Head of External Expert Engagement Services

Job Title: Head of External Expert Engagement Services

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Introduction to Role:

At AstraZeneca, we collaborate closely with Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) and external experts (EEs) to improve patient outcomes through medical and scientific advances. These interactions provide valuable insights into unmet needs, potential therapeutic solutions, and treatment applications, which in turn shape our clinical, R&D, medical, and marketing strategies.

To facilitate these interactions efficiently and compliantly, Global Business Services' External Expert Engagement Services (E3S) aims to standardize and optimize the process of engaging, contracting, and paying HCPs. By creating a unified platform, E3S enhances our ability to gather data on HCP engagement, providing new insights and driving value across AstraZeneca. This role is pivotal in ensuring seamless, compliant, and effective collaboration with HCPs, ultimately contributing to our mission of improving patient lives.

Accountabilities:

The Head of E3S is responsible for the end-to-end development and execution of AstraZeneca’s External Expert Engagement Services (E3S) strategy. This leader will work closely with colleagues across various business areas, including Commercial, Finance, Legal, Compliance, IT, R&D, and Medical Affairs, to ensure that systems, processes, resources, and governance models comply with global and country-level regulations. The role involves overseeing the seamless delivery of E3S services to existing and future customer groups, driving continuous improvement, and ensuring high-quality customer experiences. Additionally, the role holder will manage contracts with third parties, oversee budget management, and implement key metrics to measure the success of the service.

Strategic leadership is a crucial aspect of this role, requiring the Head of E3S to build a high-performing, compliant, and ethical team while reducing risk and protecting AstraZeneca’s reputation. The role involves extensive stakeholder management, including communicating risks and opportunities related to external engagements to senior leaders and promoting enterprise-wide adoption of E3S services. The ideal candidate will possess strong collaborative, storytelling, and influencing skills, along with a proactive and resilient mindset. They will contribute to the overall strategy of the Compliance, Legal, and Contracting Operations (CLCO) team within Global Business Services (GBS) and act as a visible leader, fostering talent across the organization.

Essential Skills/Experience:

• Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 15 years experience
• Prior experience working within a Shared Service / Global Business Services environment
• Proven track record of engaging with and influencing senior leadership
• Experience leading a scaled team across multiple global locations – 5+years
• Experience working within a compliance-oriented environment; ability to effectively interpret global legislation and direct development of policies and procedures to comply
• Knowledge and experience of corporate governance, health care regulations, laws, and standards
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written)
• Strong project management skills
• Excellent analytical skills
• Strong quality control/assessment and risk assessment skills

Desirable Skills/Experience:

• MBA or other advanced degree
• Prior experience in the biopharmaceutical industry or a consulting firm working with pharmaceutical clients
• Understanding of relevant laws, regulations, guidelines, and internal policies related to external funding, contracting, fair-market value, and transparency reporting requirements for External Experts
• Understanding of SAP and purchase to pay systems/processes
• Understanding of Procurement systems/processes
• Experience with finance, auditing, quality assurance/control, SOX, and/or risk management
• Global/cross-cultural experience

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We balance the expectation of being in the office while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.

At AstraZeneca, we are driven by a shared purpose: to push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines. This purpose underpins everything we do; our work helps to make hearts race, to make tears stop, to make cells multiply, to make science fiction become reality. We are proud of our strong culture of innovation and collaboration that enables us to create meaningful solutions for our patients. Our diverse and inclusive workforce is deeply passionate about what they do, committed to doing the right thing, and driven by a strong sense of urgency and integrity. We are a team that never settles for good enough but always strives for great.

Are you ready to bring your skills, competencies and experience and join our team? To help us push the boundaries of science and deliver life-changing medicines? If you feel you have what it takes and you share our passion for improving the lives of patients, apply today!

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.