted
07-Aug-2026

Closing Date
23-Aug-2026

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company that specializes in the research, development, and manufacturing of prescription drugs. The company was formed in 1999 through the merger of Astra AB and Zeneca Group plc. AstraZeneca's products are used to treat a wide range of medical conditions, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes. The company has operations in over 100 countries and employs more than 76,000 people worldwide. AstraZeneca is committed to developing innovative medicines that improve the health and well-being of people around the world.
Learn more about AstraZeneca
Size
83,100 employees
Market Cap
$211.5 billion
Industry
Net Income
$3.1 billion
Founded
1999
5 Year Trend
+10.2%
Revenue
$26.6 billion
NASDAQ

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